Cooler Corn

[Figment]

Over the weekend it was suggested to me that I've been cooking corn-on-cob incorrectly all these years.

Throw a dozen ears of corn into a cooler, add a kettle of boiling water, close the lid for about an hour.

I haven't tried it yet. Anyone here a practitioner of "cooler corn"?

[Flying Orca]

Re: Cooler Corn

Not when there's a microwave handy.

[Canoez]

Re: Cooler Corn

Over the weekend it was suggested to me that I've been cooking corn-on-cob incorrectly all these years.

Throw a dozen ears of corn into a cooler, add a kettle of boiling water, close the lid for about an hour.

I haven't tried it yet. Anyone here a practitioner of "cooler corn"?

Matter of taste, I suppose. Up at WoodenBoat when they do their weekly lobster-boil, they take unshucked ears of corn and do something like that in big coolers.

Personally I like an ear of fresh corn three ways:

• Low boil in lightly salted water for 6 minutes if I've got other things in the kitchen that I'm paying attention to.
• Soak ears in cold water for maybe 1/2 an hour. Put them on the grill and turn them 1/4 turn every 2 minutes or so. When they've gone all the way around and the outer husk is charred, they're done. Take a big knife and cut through just above the bottom of the ear - the husk and silk should slide off.
• Lastly but not leastly - peel an ear of corn. Allow a little bit of butter to soften. Add some salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder (Your preference for type - I like a smoked ancho.) and some real-Lime crystals. Mix and spread all over the corn. Grill until the butter melts in and the outside kernels show a little char. (YUM!)

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Cooler Corn

I like the soak and grill approach. When going with boil, I put the shucked ears in cold water, put that on the stove, and bring to a boil. When the water has just started boiling, they are done.

[AlanMc]

Re: Cooler Corn

corn should be grilled. if the edges aren't browned your corn is broken and should be thrown away.

[Bill Hubbard]

Re: Cooler Corn

I grew up with putting the peeled ears in the pot, add sugar instead of salt to keep it tender. Put on the heat until it boils, take off heat and cover for at least 15 minutes before serving. So probably works out the same as pouring boiling water in and letting it sit for an hour.
I do hard boiled eggs almost the same. Poke the end of the shell and put in cold water in the pot (no salt or sugar, though). Bring to a boil, cover and take off heat. Let the pot cool, or move the eggs to cold water after 15 minutes.

[Jim Mahan]

Re: Cooler Corn

The cooler I have wouldn't stand up well to adding a kettle of boiling water.

What could be faster, easier than just putting the ears in the water after it comes to a boil. Leave them in the water for just a few minutes depending on how you like it. There is no need to cook it to death and ruin the right out of the field fresh sweet taste.

The cooler is superflous unless you want to serve it cold. Or just need a carrier.

PIcture the annual family reunion or company picnic. You're hanging around the grill, smelling the hot smoky meat, bending an elbow after the three-legged races. Time to do the corn, you tear yourself away from watching the volleyball, you flip open the cooler and dump in the entire kettle of boiling water before your sodden brain can register that this is the beer cooler and not the corn cooler.

A tragic mistake, a perfect afternoon of pastoral frolicking and frivolity ruined by a moment of inattention and a wanton disregard for tradition, protocol and basic decency and good sense.

This is gonna have to go in the report. Your performance review is not looking good. Thank odd there weren't any children involved. What were you thinking?

[Figment]

Re: Cooler Corn

Generally, I'm a "only half-inch of water in the pot for steam" kinda guy, ears standing in the pot pointy-end-up. (or grilled per the second bullet of post #3).

As described to me, the chief advantage of the cooler method is that it doesn't heat up the kitchen. A lot less BTUs in a little kettle of water than boiling a whole corn-pot.

[Jim Mahan]

Re: Cooler Corn

Generally, I'm a "only half-inch of water in the pot for steam" kinda guy, ears standing in the pot pointy-end-up. (or grilled per the second bullet of post #3).

As described to me, the chief advantage of the cooler method is that it doesn't heat up the kitchen. A lot less BTUs in a little kettle of water than boiling a whole corn-pot.

More seriously, the kettle doesn't actually get dumped, only placed in the cooler, and the total heat in the cooler then gradually equilibrates in the insulated chamber until the corn is... warm? Seems like it would be like trying to fry an egg on a sidewalk in the summer when it's only kinda balmy out.

[amish rob]

Re: Cooler Corn

corn should be grilled. if the edges aren't browned your corn is broken and should be thrown away.

Haha. Broken.

Peace,
Robert

[AlanMc]

Re: Cooler Corn

the ONLY way i could endorse the cooler corn method is if you were needing to cook 100 ears of corn for a family reunion. and even then i would say you should buy a bigger grill and grill them. but, if all you got is a 100 guests and a big cooler.... i guess i'll let it slide.

[SeanM26]

Re: Cooler Corn

Corn should obly be eaten one way.Elote-Corn-3-735x1029.jpg

[pkrone]

Re: Cooler Corn

Shucked and grilled is the preferred method at my house.

[AlanMc]

Re: Cooler Corn

i usually butter, salt, pepper the corn and wrap in foil to put on the grill. after it steams in all that for a while i'll pull the foil off and see if it need to char some more before taking it off.

holy bejesus at that corn pic in #12. not cool man, i haven't eaten breakfast and now my mouth is watering. literally watering.

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Cooler Corn

As a public service announcement - please limit your corn consumption.

heck, I love corn but know that Corn that you will most likely eat is cheap because large agricultural companies have figured out how to genetically modify it so that it can be sprayed with a powerful herbicide that will kill all the plants around it without killing the corn itself.

While most people think of corn as a vegetable, it’s actually a grain, and it hasn’t got much going for it. Corn is highly inflammatory, which means it can cause a range of health issues, including type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease, leaky gut, and more. As if that wasn't enough, corn is also high-glycemic, which means it causes blood sugar spikes. And every time your blood sugar goes up, your body produces insulin to bring it back down.

One of the worst chemicals is produced by certain types of mold. Aflatoxins are frequently found in crops like corn and peanuts have been linked to liver cancer.

Corn has exceptionally high lectin content. Lectins are a family of proteins found mainly in legumes and grains, and they have a trio of nasty side effects. First, lectins tend to bind to fibers in your small intestine, and as a result, you can’t absorb the nutrients in your food properly; over time, lectins can even cause intestinal ulcers. Secondly, lectins also attach to insulin receptors, making you more insulin resistant and opening the door to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and widespread inflammation. As if that wasn’t bad enough, high levels of lectins can create leptin resistance, which interferes with healthy hunger hormones and can result in a ravenous appetite and obesity. Lectins are bad news, and corn is full of them. It is the main triggers to fatten up Walmart cattle, pigs chickens for market. It is also one of the main reasons why Americans are fat.