Cooking corn couldn’t be easier! In the microwave, husk on, four minutes. Cut off bottom. Slip off husk. It works!
A video came my way on Facebook the other day for a drop dead easy way of cooking corn on the cob. Like my favorite grilling method for cooking corn, you don’t shuck the corn first, but leave it in its husk.
After a few minutes on high, you remove the corn from the microwave, cut off the bottom, and cleanly slip off the husk and silk. Perfectly cooked corn with no mess!
This I had to see for myself.
You know what? It works!
It is probably not the most efficient way to cook corn if you are cooking more than a couple ears. In that case it’s faster and easier to steam or boil.
But since I’m often cooking for one, and I have the patience of a hummingbird, I like the idea of quickly cooking one ear of corn in the microwave.
I also like cooking the corn in its husk. Cooked this way, the corn steams in its own juices and absorbs flavor from the husks, resulting in a wonderful, undiluted corn taste. If your corn if farm fresh, you don’t even need butter. (But don’t let me stop you!)
The YouTube video that inspired this experiment can be found here. (It’s charming.)
I made my own video (only 22 seconds long). Take a look!
The Easiest Way to Microwave Corn on the Cob
- Cook time: 5 minutes
These instructions are for one ear of corn. If you want to microwave more than one ear at a time, increase the cooking time by 2 minutes for every additional ear of corn, depending on the power of your microwave and the size of your ears of corn. You may need to experiment to find the right time for your microwave.
Ingredients
- 1 ear of corn, husk on
Method
1 Place the corn in the microwave, do not remove the husk. Microwave the corn on the high setting for 4 minutes. Note that every microwave is different. If this timing over-cooks the corn in your microwave, reduce it to 2 to 3 minutes the next time.
2 Use a kitchen towel or pot holder to remove corn from the microwave (it’s hot!) Cut off the bottom of the corn, stem end, about one row of corn in from the stem.
3 Slip off the husk and silk.
That’s it!
