Whole Kernel Corn

Having your own corn is so much better than what you buy in the store. Once you try this you won’t want anything else.  Remember that corn is a low acid food and unless you are making pickled corn, then you MUST use a pressure canner.

Note:  The Ball Blue Book say that sugar content in some corn can cause some browning when canned.  This does not affect the corn being safe to eat.  I personally have not had a problem with it myself.

What you will need:

Pressure Canner
Jars, Lids and Rings
Jar lifter, Funnel, and all the other little extras that go along with canning.

Corn (as much as you want) 
Canning Salt
Boiling water

1.     Husk your corn and remove as much silk as you can by running cold water over it as you remove the silk.

2.     Stand corn on end and with a sharp serrated knife, cut your kernels from the center of the cob. It is normal for kernels to stick together, they will break apart in a later step.  I used to use a large cookie sheet to cut mine on and moved it to a large stainless steel pot as I went along until a friend got me a great little gadget from Pampered Chef.  Now I just cut it into the pot.  This was so fast and easy.

DO NOT SCRAPE COB FOR WHOLE KERNEL CORN

3.     Choose your packing method.  Most experts prefer the hot pack method because the food is evenly heated before placing into the jars.  It's the method I use.

·       Raw-Pack:  Loosely pack corn in hot jars.  Add canning salt 1 tsp for quarts or ½ tsp for pints. Do not shake down.  Cover in boiling water.  Remove air bubbles and adjust head space to 1 inch.

·       Hot-Pack:  Add 2 cups boiling water to each quart of cut corn.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Ladle hot corn with liquid into hot jars.  Add your salt.  Remove air bubbles and adjust head space to 1 inch.

Wipe rims of jars with a clean paper towel dipped in vinegar or hot water to ensure a good seal.

4.     Put lids and bands on jars and tighten finger tight.

5.     Place jars into your canner, put on lid and bring to a boil.  For most canner you vent steam for a full ten minutes and close the vent. The All American Canner says to vent for 7 minutes.

6.  Let pressure build to 10 lbs and maintain pressure for 55 minutes for pints and 85 minutes for quarts.  If you have a dial gauge canner it's good to let it get to 11 lbs so if it starts dropping you won't have to worry about it going below 10 before adjusting your heat.  

Remember to adjust your pressure for elevations higher than 1000 feet.  See Charts.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Whole Kernel Corn in a dial-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 2,000 ft	2,001 - 4,000 ft	4,001 - 6,000 ft	6,001 - 8,000 ft
Hot and Raw	Pints	55 min	11 lb	12 lb	13 lb	14 lb
	Quarts	85	11	12	13	14

Table 2. Recommended process time for Whole Kernel Corn in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 1,000 ft	Above 1,000 ft
Hot and Raw	Pints	55 min	10 lb	15 lb
	Quarts	85	10	15

7.     When timer goes off, turn off the heat and let pressure drop naturally.  Wait 2 minutes and open vent.  Wait 10 minutes and remove lid, then wait 10 more minutes and take jars out of canner.  Waiting allows the jars to adjust to the rooms temperature.  Place jars on counter and allow them to cool for 24 hours.

8.     Test your seal.  Wipe jars clean.  Label and Store in a cool, dark place.

Reference:  Ball Blue Book Page 67

Want Cream Style Corn
Click here to see how I do Cream Style Corn