This week I did a quick experiment, like I talked about – Frozen Corn! I wondered if it could possibly be as good as the peas? I don’t have any freeze-dried corn to compare it with, but I wanted to find out if it could be dried, so here we go…
I followed my pattern from the peas, and prepared trays of Birds Eye frozen corn this time.
I had three trays of corn just like this from two 16 oz bags of frozen corn.
I popped it in the dehydrator for 5 hours – as you might imagine, it smelled like dinner, corn as it thawed and began to dry.
Confession: When it was done drying, I actually let it set in the dehydrator for a couple days! But, just as I thought, leaving it out didn’t hurt the corn at all – after all, what else was left? That is some dry, dry corn!
Well, what’s next? Rehydrating! Add 1/2 cup of hot water to about 2 tablespoons of corn.
This doesn’t look so good, I’m not even sure the squirrels would eat it like this! And the wait is on….
After ten minutes, it’s still not very pretty. Did I just ruin two bags of corn? hmmm
Rest easy folks, all is well! After about 1/2 hour, the corn looked just like it would have after I cooked it from the frozen state, and it tasted terrific – just like frozen corn! (whew!) Just think about this a minute – two tablespoons of dried corn became one serving of corn! Kind of cool!
Well, this is the last of my frozen vegies episodes. I think I can say, without a doubt, that it’s entirely possible to dehydrate frozen vegetables, and come out with the same high quality side dish, stew or casserole ingredient.
Both the dried peas and dried corn were sealed, with a desiccant in canning jars for storage. They don’t weigh a thing, and two pounds of frozen vegetables fit in one pint jar! That’s amazing! I can’t wait to try these over a campfire this summer!
Thanks for coming along with me on a frozen or dried vegetable adventure!
What’s next? I don’t know for sure, I was thinking of trying some other jerky recipes, or cottage cheese, or carmel apples. What do you think I should do?
Peanut Butter Theater 
At first I was unsure how this was going to turn out, in my mind I had Corn Nuts and not anything that would turn back into corn. But I am so glad that it did, I am going to use this idea for camping this summer. It would be perfect for us if we tent camp out at the lake or take a long camping trip to Yellowstone. I am really glad that you tried this and gave me some ideas for summer!! Thanks!
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Isn’t it crazy? It’s so amazing how light, small (and frankly, yucky) the corn gets. When it’s dehydrated it looks like I left a bowl of leftovers out. Then it rehydrates to normal – definitely a plus for camping!
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I’m glad that you did the corn. I have had dried vegetables which I didn’t think were that great. Your method seems easy and inexpensive. I may have to try some of this at my house. Thanks for the blog.
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It was amazing to watch the corn come back during rehydration – I almost couldn’t believe it! Two pounds of corn in a pint jar? When I open the jar, I can just seal it right back up with my Foodsaver jar sealer, and the oxygen desiccant will keep it airtight.
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I wondered if the corn was chewy when you finished drying it.
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They were quite hard when I finished with them. If I hadn’t dried them that much they would have rehydrated quicker. On the other hand, it’s better to really dry them so that they don’t mold in storage. That would be sad.
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This corn doesn’t always look that appetizing to me but I trust you that it was good! I feel like you’re a food scientist now!
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I’m trying all kinds of things! Mostly with camping/hiking in mind because there’s the “convenience” factor of not having to take a can or frozen vegies!
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