If I had to choose several foods that represent summer the first two that come to mind are watermelon and corn on the cob. I do love corn on the cob. From my Elotes recipe, which by the way is the best con on the cob recipe on the planet, to boiled sweet corn drenched in butter, salt, and pepper, corn is the bee’s knees. That is one weird saying by the way. I mean, do bees really HAVE knees? I digress. Today I want to tell you how to make corn on the cob super easily but first I’m reminiscing a little. If you don’t care about the short story skip right down to the tips to make your corn on the cob easy AND tasty.
When we were growing up we always lived in the country. It was nothing for at least one side of our yard to be bordered by a fence – not a white picket fence but an electric wire fence. Every summer, when it was time to shuck corn for dinner, we would sit on the back porch steps, shuck the corn, then throw the husks over the fence for the neighboring cows. Now we have to shuck our corn into the trash can, and hopefully, someday, a compost pile.
Since making corn on the cob has been part of my life for so many years, it’s a little shocking that I needed a reminder on how we always actually made the corn. I kind of got hooked on grilling it for a bit there and forgot the basics.
Tips on How to Make Corn on the Cob Easy
- Put a big pot of water on the stove to boil. Make sure it’s big enough to cover the corn and put a lid on to get it boiling faster. It will take a while so prepare this ahead a bit.
- Shuck the corn. Having a small vegetable brush makes getting the corn silk off so much easier.
- Once the corn is shucked and the water is boiling, drop the ears of corn in and put the lid back on.
- Watch closely for it to boil because once it does, you only want it to boil for 3 minutes then pull it from the pan.
- My mom always said that if you over boil the corn it gets tough. I don’t know the science behind that but I do know that those 3 minutes are golden and serve up the best sweet corn of summer.
How do you like your sweet corn?
I love your sweet story. Corn has childhood memories attached for me too! Ok. I boil it for 20 mins… Whoops!
I would never make corn if I had to wait for the water to boil then wait 20 minutes for the corn to be done. Try it “my way” and see what you think. I would be interested to see how you think the corn itself compares done the 2 ways.