How to tell if corn is bad? Everyone loves summer. The scalding heat of summer is the best time to put coal on the barbecue grill and cook up some corn.
You can make the corn juicier with lemon juice and sugar until ready to eat, give it out as savory with garlic or even parmesan cheese, or keep it nice and simple by easily covering it with butter, the traditional way.
While corn can be a tasty meal, there has been various controversy about whether or not it is actually nutritious.
This comes mostly from the reason that the simplest food to ingest is not precisely corn.
Thankfully, corn has some nutritional benefits; this golden vegetable is rich in protein and fiber.
Another fact about corns is that it has a shelf life that is extremely short. This makes learning how to tell when corn has gone bad incredibly important.
How Long Is It Healthy for Corn?
Cobbed corn is fine for no more than 3 to 5 days when properly preserved in the refrigerator.
It should still be bundled securely in either cling wrap or tin oil, whether you purchased it in a husk or not.
Only a little bit of exposure to the air will allow the corn to become dry if you forget to do so.
Until the corn is roasted, it lasts 76 hours in the refrigerator and about ten to twelve months when frozen.
In fact, this can be expanded to an infinite period of time in cases that the corn is kept at zero degrees in the freezer.
On cooked corn kernels, if you note browning, don’t be too worried about it. This occurs when it has been processed at too high a temperature.
The optimal temperature for storage corn is 35 degrees F.
Can Corn on the Cob Expire?
Corn expires and goes bad, whether you cook it or not.
Here are some sights that will alert you when corn has gone wrong, both in taste and appearance.
How to Tell if Corn is Bad?
1. Appearance
You can quickly separate bad corn from the good ones by its presence using your sense of sight. Nice corn looks good and does not have degraded sections.
On the other side, if you find corn with black spots and molds, then it is definitely already rotten. For safety purposes, it is easier to dispose of the whole cob.
Do not try to use pieces which you feel are already bad. Other than what you see, the molds most likely affected the corn already but you just can’t see it.
You will note that some of the kernels have turned brown when you take uncooked corn on the cob out of the fridge.
This is not usually a source for serious worry, but it does mean that the temperature of your refrigerator was perhaps a little too warm for the corn.
You can only cut the brown kernels off and cook the corn as normal, as long as there is no unpleasant odor or slime.
Examine the husks and the silk when picking corn. The corn is a little bit old whether the tip of the husk and/or the silk are dark brown.
Look for green husks and tender white/yellow silks that are young.
The corn silk and the corn husk must also be given close attention when inspecting the corn. A green husk with a yellow silk is a great indicator of good corn.
The corn is entering the spoilage stage if you see that the corn husk has slowly turned shades of brown. It is rotten and you should discard it if you find a slimy texture on it.
2. Smell
The odor of the corn, of course, is an alternate method to see whether or not it has turned sour. As for every vegetable, it’s not pleasant if corn is dull, mushy or smelly.
As described earlier, often it is hard to identify molding immediately. Hence, you will use your nose to hint any signs of decay.
The moldy and rancid scent of corn with molds commonly has to it can easily be smelt.
Even the smallest scent difference might mean it’s going bad, so it might be wise to remove the spoiled corn out of the refrigerator to avoid contaminating the vegetables inside.
The corn is definitely rotten and should be discarded instantly if you detect an off-smell, one that smells moldy or acidic.
3. Texture
If it is slippery to touch the raw corn, it could be a sign of fungi or molds. It is hard and rugged when touching new and healthy corn cobs.
The kernel ridges as you feel them should be obvious and bumpy.
How do you Set Aside corn to Prolong your Shelf life?
Step 1. Cleaning your Corn
You will need to utilize the correct way of keeping it, aside from learning how to tell whether corn is bad.
The correct way to begin is to stop washing it before storage if you intend to use all the corn ears during the week. To store unwashed corn, use a ziplock and then place it within the refrigerator.
The synthetic wrapping will shelter the corn from water exposure.
Step 2. Quantity for Cooking
When you want to use the corn for a meal, just prepare the quantity you want and properly store the rest in the fridge.
Step 3. Storing the Corn
It is safer to only hold the kernels so remove the corn husks in order to store corn that lasts for months. Slightly blanching the kernels until freezing is also a must.
Blanching helps inhibit the activity of the corn properties, thereby maintaining their present flavor, surface, and hue.
Step 4. Frozen Corn
Without losing taste, the trick corn on the cob freezing relies on corn water-blanching.
The water blanching method entails heating the food in hot boiling water and submerging it in a pot of iced or chilled water after a short time as a means to trick the food and interrupt the decaying process.
Blanch or heat the corn for four minutes with corn on the cob and cool it for around 30 seconds. Dip the cob of corn in the ice bath for 440 seconds after this.
Then split the kernels into tiny pieces from the corn and put them in the freezer in freezer bags. It is probably feasible to freeze corn on the cob using a husk.
Only place your corn in bags that are freezer-friendly and stack it in your refrigerator so that they don’t go bad.
Step 5: On the Cob How to Reheat Corn
Reheating it is super easy when you have fried leftover corn on the cob and do not lose the crispness or taste.
Start by using a moist paper towel to cover the corn on the cob and put it in a microwave. Make sure that the dish is safe to be heated.
In 10- to 20-second bursts of time, heat the maize to make sure that the maize does not pop into a popcorn (believe it or not, it does happen).
Reheat until it is warm enough that the butter melts as you mix it with butter.
What Happens if you Eat bad Corn?
So what happens if you eat bad corn? If you eat bad corn, as with any meal, you are very likely to suffer food poisoning symptoms, such as gastric pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The fact that many individuals are allergic to corn is also worth noting. If you are one of them, when you eat fresh corn, you may feel these symptoms.
Common sense, all-in-all, be careful not to eat bad corn and aim to eat food that is fresh, nutritious, and cooked properly. Often make sure the corn is properly packed, use it promptly and cook it thoroughly.
Main Takeaways
- Corn on the cob should always be placed at around 35 degrees F in the refrigerator.
- If you keep the husks on during preparation, the corn on the cob can last fresh in the fridge longer.
- For storage, husked corn on the cob must be wrapped securely in plastic or foil.
- Within 3 days of refrigeration, raw corn should be used on the cob.
- Within 5 days of refrigeration and within one year of freezing, fried corn on the cob should be included. It may have lost some consistency after 8 months have passed, but it is still healthy to eat.
- Dry-out corn has been cultivated in humid, dry conditions. Although eating is not harmful, it is not a good idea.
Corn, like any fresh produce is very sensitive and delicate and needs to be properly stored in order for one to eat it.
If not properly cleaned and stored, the corn will go bad and will not be as enjoyable.
However, if you follow all the steps above, you can easily have delicious and tasty corn even if the corn is not freshly harvested.
Taking care of your corn is easy enough if you took the time and gave it attention for it not to go bad.
Happy corn eating!
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