I Asked 2 Corn Farmers the Best Way To Cook Corn—They Both Said the Same Thing

Corn on the cob is one of the best summer foods. I love to boil and slather it with butter and a sprinkle of salt. Do you have a favorite way to cook corn?

Not surprisingly, corn farmers agree it’s a perfect summer dish, and that the best way to cook corn on the cob is nothing fancy or difficult—boil it in water.

“To cook [corn], boil it for three minutes, then put butter and salt and pepper on it and go at it,” says Mike Buis, a farmer from Martinsville, Indiana, who farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans with his brother. Buis started farming as a teenager and is now in his 60th crop season. Bring the water to a rolling boil first. Then, drop in the shucked ears.

April Robertson of Robertson Family Farm in King, North Carolina agrees. “I like grandma’s way of boiling it.” She likes to boil her corn just a little bit longer. “We love to simply boil it for about six minutes after shucking and silking it,” she says. “This makes the kernels more tender while not robbing the flavor from the corn. And it helps it to stay very juicy.” 

Corn Farmer Tips for Cooking Corn

If you are going to grill or microwave corn on the cob, here are some tips:

Tips for grilling corn on the cob: Buis says grilling is a good option if your corn isn’t the freshest. “You need to soak it for a few hours to get that husk good and wet, and that way, it steams it when you put it on the grill,” he says. “The only negative part of a grill is that it’s a slower process.”

Buis suggests turning the corn four times—once on each side—and cooking it for 40 minutes to an hour. “We used to do corn for a lot of parties that way when we had a big pit, a lot of time, and a lot of help,” he says.

Tips for microwaving corn on the cob: If you want to use the microwave to cook your corn, again, soak the ears in the husks first. Like on the grill, wet husks in the microwave help steam the corn and make it more tender. Buis says it depends on the microwave, but you probably only need to zap it for two to three minutes.

“It’s alright like that, but I’m old fashioned and like to boil my corn,” he says.

What To Do With Leftover Corn

Don’t even think of tossing leftovers when you have more corn than you know you’ll eat. “If you don’t eat it all, then cut it off the cob and make cream corn to go over biscuits,” says Robertson. 

Buis likes to freeze young, tender corn before cooking it. He blanches it first. “Pick it, shuck it, boil it for just one minute, then let it cool,” he says. “Cut the kernels off the cob, put it in plastic bags, and refrigerate overnight.”

Then, the next morning, put it in the freezer. “You want to get the corn good and cool before you freeze it.”

He makes a lot of cornbread with fresh corn and some good vegetable soup. But not everything works, Buis says. “I tried deep-fat frying corn once, and that was a failure.”