Home & GardenPreparing & Cooking

Tis The Season… for Corn-on-the-Cob!

Jim grilling corn on the cob at our campsite -- cooked to perfection too... just seconds away from becoming POPCORN! The crispy brown burn marks were just a bonus... not his fault, we didn't have the proper cooking utensils, and the fire got TOO hot -- thanks to my magic LINT! Ever since Jim cooked us up some delicious corn-on-the-cob during our recent camping expedition, we’ve been eating corn-on-the-cob at least once a week.

Or at least I have. You see, Jim won’t eat corn-on-the-cob as a meal. It has to be served with something else. And since I haven’t been cooking much lately, he’s been finding something else to eat while I enjoy my own ears of corn… as a meal!

But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered not everyone eats corn-on-the-cob the way I eat corn-on-the-cob…

TIP: To make corn-on-the-cob even sweeter, simply add a little bit of milk or a pinch of sugar to the boiling water!

 

How To Prepare Corn-on-the-Cob

The proper way to cook corn-on-the-cob is this:

#1 Start with some fresh white sweet corn (none of that yellow, one-step-above-field-corn variety).

Unfortunately, sweet white corn is nearly impossible to find around these parts, so I’m usually forced to buy the yellow version…

Corn on the cob... Unfortunately, sweet white corn is hard to find around these parts, so I usually resort to buying the yellow corn.

#2 Then, you remove the outer “protective covering” otherwise known as the corn husk, and all of the attached corn silk.

Did You Know?… A dampened paper towel or terry cloth fabric brushed down toward the stem of an ear of corn will remove every last strand of corn silk.

#3 Then, dampen a paper towel. (You’ll need the beefier variety for this task, not those thin ones that disentigrate in your hand as soon as they get wet.)  Wrap one entire ear of corn tightly in the dampened paper towel.

#4 Finally, microwave on high for 4-5 minutes (depending on how many ears of corn you cook at the same time), rotating each ear of corn at least once throughout the process.

Did You Know?… Even if you intend to cook the corn on the grill or roast it in its husk, you still need to remove the corn silk.

Well, there you have it… my best tips for cooking corn-on-the-cob!

I also like this recipe for milk boiled corn on the cob.

Lynnette eating corn-on-the-cob at the Zellwood Corn Festival.Jim eating corn-on-the-cob at the Zellwood Corn Festival.Note: This will NOT work with those tiny ears of corn-on-the-cob (like those found in Thai or Chinese restaurants).

For detailed instructions on how to eat THAT variety of corn-on-the-cob, I suggest that you watch the movie Big, starring Tom Hanks — and fast-forward to the “fancy cocktail party” scene.

 

 

How To Eat Corn-on-the-Cob

The proper way to serve corn on the cob is this:

Invest a couple of bucks in some specialty corn-on-the-cob utensils like these:

 

Corn-on-the-cob holders.

 

 

Specialty corn-on-the-cob plates.

  • And your corn-on-the-cob plates, servers, dishes. These are shaped like an ear of corn, and prevent the corn from wandering all over your plate. Plus, they ensure that your corn is soaking in butter all the time!

 

Corn-on-the-cob automatic stick butter dispenser.

 

Enjoy!

 

Ears of corn-on-the-cob... complete with corn shaped plates and corn cob holders.

 

More About Corn-on-the-Cob

Corn husks from corn on the cob.If you still have questions about corn-on-the-cob, then I invite you to check out this site — they’ve got everything you could ever want to know about choosing, cleaning, preparing, cooking, and serving corn-on-the-cob!

And here’s everything you want to know about corn in general.

Got a dog? Here’s a sweet corn-on-the-cob for your four-legged friend.

 

Best Corn On The Cob Videos

These videos show the quickest & easiest ways to cook corn-on-the-cob — in the oven, and on the grill:

https://youtu.be/cBboCo7CABs

What I Learned Today…

People often like to make things out of the discarded corn husks… like these voodoo dolls (errr, I mean “corn husk puppets”).

Anyone got a toothpick??? We just finished a heapin helpin of fresh-cooked corn-on-the-cob... I like corn-on-the-cob so much that I even talked Jim into taking me to the Zellwood Corn Festival near Orlando back when we were dating!