Can you boil corn? Alternative ways to prepare and serve corn

The end of summer is simply a paradise for corn lovers. If desired, it can be baked in foil in the oven, dried on the grill or boiled. The last way to cook corn is the easiest. Agree, there is nothing difficult in peeling the cobs, putting them in a saucepan, pouring water and putting them to boil. However, after one of my friends asked how to cook corn on the cob in a saucepan, how much to cook it, I wondered if everyone had mastered this simple culinary science.

It is important to buy sweet corn because it will be sweet and tasty, and feed, intended for animal feed, no matter how boiled, it will still not be tasty.

How to distinguish fodder corn from sugar? The sizes of both can be the same, the fodder can be both large and small in size, however, as well as sugar. In the bazaar, when choosing, you can easily distinguish them by the color of their hair. Feed corn has brown to dark brown hair, whether young or old. In young sweet corn, the hair color is light green, almost white, perhaps even transparent. In old sweet corn, the color of the hair darkens only at the tips, that is, only at the tips the color can be brown.

So you bought right corn, now it can be boiled. Do not store it for a long time without a refrigerator. But if you bought it in excess, then you can freeze it in the freezer. To defrost, just take it out and leave it at room temperature excellent, it also defrosts in cold water. After defrosting, its taste will not change. By the way, they sell it frozen in stores.

So, for boiled corn you will need:

freshly harvested corn on the cob - how much will the pan hold.

How to Boil Delicious Boiled Corn on the Cob in a Pot

We get a large capacity container. We clean the cobs from the leaves and put them in a wide pan.

It is desirable, of course, that they fit entirely in it. If you do not have such a vessel, break the cobs in half. We do not add salt to the pan, you can put 1 tbsp for 10 kachans. Sahara. You can add nothing at all and boil in plain water.

By the way, in Mexico they cook corn in sweet syrups and milk.

We send the pan to the stove with a strong fire. Make sure that the water covers all the cobs, this is one of the nuances proper cooking corn in a bowl. By the way, in a village or in a village, you can cook corn in large cauldrons, it will turn out even tastier, especially if the cobs have just been plucked.

How many minutes does it take to cook corn?

After boiling, cook, slightly reducing the power of fire, for 15-20 minutes. We turn it off after the water begins to foam and become cloudy, at this moment sugar comes out of the cobs and corn without it will become less tasty.

You have probably heard that corn is boiled for at least 40 minutes, we also cooked it this way before, but then we tried to cook less and it turned out that the corn is tastier and it is completely ready.

How to check the readiness of corn?

It’s easy to check, take out the head, hold the corn on a plate with a fork and cut off a few grains and try. But do not hesitate, in 15-20 minutes it will be ready.

And finally, salt. Ready corn, if desired, sprinkle with a little salt. I do this almost always. Salt combined with sweet young grains gives a simply amazing taste.

Some lubricate the boiled cobs butter, it's a matter of taste.

We've even seen Americans lubricate boiled cob boiled corn with mayonnaise, that was a surprise.

And the Mexicans peppered it or, on the contrary, served it with a sweet sauce.

Boiled corn is stored in the refrigerator for 1 day, after two days the corn grains will become floury and tasteless. Chilled corn, if desired, can be heated in the microwave, it is also good and just cold.

How long to cook

Before giving recommendations on how to cook corn, it’s worth saying a little about how to choose the right product so that it is boiled and juicy. The grains should be soft, when pressed on them, liquid may be released. It is better to buy young cobs, unpeeled from leaves and stigmas, which will protect them from drying out. Having made your choice, do not store them for a long time: the faster they are cooked, the tastier they will turn out. How to do this - choose from the options we offer.

in a saucepan

by the most traditional way It is considered to boil corn in a pot filled with water. Boiling time can vary from 20 minutes for young cobs to several hours for older ones. ripe corn. It all depends on which variety you purchased. After the time has elapsed, the water should be drained by covering the pan with a lid. It is better to salt ready-made cobs. The fragrant grains are ready to eat and taste even better if sprinkled with salt while still warm.

In a slow cooker

During the process with the help of a multicooker, their integrity is completely preserved, which means that everything minerals stay inside and bring maximum benefit body. Rinse the corn cobs, previously cleaned of leaves and hairs, under running water. Set the "Cooking" or "Steaming" mode for 20-25 minutes. Do not salt the water in which the cobs will be boiled. To improve the taste, you can put a small piece of butter.

in the microwave

Separate the grains from the cobs, rinse under running water. Pour the grains into a thermo-dishes suitable for use in the microwave, pour water so that it covers the entire surface, cover with a lid. To determine how long the corn will cook, you need to build on the number of grains to cook. Having set the power to 700-800 watts, after 30 minutes add a little butter and parsley or dill to the water. Continue steaming for another 10 minutes. You can use it as a separate dish or as a preparation for adding to salads.

In a pressure cooker

To cook cobs in a pressure cooker, choose instances with milk grains. If they dry out a bit, add sugar to help bring them back. taste properties. To speed up the process, preheat the water in the pressure cooker, pour boiling water over the corn cobs. There should be enough water to completely cover the surface. All these preliminary procedures will help to get finished product no more than 10 minutes later. While hot, rub with salt and brush with butter, which gives the product a special taste and aroma.

In a double boiler

Young corn cooks very quickly, and some prefer to eat it raw. You can calculate how many minutes the process will take, depending on the amount being prepared. Put the peeled and pre-washed heads of cabbage into the form of a double boiler. For education enough steam add a glass of water. After 5-10 minutes, you can turn off the steamer and enjoy juicy, sweet young cobs.

cooking recipes

Novice housewives will need easy-to-use recipes, having mastered which in practice, any girl or woman will be able to cook boiled cobs. A variety of ways will make the taste of grains unique and original. Based on the proposed recipe, do not be afraid to experiment on your own, finding more and more new cooking methods.

How to cook milk corn with salt

The traditional way of cooking young cobs looks like this:

Select even healthy cobs of milk corn, clean them from leaves and fibers.
For cooking, pick up a voluminous pan in which the cobs will feel free, completely covered with water on top for several centimeters. It is desirable that the dishes have a thick bottom, which will ensure uniform heating of the product placed in water.
Put the cobs in cold water. Line the bottom, sides and top with leaves and stigmas for extra flavor. From the moment the boil begins, note about 10 minutes - this is enough for the milk corn to cook.
Try picking one seed and check for taste. It should be soft and juicy.
Take out hot corn from the pan, salt and proceed to the meal.

Cooking with milk

Unusual, although slightly costly compared to the traditional, method will give the cereal soft taste and thin taste sensations eaters. Fans of boiled corn should definitely try these recipes at least once.

Recipe #1:

corn on the cob clean, you can trim the edges.
Heat milk or a mixture of water and milk in a heavy saucepan. Salt is not needed.
Put the cobs in milk and boil for small fire about twenty minutes.
Ready hot corn needs to be greased a small amount butter and let it soak in for a few minutes. Sprinkle the top with salt to taste.
Taste differs from regular boiled corn for the better.

Recipe #2:

Boil peeled and washed cobs until half cooked in water.
After taking out the corn, cut the grains with a knife into a bowl.
Boil the milk and pour in the grains. Cook an additional 10 minutes.
Before the end of cooking, add a piece of butter.
After the pan is removed from the heat, do not rush to take out the grains, let them soak a little with a milky-butter taste and smell.
Salt immediately before use.

FAQ

How to properly cook aged or fodder corn

If you find that there are small notches on the grains, this is a sign that the corn has already become old. You can cook it in the same way as the fodder, which is used for bait during fishing (especially carp loves corn kernels). Soak the cobs for half an hour cold water, to required amount moisture got inside the grains. Further, the cooking process is no different from the usual. Increase the cooking time to 1.5-2 hours.

Why is corn tough after cooking

If salt is added to the water at the beginning of the process, then the cob will become hard, not tasty. Therefore, it is better to salt at the end of cooking or immediately before use, until the ears have cooled down.

Is it necessary to salt the water and when

You can salt the water, but it will be better if this happens after 5 minutes of cooking. Then the grains will remain juicy, soft, will not acquire unnecessary rigidity and an unpleasant taste.

How to determine readiness

Based on the degree of maturity of the cobs, determine in advance the approximate time it will take to cook. To obtain tasty dish, young corn will need to be cooked from 10 to 30 minutes, more ripe from an hour to three. After time, separate one or two grains and taste, they should be soft, juicy, but not hard.

Why does water darken when boiled?

The water may darken if you boil feed corn. Sometimes the liquid even becomes a little reddish when cooking varieties that can be eaten. The pigmented red-brown paint under the grains is washed out when heated, hence the coloring of the water. The color of the water does not affect the quality of the grains, you can eat them without fear.

video recipe

Having a miracle steamer in the kitchen, you can quickly, in 20-30 minutes, cook a few ears of corn. Use minimal amount water, and cereal grains, receiving uniform heat, are gradually steamed, while the integrity of the shell is not violated. The convenient, simple method recommended in the video is suitable for any housewife, even if she is just taking her first steps in cooking. The timer, set for a certain time required for cooking, will notify you of the end of the process with a sound signal.

Corn is considered excellent dietary product, and precisely in boiled it is easily absorbed by the body. It seems that to prepare a popular delicacy, it does not take any culinary experience. But it is not so. First, you need to know how much to cook corn, depending on its variety and degree of ripeness.

Secondly, it is important to choose the right product when buying, otherwise you will have to tinker with it to bring it to the desired taste and softness. What should be paid special attention to?

How to choose corn for cooking

Most delicious cobs, the so-called "milky ripeness", can be found on the shelves only in season. It usually starts in July and lasts until the end of September. For keeping young tender corn they don’t lay, so in the cold season we will only be able to purchase specimens with hard, hard grains that will have to be cooked for a long time. Naturally, the benefits of such a product will be minimal, and gastronomic pleasure too.
You should pay attention to the color of the grains. It should be milky yellow or golden, but not amber. Saturated hues indicate that the corn is either overripe or feed.
tastiest sugar varieties. Such corn can be safely consumed even raw - it is soft, tender and sweet in taste. If there is no way to try the product when buying, you need to gently squeeze the largest grains with your fingers. In young cobs, they are elastic and dense, and when the shell breaks, they emit white, thick juice. The grains of old corn are dented, look slightly dried out, and there are often gaps between them.
Another important indicator is the leaves. If they are withered, wilted, thinned, it should be understood that the cob is already overripe, it will turn out to be hard and heavy for the stomach even after a long boil. The leaves of milky corn are rich green, tightly adjacent to each other. It is important that they do not have any damage.

Attention!

Sometimes on sale you can see completely peeled corn. It's better to bypass it. Most likely, the product was actively processed with pesticides, which did not have the best effect on the leaves, so they were removed. In addition, an ear boiled unpeeled will bring more benefit and it will be more fragrant.

The best varieties of corn: the secret of "Bonduelle"

Let's start with the revelation. The Bonduelle variety, which is often lured to us - gullible buyers, market marketers, does not exist in nature. Under the Bonduelle trademark from the French company of the same name, frozen and canned vegetables. Among them is corn, really very tasty, tender and sweet.

Therefore, when we are offered “that same Bonduelle” on the market, we immediately fall for the bait and buy a fairly expensive product. In fact, the French company uses the early sugar varieties "Bonus" and "Spirit" for preservation.

There are others, no less delicious varieties. For example, domestic varieties and hybrids, which can cost less, are in no way inferior to foreign ones in taste and benefits:

"Dobrynya"
"Gourmet"
"Sandes"
"Early Golden"
"Pioneer"
"Jubilee"
"Ice Nectar"

The latter variety belongs to the late-ripening and is considered one of the sweetest. Cobs can be eaten raw, which allows you to get maximum amount vitamins and minerals.

When choosing corn, you should not blindly trust its name, which, as we have already seen, may turn out to be false. You need to pay attention to the signs of ripeness and quality described above.

Feed corn, more familiar and familiar to us from childhood, can be found in August at grandmothers in the market. It is quite edible, but unlike food, it is rich in starch, has a coarser texture of grains, and therefore it takes a long time to cook - from 2 to 3 hours.

How not to make a mistake by buying fodder cobs instead of delicacy?

Let's take a look at the form. Table corn is smaller and slightly barrel-shaped. The so-called fodder - elongated.
In fodder cobs, the grains are darker in color, often have an orange tint. Their taste is not pronounced, it is difficult to chew raw pulp.
The grain size of sweet corn is larger and more convex.
Feed corn costs much less than table corn. This is due to the capriciousness food varieties that require special conditions cultivation.

How to cook

The "Queen of the Fields", despite its high origin, is undemanding in cooking. The easiest way is to cook it in a saucepan, but you can use alternative methods: a double boiler, slow cooker, oven or microwave. Last option will be the fastest, but only suitable for young sugar cobs.

The royal person also has his own culinary secrets:

The cob does not need to be cleaned before cooking. As a rule, only 2 - 3 top sheets are removed, while the rest, if they are fresh and not damaged, are left.
It is recommended to hold the corn in cold water for an hour and only then cook it. The grains will acquire a special softness. Overripe specimens of table varieties are placed in milk, half diluted with water, and left for 4 hours. After that, they cook much faster.
In order for all cobs to “reach condition” at the same time, they must be the same size. Therefore, too large break in half.
Put the product in cold water, not boiling water. Important: you need to salt the corn only at the end of cooking. Otherwise it will be tough. And it is better to rub the cobs with salt just before use.
After boiling water in a pot of corn, the fire should be reduced so that the process heat treatment was gradual.
To improve the taste, you can add a little sugar and a piece of butter to the water.
Drain the water from the pot with the cooked corn, and then wrap it tightly in a blanket for about 30 minutes. The cobs from this become softer and more tender, acquire a rich aroma.

How much to cook

The cobs of table varieties are prepared most quickly in the stage of milky ripeness. 20 minutes is enough for them. It is also not worth cooking the product for too long, otherwise you can get the opposite effect: the grains will harden and become dry.

Reached full maturity sweet corn it will take 40 to 60 minutes.

Forage varieties are boiled for at least 2 - 3 hours.

Check readiness by pressing the grains. If they become soft, it's time to serve the corn to the table.

It is better to treat yourself to cobs while they are hot. Cooling down, corn grains become viscous, starchy.

Cooking methods

The most delicious and healthy will be corn cooked on the day of purchase. At long-term storage, the sugar contained in the grains is converted into starch, which is why the nutritional value product falls.

Cooking on the cob in a saucepan

The dishes should be thick-walled, preferably wide, so as not to break the cobs. The best option - cast iron pan with tight fitting lid.

It is advisable to cook enough corn to eat at one time. boiled cobs poorly stored and lose their taste.

Sequencing:

We clean the corn from all leaves or remove only the top ones, depending on their condition. In both cases, carefully wash the product, remove the stigmas.
You can lay out the bottom of the pan with leaves, place the cobs on top and cover them with a second layer of greens. I don’t like this method - we cook only the edible part (grain). Pour water so that it completely covers the product.
We cook corn depending on the variety and degree of maturity. Before boiling - the fire is moderate, after we make it weaker.
When the grains soften, drain the water and give it to our summer dish cool down a bit. Serve with salt and butter.

in the microwave

Attention!

For overripe corn or fodder varieties this method won't fit.

Recipe number 1. In the package

The method is very fast and convenient. You don’t have to mess around at the stove, torment the family in anticipation, and then clean the pan. The only negative is that you can’t cook a large portion at a time.

After removing all the leaves, wash the cobs well under running water.
You can rub them with salt and dry spices, if desired.
We put it either in a baking sleeve or in a regular plastic bag and tie it tightly so that the moisture released during the cooking process remains inside.
With a power of 800 W, the cobs of milky ripeness will cook in 10 minutes.

Recipe number 2. in the leaves

IN this case the corn will be steamed. It is important that the leaves fit snugly on the cob and are fresh. Sluggish and dry must be removed.

We cut off the ends of the prepared unpeeled cobs and put them in a glass flat plate, trying to place them at some distance from each other. Attention: some housewives, trying to cook as much corn as possible at a time, put it in several layers. As a result, the product remains half-baked. Quality is more important than quantity here.
Boil the cobs in the leaves for 3-5 minutes at maximum power. It is recommended to turn them over.
At the end of cooking, the leaves are not removed immediately, waiting a few minutes for the corn to finally “reach”.

Recipe number 3. Under a paper towel

The leaves have worthy replacement. Peeled cobs can be tightly wrapped in moist paper towel and so cook.

Recipe number 4. In a container of water

This method will take twice as long, but there is no risk of overcooking the product.

Place the peeled cobs in a deep container suitable for microwave oven and completely filled with water. We don't salt!
We cover with a lid and cook at a power of 700 W, 20 - 45 minutes, taking into account the degree of maturity and quantity.

Periodically you need to add boiling water, as the liquid will evaporate.

Corn removed from the microwave is very hot, it must be allowed to cool or use special holders while eating.

In the oven

Peeled (if you wish, you can leave part of the leaves) and prepared cobs are placed in a baking dish, previously greased with butter.

Next, pour boiling water flush with the product (no need above). Cover the container with foil, sealing the edges so that steam does not escape and send it to the oven, heated to 180ºС for 40 - 60 minutes.