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Preserve

Preserving Corn

A method of preserving corn by salting, packing, and repeatedly boiling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Preserving Corn

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the corn

  1. Scald the corn just enough to set the milk.

  2. Cut the corn from the cob.

  3. Mix the corn with the salt thoroughly.

Pack and store

  1. Pack the mixture in jars, placing a cloth and a weight over the corn.

  2. Store in a convenient place.

Freshen and serve

  1. When ready to use, place in a stew pan or kettle and cover with cold water.

  2. Bring to a boil, then pour off the water and refill with cold water.

  3. Repeat until the corn tastes fresh.

  4. Add a little sugar, sweet cream, or butter to taste.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,168 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corn
The main ingredient, providing the bulk and the sweet flavor of the dish.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the corn and slows spoilage, which preserves it.
Sweet cream
Adds richness and a smooth, fatty mouthfeel when added to taste.
Butter
Adds richness and a fatty, savory finish when added to taste.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the saltiness of the preserved corn.

The step that matters

Freshening the corn by repeated boiling. The corn is heavily salted, so the salt must be drawn out gradually. Repeated cold-water soaking and boiling does this. Stopping too early leaves the corn briny, while over-soaking washes out flavor.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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