How to cook perfect summer corn

Fresh, hot ears of corn coated with butter and sprinkled with salt are the taste of summer and a hit on seaside beaches. Sweet, soft, and creamy kernels need no special treatment. The absolute minimum is enough to bring out their full flavour. However, many people make the grave mistake of overcooking corn, which makes the kernels tough and chewy.

The season for sweet corn starts in the summer and lasts until early fall. Vacation time is the best moment to relish this delicacy. Fresh sweet corn tastes best when harvested at full maturity, which occurs from July to September. So, how do you prepare a sweet cob to ensure the kernels are soft and tender?

The cooking time for corn is extremely important. If the ears spend too much time in the water, they will become tough and chewy. To get soft corn, you should cook it for 15 minutes from the moment the water in which the cobs are placed starts to boil again. This is the optimal cooking time for corn to ensure soft kernels, but to be sure, it is worth checking the condition of the kernels occasionally with a fork or a skewer.

First, however, you need to thoroughly clean the corn of leaves and "silk" and cut off the stem if it's too long. Then, you need to prepare a large and wide pot that can accommodate the entire corn. It's crucial to ensure the right amount of water completely covers the ears. If the pot is large enough for the ears to rotate freely in the boiling water, this is ideal.

It's also important to remember not to add salt to the water in which the ears will be cooked. Salt will make the corn tough. Instead of salt, you can add a bit of sugar to the water, but this is not necessary. Sugar enhances the corn's natural sweetness. Of course, you can add salt after cooking when seasoning the corn, for example, with butter. For a more delicate flavour, you can cook the corn in water with a bit of milk.

To enjoy the unique taste of corn, paying special attention to selecting the right ears is essential. The key is the appearance of the leaves surrounding the cob – they should be green and easy to remove from the ear. If you see the leaves are yellow, it’s a sign that the corn is old and likely has been sitting too long. Mature ears are characterized by abundant yellow and closely spaced kernels. It’s best to avoid ears with pale yellow and plump kernels, as these may indicate the corn is old or was poorly stored.

If you decide to buy packaged corn, it's worth highlighting a few details. First and foremost, the packaging should not be fogged up on the inside. The stem should not show signs of blackening, and the tip should not be dried out. The best choice will be medium-sized ears, characterized by an abundance of yellow kernels of similar sizes in a given cluster (they may be slightly smaller at the tip).