A friend gave us a bushel of corn on the cob. Unfortunately, it is TOUGH! We tried boiling some for 15 minutes, and it's still way too chewy. Any ideas of ways we could use it, preferably other than feed it to our chickens????? Do you think it could be removed from the cob, frozen, and then used in soups? Or would it still be too chewy? Any advice would be welcomed! Thanks!

-- Cheryl McCoy (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), July 18, 2001

Answers

What about drying the corn? I used to dry my sweet corn and then use it in soups, etc. I also ground the sweet corn for my cornbread.

Are you sure that it is sweet corn and not field corn?

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), July 18, 2001.

Some brands of sweet corn seed must be picked exactly at the milk stage or the next day they will already be at the dough stage and when picked will be tough like this. If it is indeed sweet corn they gave you than it was simply picked to old. They sell varieties of sweet corn that maintains the milk stage for much longer periods of time. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 18, 2001.

I don't know about sweet corn, but my mom and grandma use to purposely let some field corn get tuff so they could make corn tamales. They would grit the corn off the cob and then wrap it back into some tender shucks, tie it off with cotton string and then cook it in some boiling water. I don't know how long they cooked it. When they were done, we would unwrap the temales, pour hot bacon grease and salt on them. They were delicious. Not to healthy! But delicious.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), July 18, 2001.

Sounds like your corn is too mature to be really good to eat. Cooking it more has never done it for us, just feed to the animals or put in the compost pile. Some corn has a very small window of time that it is in its prime if not picked then its really not worth trying to eat.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), July 19, 2001.

Cheryl, You could pressure can it and use it in cooking.......I have done that with slightly over ripe corn. I wonder though, if you cooked it for 15 minutes and it was still way too chewy it probably was beyond slightly over ripe. The drying would be a wonderful option if you can. It makes a great thickener and also a great cornbread if ground it into flour.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), July 19, 2001.

Take the corn off the cob, and freeze it. As desired, take some out, whizz it in a blender with milk and water to taste, and simmer slowly (or just blend with water, and add the milk towards the end of cooking). One of the best soups. Experiment with a little without the freezing first to assure yourself this will work.

-- Don Hatfield (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 19, 2001.

You guys are the best! Thanks for all the advice. I LOVE this website!

-- Cheryl McCoy (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), July 19, 2001.

Now look at that ... a Hatfield and TWO McCoy's in the same thread and gettin' along, none the less! Ain't this world GRAND!?!

By the way, I agree with my wife Cheryl - this is one of the greatest sites I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of!

Have a great day, and God Bless! Phil

-- Phil McCoy (pemccoy@yahoo.com), July 20, 2001.

POP IT! Do you remember the "corn nuts"? That was a "giant" breed of field corn. And yes, folks, you can pop field corn! I personally like popped field corn better than regular popcorn. It will be much crunchier, but the flavor is great, and I encourage you to try it. As Mikey used to say "Try it, you'll like it!"{ GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), July 23, 2001.

One thing I like to do with slightly overripe sweetcorn, is to use a creamer-cutter. It slits the kernels, and scrapes the innards out to make creamed corn. Of course the overripe flavor is still there, but it isnt tough.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), July 23, 2001.