Cooking Corn On The Cob – Some Easy Ways To Get Great Tasting Corn

In this section you'll learn a couple of methods and the odd corn on the cob recipe that will give you great tasting corn with a minimum of fuss.

Method 1: Barbecuing

If you're already using your BBQ to prepare some food (like steak, chops, ribs and so on) then did you know you can also use it to cook corn?

Well, barbecued corn is very simple to do, you'll be pleased to know!

As you may have seen in the Barbecue Tips section I talk about both gas grills and kettle barbecues. You can cook corn in both, but the methods are a little different. I'll cover both here.

Cooking Corn on Gas Grills

Grilled corn on the cob has a great taste all it's own - it's almost a bit Cajun.

If using your gas BBQ when cooking corn on the cob, try to use a solid, flat hotplate. By this I mean don't use one with raised bits, or grills. Coat the hotplate with your oil of choice (I prefer canola oil).

Now heat up the hotplate to high. While that's happening, brush some more oil onto each corn cob so that all the yellow kernels are covered.

When the hotplate is ready, put the corn cobs straight on. There's no need to cover them in foil or anything. The corn will cook quite quickly this way, so after about 3 minutes, give each cob a quarter turn. Then after another 3 minutes or so, give them another quarter turn, and so on until the entire cob is cooked. This should take about 12 minutes.

Once done, remove from the hotplate, serve up and enjoy! The great thing about cooking corn on the cob with oil on a BBQ is that you won't need anything extra to give it a great taste. The kernels get nicely browned and give it that unique BBQ flavour.

Cooking Corn in Kettle BBQs

If you're roasting a leg of meat in a Weber or kettle BBQ, cooking corn on the cob alongside it is a snap. The result is a beautifully cooked corn cob, without the 'Cajun' effect you can get from gas grills. This is my favourite way of cooking corn on the cob.

Depending on the size of the corn cobs, it can take about 30 to 40 minutes to cook in a kettle BBQ. Preparation is the key, though.

Start by removing the husks and silk from the corn. Then rub some cold butter all over each cob. Leave a few globs here and there for extra flavour.

Now take a piece of tin foil for each cob, and place it flat on a bench top. Place the corn cob on the foil towards one end and then roll the cob up into the foil, being sure to tuck in the edges. You should end up with the cob fully wrapped up in the tin foil.

Tasty Tip - just before wrapping the corn cob up, drizzle some sweet chilli sauce over it. You don't need a lot, but I'll leave that up to your own personal taste.

When the meat cooking in the kettle BBQ has about 30 to 40 minutes left to go, place each cob in the BBQ around the meat. Don't place them above the coals as they need to be cooked indirectly.

Once they've finished cooking, the butter (and sweet chilli sauce, if you've added it) will have infused itself all through the corn, making it mouth-wateringly tender and delicious.

All that's left to do is simply unwrap them and eat.

Method 2: Boiling

Boiled corn is really quick and simple to prepare. This method allows the corn to retain only its natural flavours, so you can spice it up with whatever takes your fancy.

First of all, add some cold water to a medium sized pan. Then add some salt and stir it in until it's all dissolved.

Now, add your corn cobs. Usually I'll cut them in half to make them fit better in the pan, but you might have bigger pans than me! As long as they have enough room to roll around they'll be fine.

Put a lid on the pan, and turn the heat up to high.

Once the water starts boiling, remove the lid and reduce the heat down to low. Let the corn cobs simmer away for a further 10 minutes. Give them a prod every few minutes and spin them around in the water to make sure they boil evenly.

After 10 minutes, simply remove the pan from the heat and put the lid back on. The corn cobs can stay in the water and keep warm until you're ready to serve them.

When you're ready to serve them, just take them out of the water (use tongs – the water may still be quite hot) and put them on your plate. As I mentioned before, boiled corn on the cob won't have any other flavours, so add a generous dollop of butter (or whatever else you like). Then eat!

One little tip I can offer here is something my Dad used to do. He'd take a steak knife and cut all the kernels off the corn cob onto a plate. Then he'd add some butter and mix it all together, and then eat it with a spoon. This is a fantastic way to get that delicious corn and butter taste without having the butter constantly fall off the corn cob while you're trying to eat! Try it some day, and you'll see what I mean!

So there's 3 methods for cooking corn on the cob, all of them resulting in delicious corn. Try them at your next dinner or BBQ!

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