Three Minute Corn on the Cob

Fresh Summer Corn on the Cob!

I grew up in Corn Country. A big summer highlight was buying freshly grown Silver Queen Corn from a farmer's wagon by the side of the road, and rushing home to quickly cook it and serve it with some fresh summer Tomatoes. When you've eaten corn this way, all other corn becomes inferior. When I traveled and tasted the corn other places, I wouldn't even eat it for the longest time.

When corn is fresh, and cooked very gently it is full of natural sugars, and very sweet and tender. But when it ages, or is overcooked, those sugars turn to starches, and the corn begins to taste woody. Only an inferior, fibrous type of corn would be cooked by a slower method.

That's why I'm not attracted to recipes that call for slow cooking corn. Or for freezing Corn on the Cob.

The local advice when I grew up was this: "Put the pot of water on to boil, THEN go out to the field to pick your corn!" That's how freshly-picked and gently cooked it was supposed to be!

Of course, modern hybrids are bred for a little longer storage than the Gourmet Silver Queen Corn of my youth (which I have not seen in years!), but overcooking is still overcooking.

Another childhood Corn memory involved the not-so-fun chore of husking corn for the entire family and painstakingly removing every silk (and, no one had just one ear!). And waiting for what seemed like hours for a giant pot of water to boil so the corn could be cooked in it. Not such a fun memory.

Nowadays, I have the delight of perfectly prepared, fresh, sweet, tender corn - with no work!

In addition to being super-easy & quick, this method produces hands-down the tastiest corn I have ever eaten : )

Three Minute Corn on the Cob
Bring your selected corn home.
Cut off the long stem, and the very tip with the silks. This should take 30 Seconds at most.

A Plate of Corn, Ready to Serve

Peel back the end just a little, and make sure there are no bugs (assuming you didn't do that when purchasing). Replace Husk.
Place corn on plate in microwave.
Cook for 2 1/2 minutes per ear. (If you cook 4 ears, that's 10 minutes, but one ear is 2 1/2 minutes. I don't do more than 6 ears at a time)
You may want to rearrange the corn half way through cooking for the most even cooking.
Place on table on plate. Corn will be very hot, and will stay very hot for a while (this is good if you like to have your favorite spread actually melt on your corn).
Each diner shucks his own corn at the table (you'll want an extra bowl for husks!). The silks come off easily, since they've been steamed!
I like to leave the husks attached at the stem end, and use the husks for a handle - much better than those little plastic corn holders of my youth : )

This is being shared at: In and Out of the Kitchen, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday