My Friend’s Groundbreaking Corn on the Cob Trick Makes Things 100x Easier

Summer corn is one of the easiest and most delicious things you can put on the grill. It’s practically foolproof, and you can dress it up in endless ways. The most classic topping, of course, is butter. But spreading butter evenly on hot corn is no easy task. Most of the time it’s pretty messy and uneven. If you simply slice some off of the stick and place it on top, it will quickly begin to melt and slide right off, leaving more butter on your plate than your corn.

There are all kinds of tips and tricks for the best way to butter corn on the cob, including things like using buttered bread to butter the corn and dipping the corn into a jar of buttery water. There are even contraptions to hold your butter and spread it more evenly across the cob. 

I, however, prefer a method that requires no extra tools, prep (or bread), which was taught to me by a good friend. Bring a full stick of cold, unwrapped butter to the table, pass the stick of butter around, and everyone can roll their cob on the butter, lengthwise. The hot corn melts the butter as you spin it. The whole thing is coated evenly, and there’s no mess. It’s the perfect solution. 

Does the butter get a little corn detritus in it? Of course. Do I care? No. What’s the harm? My morning toast has a little bonus sweet corn flavor? Yum. You could also opt for the time-honored family tradition of the friend who taught me this trick (who’s father taught it to her), and just dedicate that stick of butter to corn until it’s gone. We certainly eat enough corn on the cob at my house in the summertime for this to work out just fine. She even pointed out when asked about the history of this little trick, that the more you use the same stick of butter this way, the more molded it becomes to the shape of the corn, achieving even better coverage. Give it a try the next time you grill corn. You’ll thank me.

• Use a whole stick of chilled butter. A stick of butter is the perfect length to get even butter coverage along the whole cob while holding it from either side. Don’t be tempted to use a stick that’s come to room temperature. It’s too soft and will smush all over the place.
• Add seasonings. Take this technique one step further and sprinkle the corn butter with seasonings like Tajín or furikake seasoning, which would then be slathered all over the cob as well. 
• Use corn holders. I learned this trick from someone in a corn holder household. I personally find them unnecessary, but if you don’t want to touch the hot corn, or get your fingers buttery, they’re certainly helpful during the spinning process.