Friday, October 14, 2011

Cooler Corn



Photograph by Scott DeSimon


This is one of those forwards I like to pass on from time to time, so here it is:
Am I the only person who hasn't heard of "cooler corn"?

As an obsessive food nerd, you'd expect that I would have at least heard of it, but over the weekend I was blindsided by the simple genius of this method for cooking loads of corn on the cob perfectly.

I was hepped to it while visiting my family in Maine. Short story: We like corn on the cob. And with eight adults at the table, that means a couple of dozen ears. We would have used the lobster pot to cook them all, but the lobster pot was busy steaming lobster.Then my sister, a capable Maine cook with years of camping experience says "let's do cooler corn!" Before I can ask "what is cooler corn?" a Coleman cooler appears from the garage, is wiped clean, then filled with the shucked ears. Next, two kettles-full of boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed.

Then nothing.

When we sat down to dinner 30 minutes later and opened it, the corn was perfectly cooked. My mind was blown. And I'm told that the corn will remain at the perfect level of doneness for a couple of hours.

Turns out, Cooler Corn is pretty well known among the outdoorsy set But for those of us who avoid tents as much as possible, it's perfect for large barbecues and way less of mess than grilling. In fact, I may even buy another cooler just so I'm ready for next summer. Now that I'm in the know.
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4 comments:

Yet God Is... said...

What a neat idea! I'll have to pass that one on to my camping family. I avoid tents too! But I think that would be a fun one to try at home.

Denise said...

Never heard of that ! Good idea.... So see you are not alone.... we still have a lot to learn!

TIL HE COMES said...

We having always been a camping family and I have never heard of this either.Thank you so much. I will put this to use maybe even here at home on Thanksgiving Day. connie

Susan Skitt said...

Now that is interesting - never did that or even heard of it and we love corn on the cob! We do something at the end of the summer that my husband's dad started when my hubby was a kid. My hubby and his sister and brother have kept the tradition - a corn roast picnic. It's alot of work but worth it once a year - the corn is actually roasted on a homemade metal contraption using sand, charcoal and covering the corn in wet burlap. The corn is actually steamed right in it's husks and it gets a really unique flavor. The left over cobs we slice the corn off and freeze. We'll be enjoying the roasted corn again soon on Thanksgiving! And a Happy Thanksgiving early to you Maxine!