Grilled Sweet Corn on the Cob
September 14, 2014
20 Comments
When we arrived at our vacation lakehouse rental in New York’s Finger Lakes region, our lovely host surprised us with fresh sweet corn from the neighboring farm.
Having never grilled sweet corn before, I did what I usually do – Google it!
I am still astounded by how contentious this question it. Everyone seems to have their own method. Some soak the corn in water first, others don’t. Out of soakers, some say 15 minutes is enough, others demand it must be overnight. And then, to remove or not to remove the husks? Keep them on and ensure moist kernels, or remove them and blacken the corn? If you keep the husks on, how thick should the husk layer be? Others say to remove everything, and rewrap the corn completely with aluminum foil, and then still others insist this is pretty much the same thing as not removing the husks at all. Oh my!
I tried to sort through all these passionate opinions, and I think it comes down to a balance between keeping the kernels moist (i.e. leaving the husks on) and blackening the kernels (i.e. exposing the kernels to the grill flames). Since Chris and I live in the land of no-grilling-allowed apartments, I wanted to get all the grill flavor I could by blackening the corn. So I decided to remove everything but a thin layer of husk.
My result: the blackened kernels took on an almost nutty taste, while remaining plenty moist (although a generous layer of butter was involved) 🙂
I served these with optional, but highly recommended, roasted garlic. After spreading butter all over the freshly grilled corn, squeeze the roasted garlic slightly to pop the cloves out of the bulb. Then the rub the garlic all over the corn too. The thick garlic paste will soak into all the little spaces between the corn….mmmmmm!
What do you think? What’s your favorite way to grill corn? I’m always eager to test out new methods…and butter flavors 🙂
Grilled Sweet Corn on the Cob
Ingredients
Grilled Corn
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2 ears of sweet corn
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Butter to taste
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Salt and pepper to taste
Roasted Garlic
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1 bulb of garlic
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olive oil
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salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Chop top of garlic bulb off to expose the top of each garlic clove. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and wrap in aluminum foil. Roast in oven until garlic cloves are soft, about 45 minutes. Unwrap and let cool.
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Heat grill to medium heat. Pull back corn husks and remove silks. Replace husks around the corn, removing outer husks so only a single, non-continuous layer of husks remain.
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Grill for 15-20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until corn is blackened. Coat corn with butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.
Todd
I just saw another recipe recently that used coconut on the corn while grilling. I haven’t tried it, but I bet it would be delicious as well. Just wanted to share. 🙂
Karen
Hi Todd! Coconut on grilled corn certainly does sound very interesting – thanks for sharing 🙂
Michelle @ Flour and Aprons
I love grilled corn. We remove the husk, wrap it in foil for the first half of the cooking time and then take the foil off to get that charred taste. 🙂
Karen
What a great idea! Best of both world, moist and blackened kernels! Thanks for sharing Michelle 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Cannot remember the last time that I had some grilled sweet corn.. this looks so incredibly delicious! Thanks for reminding me how awesome it is, you have definitely inspired me to recreate the recipe asap!
Karen
Thanks Thalia! I’m glad you’re inspired to grill some corn again. It will definitely be worth it 🙂
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
I love corn on the grill but I don’t like the kernels burnt. I soak mine in water and drain and toss on the bbq. Your corn looks really good in those photos!
Karen
Thanks Maureen! I bet that totally keeps the corn moist and delicious 🙂
Kelly @ Trial and Eater
Gorgeous picture! Grilling vegetables always adds such a nice flavor. I recently made summer grits with fresh corn, but I’d bet grilling the corn first would make it even more delicious!
Karen
Thanks Kelly! Grilling and roasting do always give vegetables that extra delicious touch! I bet the grilled corn would be great the grits 🙂
Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron
Wow, those are some gorgeous ears of corn! Love that you put some roasted garlic on them, that must have been amazing! I have to say we didn’t have much success in grilling our corn this summer, it came out really chewy, so we went back to boiling it. But maybe husk on is the answer?
Karen
Thanks Denise! You should totally try the roasted garlic…I thought it was fantastic. I’ve also spread it on steaks and potatoes too 🙂 Also, I bet keeping the husks on would help reduce the chewiness, it’s probably just drying out too much on the grill. Let me know how it turns out if you get a chance to try it.
Judy @ I'm Bored, Let's Go
Nothing better than grilled corn that’s for sure! I remove all the husks and silk and toss them on the grill with a light dousing of oil or butter… but I don’t grill them very long, just enough to get some nice grill marks.
Karen
I bet coating the corn with butter before you grill it adds a fantastic flavor! Thanks for the tip Judy, I’ll keep it in mind the next time I get a chance to grill corn 🙂
Kate @ Babaganosh.org
Grilled corn is so delicious! We’ve had SO much corn this summer from our CSA, but unfortunately no outdoor space in our apartment. We’ve been bringing the corn over to people’s houses whenever we are invited for a bbq though… They think we are being generous, but really, we just want grilled corn 🙂 tricky tricky!
Karen
That’s great Kate! Sounds like a win-win situation to me. You get delicious grilled corn and they get delicious grilled corn! I’ll definitely keep that in mind the next time I head over to a friend’s house that has a grill 🙂
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
Grilling corn is certainly a hot topic! I always take all the husks off and soak for just 15 minutes. But there are so many ways to do it. And honestly, if you have super fresh corn – like you had here – then I don’t think you can really go wrong!
Karen
I bet soaking the corn might have prevented the husks from burning as much. You can see in the photo of them on the grill, part of husk actually caught on fire a little bit…Luckily I was able to put it out easily and it still tasted delicious 🙂
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
I love grilled corn and yours looks perfect! We usually remove all but a thin layer, soak 15 minutes, then grill. Like you, it seems like a good compromise between grilled goodness and keeping the moisture. (I also love to grill then remove the kernels to freeze for soups, quesadillas etc.!)
Karen
That’s a great idea Jennifer! I’d love to have grill corn around. I’ll totally grill up extra next time 🙂