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I've just opened one can of canned corn. Besides corn there is always some liquid inside — just like in case with any other canned vegetable. So what is that liquid? How would you call it? Juice, bouillon, soup?

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  • Technically speaking it's just water added to keep the corn moist. Naturally it acquires some of the corn syrup and other elements of the corn while in storage. It is meant to be drained.
    – Robusto
    Apr 14, 2011 at 10:12
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    In America, the FDA calls it a suitable liquid packing medium. In other words, they have no idea what to call it either. Follow the link to learn everything you'd ever want to know about canned corn—and some things you wouldn't. Apr 14, 2011 at 13:32
  • @Callithumpian - "In other words, they have no idea what to call it either - HA-HA-HA!!! :) Thank you for the link.
    – brilliant
    Apr 14, 2011 at 21:44

4 Answers 4

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Depends upon what it actually is.

Salt water: brine.

Sugar water: syrup.

Stock: stock/bouillon.

Thicker stock: gravy.

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  • So, into which one of these 4 categories does canned corn fall?
    – brilliant
    Apr 14, 2011 at 13:16
  • Check the ingredients, if the 2nd one (after water) is salt or sugar
    – mgb
    Apr 14, 2011 at 13:45
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    @brilliant: I've checked four different brands of tinned sweetcorn on Ocado.com. Most are simply packed in water. The outlyer has added salt and sugar but my guess would be the amounts are so small as to not be significant. I would say then that sweetcorn is generally packed in water.
    – Paul Ruane
    Apr 14, 2011 at 15:47
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In a can of pineapple I would call it juice. But when it comes to corn and such vegetables I think I would possibly just call it liquid. (I'm sure you can still call it juice. But to me juice means something that comes from the fruit/vegetable when you squeeze it).

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I would call it excess fluid, because that implies it's nothing you'd want to add to a recipe (in fact in recipes, it's written to drain the excess fluid). However you can't tell your friend to drink the excess fluid, so I'd say corn juice, for lack of something better.

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  • The thought of corn juice is somewhat stomach churning, but maybe that's just me. Apr 14, 2011 at 9:34
  • Not in all recipes. In fact I have a easy slow-cooker soup recipes that is simply throw in a bunch of canned veggies with their water contents and add some seasoning.
    – Davy8
    Apr 14, 2011 at 16:48
  • True, but at least in the recipes where it doesn't call to add the juice, it says "excess fluid" instead.
    – Neil
    Apr 14, 2011 at 16:49
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A general word for this is "liquor" (OED meaning 4. "The water in which meat has been boiled; broth, sauce; the fat in which bacon, fish, or the like has been fried; the liquid contained in oysters.", though I admit that that definition doesn't cover vegetables).

However "liquor" has a more common meaning, which may be thought undesirable in this context.

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