There's something soothing about the slow summer rhythm of corn shucking—standing barefoot in the kitchen, peeling away squeaky husks and handfuls of silk—but what do you do if you're in a hurry? America's Test Kitchen has a method using the microwave that is so simple and effective, the ears basically slide out, husk- and silk-free!
Here's the basic technique: Cut off the stalk of each ear about one inch above the last row of kernels and microwave for two to four minutes. Holding the uncut end, shake and squeeze the husk until the corn slides out. The microwave creates just enough steam to allow the kernels to separate from both the husk and the silk. It sounds too easy to be true, but you can see it in action in the video above.
Have you ever tried this method? Do you have any tips or tricks for shucking corn?
Related: A Dozen Ways to Enjoy Summer Sweet Corn
(Image: rprongjai/Shutterstock)
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I have used this method and it works great. I would only want to say you need to get the corn out right after it comes out of the microwave. It still works if you let the corn cool off a bit but it does not slight out of the husks a easy.
I learned the microwave corn method a few years ago and LOVE it. I haven't tried cutting off the end part, but, in my opinion, microwaving the corn turns out as well as boiling it--and takes so much less effort!
OMG! That's so cool! I can't wait to try this the next time we get some corn from the farmer's market ... my 14 year old son (who's starting to learn how to cook) will be ecstatic! (Especially since shucking the corn is usually his job.) What a fun way to cook corn, and get rid of all that cornsilk that I hate to have sticking to the cob. Thanks for the fabulous tip!
My husband just found this method and loves his new trick for a quick ear of corn.
after microwaving 2-4 minutes is the corn cooked?
In fact, I just did this for dinner before I saw this post. I did two ears of corn at 4 minutes per ear, and it was plenty cooked. I might actually reduce the time a bit next time. (Granted, I have a rather large and powerful microwave.)
The tutorial I saw has you wait until after microwaving to cut the end off, then sort of grab the tasselly part at the top and shake out the corn. The corn didn't really shake out of the husk for me (although I let it cool for a couple of minutes before I tried it), but nonetheless, the husk peeled off really quickly and easily, with no silk left on the corn.
so I'm guessing this isn't just to shuck the corn but it's cooked as well???
I just tried this, microwaving a couple ears at a time for 4 minutes. Out of 14 ears, only a couple worked well. The rest left lots of silk. Oh well, it was fun to try.
mmmmmmmmmm microwaved worms.
Yes I haved done this several times and it works like a charm. I do two ears at a time for 6-8 mins. It works on both yellow and white corn.
Yup, they're plenty cooked in that short a time. Fresh corn barely needs to be warmed to be perfect.
So glad I had a couple of ears in the fridge because this post gave me a big craving!