The Best Corn on the Cob Cooking Hack You’ve Never Heard Of

Since we're right in the heart of sweet corn season right now in many parts of the USA, today's post is a quick cooking hack that saves time, effort, energy and cleanup.

Normally, normal people will just cook corn in a pot of boiling water.

But what if you've got a pot of soup going too? Or better yet, a pot of simmering, homemade stock? Well, the hack is simply this: put the fresh corn right into that pot.

That's right: just gently drop in your ear of corn (you might have to turn up the heat for just a minute or two to get the soup/stock-plus-corn boiling properly), boil it for ten minutes, and then, with a pair of tongs, fish out the ears of corn. Fortunately, they'll be floating on top. You can rinse them off--or not--depending on your preferences.

You can easily cook two, three or even four ears of corn this way. No need to get out another pot, fill it with water, wait until it's heated. And best of all, you won't need to clean up an extra pot once you're done!

CK readers of course know the extraordinary value of making homemade stock (or "bone broth" as iHipsters like to call it these days). We all know how easy it is to make, how much better it is than expensive store-bought stock, and how much it improves the flavor and depth of any homemade soup, stew, risotto, or any recipe requiring broth or water.

Well, just the other day, I had a big pot of stock going, made from the leftovers of an amazing Pernil we had cooked recently. I just dropped in three ears of corn... and ten minutes later I had delicious, gently-flavored ears of corn, ready to eat, at the cost of no effort whatsoever.

They didn't even need butter or salt. Of course, really good corn never does.

Try this hilariously simple cooking hack and see what you think. Enjoy!


How can I support Casual Kitchen?
Easy. Do all your shopping at Amazon.com via the links on this site! You can also link to me or subscribe to my RSS feed. Finally, consider sharing this article, or any other article you particularly enjoyed here, to Facebook, Twitter (follow me @danielckoontz!) or to bookmarking sites like reddit, digg or stumbleupon. I'm deeply grateful to my readers for their ongoing support.

4 comments:

The Calico Cat said...

Since I am more often going to be baking fish or chicken in the summer rather than making soup, I throw in the ears in the husks in the 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Daniel said...

Another really good idea. Thanks for sharing Calico Cat!!

DK

Lisa said...

My eureka moment of corn-on-the-cob cooking came earlier this year: the microwave! Take 1 ear of corn, with the husks and silks still attached, and cook in the microwave on high for 3.5 minutes. Let it cool a bit. The cut through the bottom end to expose the first row or so of kernels, and the husks and silks will just pull (EASILY) off. So simple, quick, and it doesn't heat up the kitchen with a pot of hot water! Plus, the corn is more flavorful, as you've essentially steamed it on the cob...reminds me of the flavor you get from roasting it over a fire. EASY!!

Daniel said...

Brilliant Lisa! Thank you.

DK