The sweet corn has been remarkably good around here this year

Cafe Society
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Despite covid isolation, despite abnormally high summer temps, despite local and general flooding due to excess rain, at least we got one of the most delicious sweet corn seasons in recent memory. Not cloyingly sweet, like some varieties which were engineered to absolutely maximize sugar content, but amazingly sweet with an intensity that meshes with the savory butter/salt additions. Occasionally we use other spices/juices to enhance the flavor.

I get our corn from a local stand, who gets it from a particular local farmer. Picked fresh every morning, it’s consistently great, and falls off only about 10-20% in flavor if we cook it the next day, rather than the same day.

We’ve tried many preparation methods over the decades, but we’ve settled on a microwave method where the base of the ear is cleaved off about as close to the last part of the cob as we can manage. At the other end, husks and silk are trimmed of an inch or so distal to the end of the ear. About half the husks around the ear are removed, then the thing is microwaved, about 2 minutes per ear. It ends up steamed nicely inside the husk, and once it is cooled enough (or sooner, with mitts on), the whole ear is squeezed out cleanly sans silk, by pressure on the distal end.

We find using a whole chilled stick of butter is the best way to get it coated. the ear just gets set on top of it and rolled until sufficiently coated. Then add sea salt and eat. Re-butter/season as desired. After I finish eating from the cob, I generally use my knife to removed any corn I’ve missed. Paper grocery bags are placed strategically for the husks and cobs.

3 to 4 ears per person seems about right, though at times we’ve gone as far as half a dozen per the Mrs. and myself, usually when we decide the corn’s so good we won’t bother with other food.

Tonight, we’re ready to enjoy this morning’s corn harvest with a big bowl of chili. The farmer figures he’ll still be harvesting for another week or two.

How’s the sweet corn been by you?

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Not so good here, it seems. We bought a few ears and they were basically tasteless. Not silage inedible, but nothing to waste money on.

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Massachusetts. Best in decades. First round in July-August was amazing. The second corn in August-September was (for second round) outstanding, but the first had it beat hands down. With the drought we are in, I don’t think anyone expected it to be this good.

I do ours on the grill. Let it soak with the husks on for an hour or two in a 5-gallon bucket of water. Crank he grill to medium-high, like 550 degrees. Put it on the grill for 20 to 25 mins, rotate them once or twice so the husks burn evenly. The grill likely won’t be able to get above 350, as it’s now trying to boil all of the water trapped in the husks. Take them off the grill when they smell done. Really, the corn is just steaming inside the husks, but it’s far simpler than peeling before cooking. They’ll stay hot for 30 mins in the husk, giving you time to cook the main course. Serve with the husks on, go up to the pile and grab one. They peel open very cleanly (the strings are cooked, so they don’t stay stuck to the kernels). Husks into the bucket, used cobs into the bucket, and into the compost heap after dinner.

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Corn comes from Spain and they stopped carrying it in my store a few weeks ago. Can’t be the same as stopping by a corn field, getting a bag of ears and then cooking them that day. So it’s nothing special.

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I recall a bit by Garrison Keillor: “There are four great pleasures in life. There is the love of learning; and there is . . . the one you all thought of first; and there is the joy of serving the Lord and walking in His way; and then there’s fresh sweet corn. And Minnesotans understand you can’t have them all, you have to choose, and mostly they choose fresh sweet corn.”

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Corn has been remarkably bad this year around here (Japan). Don’t know why.

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I must have a poor palate WRT sweet corn, as it always tastes great to me. I’ve had it where I get the water boiling, pick it, drop it in, and I’ve had it where I buy it then cook it a few days later; it’s all the same to me.

I always get 1/2 dozen ears. Two for me, two for my gf, one cut into small pieces for our parrot, and one entire ear for our hens.

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Wisconsin had a bumper crop this year! I cut off the ends, till in husks microwave for four minutes perfect.

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Ohio. It’s been good this year. Love me some sweet corn.

The microwave oven makes it so simple: 4 minutes on high. Remove husk. Season to taste. Enjoy.

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I live in Nebraska, the Cornhusker State. Our corn is delicious this season.

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I live next door (in Nebraska, 50 miles is ‘next door’) to @longhair75 and my sweet corn purchases been great. Off the back of the farm pickup hours after it was picked. Microwaved in the husk or grilled outdoors by my skilled SIL if I’m really lucky.

Butter is here or there but I keep the salt shaker close by.

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And pepper needs me some pepper!