Jim Hillibish: Use your nose when cooking ears Washington DC

The secret of successful corn cooking is as clear as the nose on your face.

In fact, it is the nose on your face.

First, start your water boiling, or, if you have a microwave and are cooking only a few ears, get out a shallow casserole and a cover.

Next, husk the corn, picking off the silk. Wash it under the cold faucet.

Trim both ends if you're using corn holders.

Boil it uncovered. In the microwave, cover the wet ears in the casserole and cook on high.

Take a Sniff or Two

Now here's where the nose comes into play. The minute the steam smells like sweet corn, it's done. It's that simple.

Relying on cooking times really doesn't work with corn. There are too many variables, especially how many ears you're cooking. Even different kinds of corn and its age will affect cooking times.

Instead, keep sniffing the steam. You'll soon get the hang of it, and you'll never again suffer through tough, overcooked ears, or greenish tasting, undercooked stuff.

In the microwave, try five minutes on high first and take a whiff. It may be done, or it may need two minutes or more, depending on wattage of your oven.

M-waved corn is earning fans fast and for good reason. Unlike boiling, it cooks without waterlogging.

This preserves flavor and doesn't steal vitamins or boil away the sugar. The only trouble is with the microwave is it's tough to serve more than a family of four all at once.

Anyhow, train yourself in corn smelling. Do a little experimenting. You'll soon learn the exact instant when your corn is perfect.

Preserving the Gold

For those with corn to spare, freezing seems to be the preferred preservation method. The 85 minutes or so of cooking in a pressure canner leave lots to be desired on the fresh-tasting scale. Freezing seems to be the closest to fresh.

For whole-kernel frozen corn, blanch ears in boiling water for five minutes.

Then quickly run under cold water to halt the cooking. When ears are cool, slice corn off the cob with a sharp knife or one of those nifty corn cutters.

Package in plastic freezer bags and freeze immediately. Don't let the corn sit around. As soon as you get a bagful, get it into the freezer.

Some folks add a dusting of sugar to the corn to improve the sweetness. This works best when the corn is slightly old. Otherwise, it may be too much.

Be sure to use freezer bags if you're planning on keeping your corn more than a month. Regular plastic bags are too porous and will result in an off flavor and freezer burn in about a month of storage.

You can dry corn, pickle corn, raw pack corn and hot pack corn.

Each of these are corn of a different flavor.
 
Canton (Ohio) Repository

Send food questions to jim.hillibish@cantonrep.com.