I was just talking with my husband about the many useless gadgets designed for corn on the cob. My favorite has to be the grill basket--if corn needs to be in a basket for maneuverability on the grill, than so should chicken drumsticks and steaks.

Now buttering the corn is a different story. My favorite method (and this reveals my working-class roots, to be sure) is to butter a slice of soft white bread roll the corn around in it (imagine the bread as taco shell and the corn as filling). Voila! Warm, buttery bread, warm, buttery corn, and no gadgets to wash.

I have to agree. "Keep the ears from rolling off the grill"? I've been barbecuing a fair bit this summer, and the corn just isn't that wily. I put it on the grill and it just... sits there. I do like to cut the kernels off sometimes, either to spare myself the flossing in the middle of a party, or to make a salad, but I use a different invention- a knife. So far, so good.

While making maque choux yesterday (a dish that requires the corn to be off the cob, meaning I had a dozen ears to do), I tried three different methods - the corn stripper, the corn zipper, and a really sharp knife.

The stripper is useless unless you have a nail to put the corn on to while using it. My husband talked about rigging a getup to handle it using a 2x4 and a nail, but I told him that stripping corn should require that much work.

The corn zipper worked a little better, as long as you don't push down too hard and you eyeball that it is lined up with the row of corn before you start zipping. I got a little too enthusiastic and zipped off a piece of my finger. Ouch.

The sharp knife worked the best, but sent corn flying all over the place. In the future, I'd use this method, but set down something on the kitchen island to catch all the flying kernels.

Don't waste your money on the other two products, they complicate a really simple task.

I'm awfully accident-prone when it comes to using a knife for anything. I'm a big fan of the corn zipper -- I get bigger kernels than I did with a knife and no injuries so far.

Besides, it smiles at me while I'm zipping.

I learned an easy method for removing kernals somewhere, it was probably from Martha, but I can't find the link anymore.
Anyway, you take one large bow, shallow and wide is best. This is your receiving vessel. And then you pop another bowl into it, inverted, with the bottom up, so that the bottom is just higher than the rim of the large receiving vessel (plastic is best).

You then rest each ear of corn on the bottom of the inner bowl and cut the kernels off. They'll cascade down the side of the inverted bowl into the receiving vessel, and you'll have enough clearance so that your knife won't knick the bowl either, and if your bowl is wide enough, it'll catch all the flying kernels too.

neato, huh?

Erica - I use a similar invention for putting butter on corn! That butter boy thing has a very sinister grin on its little green face; I wouldn't like to share my kitchen with him...

Ann, also if you have a bundt cake pan (and that's a big "if", I know) you can stand your cob in the center of the bundt(?) and scrape the kernels off into the pan. One less bowl to clean, but you have to have the bundt pan (I think I just like saying "bundt.")

Also, maybe I'm just too ghetto, but who really uses those corn cob holder things? I recieved a set of bbq tools with a bunch of nice stainless steel cob holders, and I have no desire to use them. I'd rather deal with alittle bit of corn on my hands. Who's that dainty at a outdoor picnic anyway?

I recevied a set of those TAG ceramic holders last year as a gift and I think they are awesome!