Easiest Way to Cook Summer Corn – The three main ways are to grill it, microwave it, or boil it. Each has its pros and cons. It’s a personal preference thing. The method we like best is boiling summer corn. I like the simplicity of boiling and you don’t need to start cooking the corn until you are just about ready to serve the meal.
Different ways to cook Summer Corn
Grilling probably gives corn the most flavor, but it also takes the longest to cook. Microwaving is the quickest (about 1-2 minutes per ear of corn), but the corn is best microwaved with the husk on. Which means waiting for it to cool before husking the corn.
When boiling the corn, start the corn in cold water about 10-15 minutes before you are ready to serve the meal. No need to time this process, just look for the rolling boil. Once that happens, your corn is ready!!
How Summer Corn is sold in grocery stores.
One type of Summer Corn is where the store has already husked and cleaned the corn. It is nice to save yourself the step of shucking summer corn, don’t buy the packages of pre-shucked produce if you want great corn. Corn starts to go starchy as soon as you take it off the stalk but is protected by staying attached to its husk for as long as possible.
The next way is a partial clean, where the husk is half on and half cleaned. It’s better than completely cleaned, but not as good as buying corn with the husk and silks still attached.
As you probably guessed the best summer corn to buy in the store is corn that has its husk and silk still attached. Husking corn is a snap. You can shuck an ear of corn in about 30 seconds.
The boiling method I use is to put the husked corn in a pot of cold water. Turn it to high. Once the water boils, the corn is ready. No need to time it, just be ready to serve once it has come to a full boil. This is the Easiest Way to Cook Summer Corn.
Equipment
- Large pot to boil the corn
Ingredients
- 1 ear corn for each person
- butter for cooked corn
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Shuck corn as close to meal time as possible
- Fill a large pot or pan with cold water
- Make sure the water covers the corn and the corn is not crowded in the pot
- Put cleaned, husked corn in cold water
- Turn heat to high, and let it reach a rolling boil (about 10 minutes)
- Once the water reaches a rolling boil, it is ready to serve
- Serve with butter, salt and pepper
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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This could not be simpler. When the pot boils, the corn is ready!!
We use a slightly different approach, Charlie, but it accomplishes essentially the same cooking time as your method. We follow the Lake Wobegon method: don’t husk until pot is ready to cook to insure freshness. Or at least I do. Anne is less picky. We get the pot to boil, put a tablespoon of sugar in the water, followed by the corn. We then immediately move the pot to a cool burner. This keeps extra cobs — not part of the first helping — fresh in hot but cooling water, and it keeps them from drying out.
Now to Lake Wobegon. Keiler talked a lot about competitive gardening, but one of my favorite segments is when he waxed on about how fresh corn can be better than sex. He talked about picking it at the last minute (impossible, of course, for urban dwellers), and shucking just before putting it in water. He said when the corn is prepared properly, couples throughout the town would say later that night, “Honey, that was good, but not as good as the fresh corn.”
I like to grill it with the husks on, they steam in the husk. The bonus is that the silk comes right off with the husk.
Love our Michigan corn – for a crowd boiling is best but for a few I like to grill them smothered in butter and wrapped in foil. I have even cooked them in a slow cooker with good results 🙂
This is a fantastic tutorial.
Thanks so much, Bernadette
Thanks for the support and comment. For Lake Michigan Beach picnics, we always grill the same way you describe. This way is just the simplest way, for amateur or novice cooks. I do appreciate the support!!
Thanks Michael. I whole heartedly concede, there are much better ways to cook corn. This is just the easiest way. I would agree grilling has the best flavor outcomes.
Thanks Charlie. I know there are several ways to get max flavor from summer corn. Yours sounds great. Mine is just the simplest, especially if you have 10 things going on at the same time. Hope your summer is going well