How to Store Fresh Corn on the Cob

The summer of 2022 was peak sweet corn for me. Not only had Corn Kid become a mini sensation, but I was also neck deep in fresh farmers market corn for weeks on end. This heavy corn diet started after I decided to make esquites with my haul. My family loved the dish so much that I ended up making it every weekend for the rest of the summer. I would head to the farmers market every Saturday, grab the freshest corn I could find, and make the recipe for lunch or dinner that same day—which meant I didn’t have to worry about how to store the corn. 

This summer, however, I’m exploring new ways to prepare fresh corn, so I often find myself picking it up without having a dish in mind, which sometimes means using the corn a few days later. Of course this isn't really ideal—our general advice about how to store corn has always been…don’t. The ingredient’s flavor and sweetness only declines the longer you wait. But depending on where you’re getting your corn, that advice can vary. I spoke with Smoke-McCluskey, a Mohawk chef and owner of Corn Mafia, a micro-milling project that explores native foodways, to learn more. 

What Happens As Your Corn Sits

Because of its fast metabolic rate, corn can lose its sweet flavor quickly when its sugars turn starchy. This has led to the age-old advice to take your corn straight from the field to the cooking pot. However, the time that it takes for the corn’s flavors to turn into starch depends on the variety of corn you’re dealing with and where you’re buying it. When it comes to sweet corn—the type that most Americans are purchasing to eat on the cob and for recipes like corn ribs and Kansas City-style cheesy corn—the amount of time you have to eat it comes down to whether you’re getting it from a local farmer or the grocery store.

Snacks & Appetizers

Slathered Grilled Corn Ribs

rating:

cook time: 30 mins

serves: 4 to 6

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Grocery Store Corn vs. Farmers Market Corn

Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen notes that “in three days, traditional sweet corn,” which is most locally grown corn, “converts half of its sweet sugar into tasteless chains,” giving off a flavor that’s disliked by many. Commercially grown corn, however, has been bred into sweeter varieties that can withstand the long processing times it takes to get from the farm to a warehouse and then on grocery store shelves.  

“Nowadays, with the new commercial sweet corns, some of those are designed to mature slowly,” says Smoke-McCluskey. “So the sugars start to convert a little bit slower than normal sweet corn was, say, even a decade ago. You can leave it in your fridge for five or six days. It's probably been five or six days out of the field [when you purchase it] and it's still sweet when you're eating it, for the most part.“

Unfortunately, there’s not really any way to tell what variety you’re picking up at the grocery store; most are just labeled as “sweet corn.” “There are thousands of varieties of corn,” says Smoke-McCluskey. If you’re shopping for corn at a farmers market, ask the farmer what they’re selling and they should be able to give you more information on the variety and how much time you have before the quality drops off too much. 

What to Look For When Buying Corn

Although you may not be able to identify what type of corn you’re buying, there are a few things to keep an eye out for to make sure you’re picking the best of the bunch. “I look for the plumpest kernels,” says Smoke-McCluskey. Editorial director Daniel Gritzer notes that the silk should be “moist and soft, not brittle and dehydrated,” and Smoke-McCluskey adds that they should be “kind of wholesome looking, not limp and mushy. I look for the husk to be a nice green and kind of vibrant looking. I don't want to see any tan to it at all, or it drying out.”

The Best Way to Store Corn

If you insist on storing your corn, you can keep it in its husk and throw it in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer—the cold slows down the conversion of sugars to more complex (and less sweet) starches. While it's always best to eat your corn as quickly as you can, you likely have some time, depending on the variety of corn you've bought and where you've bought it. Longer-lasting varieties (often what you'll find at the supermarket these days, but also grown by some local growers) can last an additional five to six days from purchase if kept in the fridge. If you've bought corn that doesn't hold onto its sweetness as long, you'll need to eat it faster, anywhere from one to two days after purchase. If in doubt, talk to your produce manager or the farmer for more guidance.

Your best bet for storing corn long term is to freeze it. You can do this by blanching the corn in boiling water for one minute, chilling it rapidly in ice water, and then cutting off its kernels. Spread them across a baking sheet and place them in a freezer until frozen, before transferring them to a zipper-lock bag which you can keep in the freezer for up to three months.  

The Takeaway

Depending on where you’re purchasing your sweet corn, your options for storage vary. If you’re buying shorter-lasting varieties (sometimes still sold at a farmers market), you’ll want to use it as quickly as possible, since this type of corn loses flavor very quickly. If you’re purchasing corn at the grocery store, you should be able to use it within a little less than a week before its flavor truly fades. Store it whole in the crisper drawer of your fridge, or cut the kernels from the corn, blanch and freeze them, then store them in a zipper-lock bag for a maximum of three months.