Smoked corn on the cob????

I have had these thoughts in my head for some time, and realized that every BBQ place I have been to only offer's boiled corn on the cob.
Now, being that I am not a BBQ guru as far as cooking goes, what about having the corn smoked?
I mean, it's just a thought. Has anyone tried this?

Wrap the cob in foil with a pat of butter inside it.

Am I dreaming? I love corn cooked on a grill, but this would be something different taste wise.
Any thoughts out there? Or is it a pipe dream?
Any restaurants serve this?

not a restaurant but I do smoke corn on my Rollin' Roaster
foil should never be used in my book
I soak for awhile, pull out the silk, replace husk
about 2 hours @ 200 degrees is about right
times may change, sometimes an impatient assisstant will throw them on silk & all
the result is a nutty taste, try not to char ears, alittle brown is OK
have also just soaked & thrown in the bonfire, only thing is use a rake to pull out
husks burn this way so leave the silk on. this only takes about 20 min.
Good Smokin'!

I sort of smoke my corn. I peel back the husks, remove the silk, then put the husks back in place and soak the ears for an hour or so in water. For my grill, I use a Weber, I add some soaked hickory chunks to the coals (although sometimes cherry wood chunks or apple wood chunks if I have one of them), and then pull the ears from the water, shake off the excess and place them on the grill. I cook them covered for about five minutes, then rotate them to get grill marks on the other side of the husks, cooking for another five or ten minutes. This stuff is great. Pull back the husks and use them as a grip. Slather the corn with butter, some pepper, salt if you like, and you have the best part of a cookout meal. The wood smoke gives the corn an out-of-this-world taste.

I've never "slow-smoked" it like it appears you're referring to, and I certainly never defy it by putting it in foil, but yeah, I cook it in my Weber quite often when corn is in season.

Set off from the direct fire, covered grill, usually between 30 to 45 minutes.

I've read lots of different ways of doing this. The way I do it is with the shucks off. Open the top a couple of times and spray with some water to keep the moisture up. It works out well for me.

Top with real butter and a mixture of salt, pepper, and a little cayenne.

I do it on the grill like those above. I've tried it a number of times in a smoker. Once it was great, but the other times it was either raw or tasted burned.

I guess I am an outcast for grilling corn wrapped in aluminum foil.

I husk it, put it on a sheet of aluminum foil, spread a little butter on the ear, sprinkle on some salt, pepper, basil, and oregano; add a few dashes of tabasco, a splash or two of water, then roll up the foil and grill it in my Weber gas grill, turning the ear every 5 minutes.

It always tastes great to me.

I like to "smoke" a non-salted quality butter (less moisture) and use it on boiled/steamed corn which gives you two directions to go if someone prefers the conventional cooking method. I also think this technique leaves the corn with a full texture.

One of my favorite BBQ corn tecniques is "deep frying" the corn in peanut oil until it's golden brown textured and then use the smoke butter - WOW!!!

We use fresh Florida Silver Queen corn when possible in our restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by berndog

I guess I am an outcast for grilling corn wrapped in aluminum foil.

I've got friends who swear by the foil method, and it always comes out great. I'm real anal about cooking things in aluminum anything, so I never do.

Besides, I kind of like the grill marks on the corn!

I am sorta geared toward removing the outer layer, putting butter on the corn with some salt and pepper, adding back the shucks and putting it on the grill for no more than 15 minutes.

Works good for me.

Just my thoughts.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I don't think corn would cook in a smokehouse along with meat, but I often "smoke" corn on my grill a-la Michael Hoffman's description. I just call it grilled corn, but I guess it's smoked, in a way.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I don't think corn would cook in a smokehouse along with meat, but I often "smoke" corn on my grill a-la Michael Hoffman's description. I just call it grilled corn, but I guess it's smoked, in a way.

I don't call it smoked corn, either. In fact, as this is the way I always do it now I just call it corn.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I don't think corn would cook in a smokehouse along with meat, but I often "smoke" corn on my grill a-la Michael Hoffman's description. I just call it grilled corn, but I guess it's smoked, in a way.

I don't call it smoked corn, either. In fact, as this is the way I always do it now I just call it corn.

no, no. I wasn't implying you called it "smoked." Like you, I was trying to figure out what "smoked" corn was.

To actually smoke corn on the cob, in my experience, you need a pretty large piece of rolling paper...

But then, my grandfather used a corn cob to smoke...but I'm not sure how that fits into this.

I've cooked corn just about every way that's been mentioned, but I've found the best and easiest is in the microwave. pb

A friend of mine used the foil method on his smoker but put butter and pesto in with the corn.
It came out great.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I don't think corn would cook in a smokehouse along with meat, but I often "smoke" corn on my grill a-la Michael Hoffman's description. I just call it grilled corn, but I guess it's smoked, in a way.

I don't call it smoked corn, either. In fact, as this is the way I always do it now I just call it corn.

no, no. I wasn't implying you called it "smoked." Like you, I was trying to figure out what "smoked" corn was.

To actually smoke corn on the cob, in my experience, you need a pretty large piece of rolling paper...

But then, my grandfather used a corn cob to smoke...but I'm not sure how that fits into this.

Sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that you had implied anything. By the way, I remember as a kid smoking the cornsilk in cigarette papers.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

By the way, I remember as a kid smoking the cornsilk in cigarette papers.

eecchh! What was that like?

I like a little smoked corn as well. I don't use my smoker for this though. I just put chips in a smoker box in my grill. I do this for two reasons. I don't want it too smokey and I want it to cook a bit quicker. To be honest I rarely smoke corn though, I porefer it grilled with no smoke flavor. Then rubbed with a nice butter, garlic and cilantro mixture.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

By the way, I remember as a kid smoking the cornsilk in cigarette papers.

eecchh! What was that like?

Terrible.

I cook it the way described above as well. I have gone the aluminum foil way until I realized that it was just wasteful as the corn is designed perfectly for this from the start.

I prefer just salt and pepper. Occasionally butter, but during the seasons, I really just like the taste of corn.

When I pick fresh, I really love it raw. Does anyone else?

Raw sweet corn is great. I grew up in Nebraska and I use to eat it raw all the time. We would go to the sweet corn field for dinner so I'd grab the first ear I saw and eat it while picking corn. Taste even better in the field.

quote:

Originally posted by irhusker

Raw sweet corn is great. I grew up in Nebraska and I use to eat it raw all the time. We would go to the sweet corn field for dinner so I'd grab the first ear I saw and eat it while picking corn. Taste even better in the field.

I still live in Nebraska and can't say I have ever eaten sweet corn raw although I do think alot of people tend to overcook fresh local sweet corn. About 5 minutes is just right for me.

I was raised on midwestern boiled corn. Because of this I was convinced that corn had to be eaten as a cooked vegetable. As I grew older and my love of barbecue and grilling grew, I started prepping my corn on the grill.

The problem with corn is that it comes from so many geographic sources, at different times of the season, you frequently get a clunker or two. A friend of mine calls it "horse corn"; I guess where he comes from you feed it to the horses. After too many disappointing ears, I finally figured out to pop a kernel or two at the store to taste for sweetness. It was during one of these tests that I had my moment of clarity; corn can be eaten raw or, at the very least, without cooking the bejeezus out of it!

Since then, when I grill corn, I do so for as little time as possible; maybe 10-12 minutes. I've also discovered that one ear of corn is a lot of dang corn for one person. These days I like to strip the fresh ears and saute the kernels in a little butter, salt and pepper. Occasionally I'll add some other herbs and spices for variety. By doing this I find most people will only eat the equivalent of a half to three quarter ear.

I might try smoking some next time I got the smoker out.

Buddy

quote:

Originally posted by irhusker

Raw sweet corn is great. I grew up in Nebraska and I use to eat it raw all the time. We would go to the sweet corn field for dinner so I'd grab the first ear I saw and eat it while picking corn. Taste even better in the field.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with raw young field corn, either. It's especially good when eaten right there in the field where you swiped it. As a matter of fact, I've never tasted any corn that was as good as corn stolen from someone's field.

While my family did not farm, I was fortunate to have relatives that did so we were welcome to as much corn as we wanted. Loved it and still do. Evn the grocery stores were getting corn at 6:00 am that was just harvested so it was always as fresh as can be.

As far as smoking corn it just dawn on me what I really like to do with smoked corn. If you smoke a few ears of corn the shave it off, it can go really well in a salsa or side salad. The one I have in mind is a cold black bean and corn salad with cilatro, lime juice, touch of olive oil and red onion. I know I'm forgetting a few ingredients but you get the idea. The smoked corn adds a great flavor to it. You probably imagine that it really makes a salsa taste great as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I don't think corn would cook in a smokehouse along with meat, but I often "smoke" corn on my grill a-la Michael Hoffman's description. I just call it grilled corn, but I guess it's smoked, in a way.

Scorereader, that is exactly what I was referring to. NOT GRILLED corn--
I mean, I know about corn on a grill, but you got the gist of my question: To have that smoked flavor like the meat does, from the pit..I am sure it would take some time.. I was just thinking. Since I frequent my lil BBQ place so often, It was just a thought stuck in my head. They dont even serve it on the cob..
I figured if it was still in the husk, it might burn, but being , "horror's upon horror's", wrapped in foil, it wouldnt..
I mean the temp in a pit is quite a bit lower than on a grill...

Just a thought, and great to see all the comments.
(and, uh I have never "smoked" corn either---wasn't ever that desperate--LOL)
Tara

quote:

Originally posted by kman160

not a restaurant but I do smoke corn on my Rollin' Roaster
foil should never be used in my book
I soak for awhile, pull out the silk, replace husk
about 2 hours @ 200 degrees is about right
times may change, sometimes an impatient assisstant will throw them on silk & all
the result is a nutty taste, try not to char ears, alittle brown is OK
have also just soaked & thrown in the bonfire, only thing is use a rake to pull out
husks burn this way so leave the silk on. this only takes about 20 min.
Good Smokin'!

That is what I am talking about...but wouldnt it be better if it was husked?..
Like I said, I am not a backyard griller or BBQ guru.. Just love to eat good Que..
Tara

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90



That is what I am talking about...but wouldnt it be better if it was husked?..
Like I said, I am not a backyard griller or BBQ guru.. Just love to eat good Que..
Tara

if you husk the corn and put it in a smoker for 2 hours at 200 degrees, the corn will shrivel and be ruined. you must leave it in the husk so the corn will stay hydrated. In essense, you're not smoking the corn, you're actually steaming it. But, but steaming it in its husk, you're retaining more flavor and even infusing it with flavor form the husk. If you take the husk off, then there's no steam and you're simply baking it, even at a low temp. The corn will release water and will dry out and become rubbery.
Keep the husk on.

I read somewhere that the moment you pick an ear of corn, the sugars start turning into starches, or something like that. That's why that ear right off the stalk is so sweet - it still has the sugar in it.
I take the freshest ears I can find (corn, not people's), soak them for an hour or so in water, then put them on the fire or above the charcoal. Done in fifteen or so, depending on the heat. Butter, salt, pepper, cayenne (or a good chili powder).

YUM!

Glad to hear others eat raw corn as well.

I remember the scene from the movie Wargames where the father just finished buttering his ear of corn (with a buttered peice of white bread!) and bit into it. He was horrified that it was raw,his wife's answer was that it had all the vitamins in it that way. His reply?

"Can we cook the corn and take vitamins?"

I think of that and smile to myself when I eat raw corn.

Scorereader's got the whole idea of "smoking" corn
experiment with times & additions but leave the husk
And NO foil