What I DON'T like about corn on the cob is the silks. No matter how carefully I shuck corn, I never can get all the silks out. Then they get caught in my teeth and it feels miserable and detracts an awful lot from my corn on the cob experience.
While flipping through Pinterest the other day, I found this pin for corn on the cob:
The pinner claims you can cook corn in the microwave and it will fall right out of the husk, leaving the silks behind.
No. Way. Game on.
I bought a dozen ears of corn (for the whole family; I wasn't going to try to eat them all, at least, not this time) and set to work.
The directions said to microwave two cobs at a time for 8 minutes on high, then cut about an inch off of the end opposite the silks. Using a hot pad or towel, hold the cob and squeeze a little as you pull out the cob. Out it will pop with no silks.
Color me skeptical.
I cut the tip end of the silks off the ears, removed any blatantly loose outer leaves,and put the ears, two at a time, into the microwave.
After 8 minutes, I removed the ears and chopped off the end of each one.
Then I squeezed a little.
And delivered a bouncing ear of silk-free corn.
LOOK AT THAT EAR OF CORN! NO SILKS TO GET CAUGHT IN YOUR TEETH!
When they were all done, I gave them a little shot of cooking spray, and my husband put them on the grill just long enough to brown them a bit.
They were scrumptious!
A few notes:
It was time consuming to do only two ears at a time, so I tried doing four at once. The problem I found was that the last two of that batch didn't pop out as easily, maybe because they had cooled down? I did check another site where that pinner said she microwaved eights ears at a time. Either she was quicker at delivering ears of corn than I was or she had help with the shucking. I wasn't as concerned about the ears cooling off, since I was putting them on the grill, but it would certainly be much more efficient to do more than two ears at a time. Be prepared to work quickly or enlist help.
Freshly microwaved ears of corn are hot, hot, HOT. Make sure you use hot pads or towels to hold onto them.
PINTEREST WIN!
I have corn in my fridge right now; I'll have to try this!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how it works!
DeleteI just don't know if I could handle the smell of cooking husk. Growing up, my parents always had a huge vegetable garden. When the corn was on, my Aunts and Uncles would all come out after dinner and around 8 or 9 we would all be sitting in the backyard eating corn on the cob. My mom used to cook 3 dozen ears at a time and that was a snack!
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice the smell of cooking husk when I did it. Or I don't remember it if it did. I would like to join your family and eat corn on the cob in the backyard!
DeleteWell this is handy info, considering I we will be having a cook out on the 4th and of course I will be having CORN on the COB! That's a lot of microwaving though... but maybe worth it!
ReplyDeleteTotally worth it! One pinner did 8 ears at a time, so it's doable.
DeleteNice! Gonna try this one! I hate hairy corn.
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't?
DeleteGood to know.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to try it.
DeleteMy dad just did this to cook our 4th of July corn. It worked like a charm, and there wasn't any corn going to waste on the plate, getting cold and inedible.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it cool? Why didn't we know about this sooner?
DeleteYou have got to be kidding! That is amazing.
ReplyDeleteHuge Pinterest win here!
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