Have You Ever Heard of Cooler Corn?

Summer is all about picnics, beach getaways, and family reunions — all perfect opportunities to eat corn on the cob. We just learned the most interesting trick for cooking corn on the cob for a crowd — have you ever heard of “cooler corn”?

Cooler corn is just what it sounds like: corn on the cob, cooked in a cooler. David at Food with Legs describes how he cleans a cooler thoroughly, and then dumps in shucked ears of corn. Pour in a couple kettles’ worth of boiling water, and shut the lid. This cooks the corn perfectly.

The best part is you can drain off the water, with the lid still closed, and the corn will stay hot and ready to eat for a couple more hours. It’s a convenient way to make corn to feed a crowd — it’s no big deal to do 20 or 30 ears this way — and it doesn’t require grill space or heating up a big pot of steamy water in a hot kitchen.

This has been discussed elsewhere, too, most notably at Bon Appetit, where the readers got into a lively discussion over cooking corn in plastic, with conflicting ideas about BPA and such flung around. What do you think? Would you cook corn in a (clean) cooler? For cooking for a crowd, it sounds awfully convenient!

(Image: David Ort of Food with Legs)