Why it works: Corn and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,168 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Can Corn
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the salt, sugar, and water in a bowl.
Husk the corn and remove the silks with a stiff brush.
Cut the grains from the cob with a sharp knife and scrape lightly into a jar until full.
Place the jar tops on loosely; do not screw them tight.
Steam and seal
Steam the jars for a total of four hours, tightening the tops after three hours and adding more hot water if necessary.
Always can corn soon after it is picked, ideally within an hour.
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.
-
Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Forms the bulk of the jar and supplies the sweet flavor and tender texture of the finished corn.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the corn's natural flavor.
- Salt
- Seasons the corn and enhances its flavor.
The step that matters
Steam the jars for the full time. Corn is a low-acid food, so it needs sustained heat to reach a temperature that destroys harmful microorganisms. Steaming for the full stated time, and topping up with hot water, helps keep the jars at that heat throughout.
“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.
More canned corn recipes
You might also like
Cornmeal Griddle Cakes24 recipes
Corn Breakfast Cakes20 recipes
Delicate Cake246 recipes
Boiled Frosting69 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.