Sweet, sweet corn… Just picked… Extraordinarily delicious. There’s nothing like the simple pleasure of sinking your teeth into a corn on the cob – amply worth the minor nuisance of getting those little fibers wedged between your teeth.
As delicious as traditional boiled corn on the cob is, when grilled it’s even more of a treat.
There are many ways people like to grill corn on the cob. Some shuck them and place the ears directly on the grill. Some peel back the husks, lather the kernels with butter and seasonings, then pull the husks back over the kernels and grill the ears. Others soak the unshucked ears in buckets of water before placing them on the grill. And I’m sure there are many more ways of grilling corn.
For me, the most special thing about fresh, sweet corn is how juicy and tender the kernels are. Preserving that succulent essence is as important to me as the intense flavor you get from the grill. That’s why placing the shucked ears directly on the grill is my least favorite method. It burns off the sugars so much that the kernels become hard, sticky bits.
After experimenting a few times I found that shucking the corn to the last couple of layers, and brushing the remaining husks with a little oil before placing them on the grill accomplishes my goals. The kernels remain juicy, plump and sweet, and they acquire that irresistible smoky-flavor. Now I’m ready to fire up the grill again. How about you?
Never Miss a Recipe
In-their-husks grilled corn on the cob
4 servings
10 minutes
10 minutes
Print
Ingredients
4 large ears fresh corn – husks removed to the last 2 layers only
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or high heat oil) to brush the ears
unsalted butter to taste
fine sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat gas grill to medium-high heat or prepare charcoal grill.
- Brush the husks with the oil and set aside on a tray. When the grill is ready, place corn directly on the grill and grill until husks are charred, rotating them so that they grill evenly on all sides. Transfer to a tray and let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove husks, spread a little butter over the whole surface of the cobs, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.
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Sweet Corn, I’ll put it on my list. I love your photo! Looks good!
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Summer is all about grilled corn. Made some the other day and basted them with a bit of chili-lime sauce. Thank you for all your delicious vegetable posts!
This is just how I’ve begun doing my grilled corns… I love that orzo salad! NICE!!
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This past weekend we tried a new method: soaking the cobs in salt water for 10 minutes or so before grilling them over an open fire (since we were at the beach, this was easy to do). They were delicious; very sweet and tender.
What I like about your method, Viviane, is that it allows some kernel charring, and I love a little char. Must try!
I’m definitely a corn addict this summer but I’ve never tried it grilled. I’ll have to give it a shot. It looks very flavorful!
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Thanks for experimenting. Up until now I’ve settled on the soak and grill in the full husks method, but I miss the grill flavor. Putting the corn directly on the grill gives me the same disappointingly hard, dehydrated kernels that you obtained. I’m going to try this compromise method. I just finished harvesting from my first planting of corn and the next one should be ready for eating in a few weeks. When that happens it’s corn every night for a few weeks-thanks for the tip.