Lovers of boiled corn have probably tried more than once to prepare this simple delicacy at home, but most of us have no idea how many minutes to cook corn and how to ensure that it is as tasty and soft as “store-bought.”
Before you cook corn, you need to buy it and make sure you choose ripe and young cobs. At the market very often instead of food sweet corn They sell feed grades, that is, those varieties that are intended for feeding pets and not for people. Not everyone can determine the type of corn by eye, so it is better to buy the cobs in stores or supermarkets.
When choosing corn, you need to take heads wrapped in fresh green leaves, and be sure to unwrap each one and look at the color of the grains. Young corn is light yellow, when you press a fingernail on a grain, it is soft and juice splashes out of it; if the grains are deep yellow and hard to the touch, the corn is old, and it will take several hours to cook.
How many minutes you need to cook corn depends on its degree of maturity :
- Young cobs with light yellow grains, soft and slightly unripe, just cook for 5-7 minutes after the water boils.
- Yellowish cobs with soft, slightly starchy flesh, the grains should be cooked for about 15-30 minutes after boiling.
- Dark yellow grains indicate that the corn is “overripe” and in this case the cooking time increases up to 1-2 hours .
How to cook corn correctly
It is best to cook corn the day you buy it, and if this is not possible, store it in a cool place - in the refrigerator or freezer.
A deep, thick-walled saucepan or cauldron with a lid is suitable for cooking. Young cobs do not need to be completely de-leafed; the corn will be much softer and tastier if cooked unpeeled. Old cobs can be peeled, but do not throw out the leaves, but put them on the bottom of the dish and cover the cobs on top with them.
Then you need to place the corn on the bottom of the dish, pour cold water, so that it covers the cobs by several centimeters. Place on the fire and cook until done; it can be determined quite simply by piercing the grains with a fork; if they become soft and can be easily pierced, then the corn is ready. It is recommended to salt the cobs after cooking - rubbing the hot corn with salt to taste.
How and how long to cook corn in a double boiler
You can easily and simply cook delicious corn using a steamer. To do this, you need to place thoroughly washed cobs in leaves on the bottom of a double boiler, pour 1 glass of water onto 2-3 medium cobs and cook for 5-10 minutes for young cobs, 30-40 minutes for old cobs.
How and how much to cook corn in a slow cooker
In a slow cooker, corn can be cooked in two ways: in water or steamed.
- When cooking corn in water, you need to wash the cobs, peel them from the leaves, place them on the bottom of the multicooker pan, cover with leaves on top, pour cold water so that it completely covers the cobs, and set the high pressure setting. Cooking time: 15 minutes, a little longer for old cobs.
- Steaming corn in a multicooker is a little more difficult - place the cobs, peeled and cut into short cylinders, on the insert for steaming dishes, sprinkle them with salt or a mixture of spices, close the lid and cook for about 30 minutes.
Corn can also be fried, boiled in milk and cream, or cooked variety of dishes with boiled corn.
Experienced housewives believe that only by steaming corn they can save as much as possible. useful composition component, save it unique taste and special texture. How much a component needs to be processed depends on many factors. On average, it takes about 35-40 minutes. If you plan to cook only grains, then this period will be reduced to approximately 15-20 minutes. But forage varieties or stale specimens will have to be boiled even in a double boiler for at least an hour. In this case, there will be no guarantee of obtaining a product of the quality that was required.
There is no point in counting on receiving benefits and gastronomic pleasure from corn, which no longer contains the necessary components. That is why you need to choose the right corn for cooking in a double boiler. To deal with this, you should learn a few simple recommendations and get acquainted with a number of quite important points:
- Forage varieties cannot be prepared perfectly. Unfortunately, they are the ones most often sold in the markets. Therefore, it is better to overpay a little by buying corn in a supermarket (making sure from the inscription on the label that this is not a feed crop).
Tip: Even if the steamer has several levels, it is best to use one. Let this increase the cooking time of the cereal (if all the cobs or grains do not fit), but all the components will be cooked equally. Even the most advanced devices are not able to guarantee the same impact on the contents of containers, so often some components turn out to be raw, while others manage to acquire a rubber texture.
- Milk maturity occurs in August-September. It is at this time that you can find sweet and juicy corn grown in fields rather than in greenhouses. By the way, this is the kind of corn that best tolerates freezing, which has no effect negative influence on the quality of the cereal.
- Be sure to inspect the grains before purchasing. Their creamy, milky white or soft lemon color indicates youth, freshness and high quality of the component. This is the product that is best steamed. Older cobs are best boiled in water.
- There are a few other signs of good corn. The surface of the grains should be smooth, shiny, without dimples. The leaves are welcome green, moist, tightly adjacent to the cob.
- It is recommended to cook corn separately from other ingredients. Its grains absorb extraneous odors too actively, which can negatively affect the quality of the final dish.
- It is better to pour filtered or settled water into the steamer bowl. Otherwise, a thin limescale deposit may appear on the surface of the products. It is not harmful to the body, but does not significantly spoil the taste.
Steaming the cereal is the most gentle option for affecting corn. But this does not mean that you do not need to follow recommendations on how much to process a component. If you cook cobs or grains for a long time, they will retain their benefits, but at the same time they will practically lose their taste and acquire a not very pleasant texture.
Technique for processing corn in a steamer
The procedure for steaming corn is very simple. There are several ways to process a component in a double boiler. Regardless of what you choose, it is recommended to first soak the peeled cobs in clean cold water without any additives for one hour. This will allow you to get the most juicy dish.
After this, we put the products in a colander, wait for the excess water to drain and proceed according to one of the following schemes:
- Steaming the cobs. We clean the cobs from leaves, place them on a tray with holes whole or cut into portioned pieces. The product needs to be cooked for 35-40 minutes. Exactly how much depends on the power of the steamer and the freshness of the corn. There is no need to salt the cobs; this may increase the time it takes to cook them. Already finished product add salt, grease with butter and serve.
- Steaming grains. In this case, after soaking, we clean the corn and separate it into grains, which we wash again. We throw them into a colander. After the excess moisture has drained, place the component on a suitable tray, trying to arrange them in as thin a layer as possible. It is enough to cook the cereal in this form for a quarter of an hour. You should not check the readiness of the dish earlier; not only will this increase the cooking time, it will also create the likelihood of getting a thermal burn.
It is worth considering that if you plan to cook a product on several levels at once in a double boiler, the holding time will have to be increased by at least 7-15 minutes (depending on how many “floors” the products occupy and what kind of partitions there are between them). In this case, there is no need to try to get out the finished goods. It's better to let them sit for at least a couple of minutes.
Rich in vitamins and other essential to the human body makes microelements vegetable dishes not only very tasty, but also incredibly healthy. Therefore, it is very important when preparing these products to preserve all their beneficial properties as much as possible. The most gentle way to cook vegetables, with which most of the beneficial properties, is par. Steaming is one of the first methods of preparing food, which was used by our ancestors. It is possible that they came up with the first recipe for steamed corn.
Currently, housewives have a wonderful opportunity to cook corn and other vegetables in a double boiler - a device that can be bought in almost any store kitchen appliances. When choosing a kitchen assistant, you don’t need to pay attention to the brand or its high cost. Carefully examine the dimensions of the bowl, their quantity and the quality of the material. A timer of up to 60 minutes and three wave bowls will be enough for use.
The peculiarity of this device allows you to cook several dishes at the same time. Smells and aromas do not mix, so you can not only cook young corn in a double boiler, but also other vegetables, meat and even fish. Thanks to steam treatment, all products retain their natural color, and the taste is brighter and richer than when boiled in water. 
Steamer corn recipe
You will only get tasty and tender corn if you know how to choose the right cobs. Since there are several varieties, including fodder ones, you should examine the grains very carefully. Fresh cobs you need to buy only in season, until the corn quails. It is during the period August-September that milky ripeness begins, when the grains are sweet and juicy. This corn can be frozen and cooked all year round. If prepared correctly, it will not lose either its taste or aroma.
Before steaming corn, unwrap the leaves and carefully inspect the kernels. Their color should be milky white or delicate lemon. The surface should be shiny without dimples, the grains should not be dry and lag behind the cob.
There are several ways to cook corn in a double boiler - you can boil the grains separately, or you can cook them on the cob. Since the size of the bowl is somewhat limited, it is best to break the cobs or cut them into several pieces. To cook the grains separately, the cob must be cleaned, washed and cut with a knife.
It is best to keep them in cold water before steaming the corn. Place the peeled cobs in a convenient bowl, add water and leave for one hour.
Place the prepared cobs on a bowl with holes, which is always included, and cover tightly with a lid. You don't have to soak the corn, but then it will be less juicy. Turn on the timer and cook until done. Before serving, add a little salt and add a piece butter.
How long you choose to cook the corn in a double boiler will depend on how well you choose the vegetables. Whole cobs will be ready in 35-40 minutes, individual grains will cook faster - depending on the layer, they will cook in about 15 minutes.
If you want to cook several dishes at the same time, you should increase the time by a few minutes.
The cooking time primarily depends on the corn itself, since fresher young corn cooks at least 2 times faster than old corn, and the chosen method of preparing it also affects, informs the portal infoeda.com. Let's consider separately how much to cook corn different ways at home:
- How long does it take to cook corn on the cob in a saucepan? Young corn on the cob is cooked for 15-20 minutes in a saucepan after boiling water, and old corn is cooked for 40-50 minutes (up to 2 hours if the corn is overripe and hard).
- How long to cook frozen corn? Frozen corn on the cob is cooked for 30 minutes after boiling water, and frozen corn kernels must be cooked for 10-15 minutes after boiling water in a saucepan.
- How long does it take to cook corn in a pressure cooker? The cooking time for young corn in a pressure cooker is 10-15 minutes, and for old (deep yellow) corn - 40 minutes.
- How long to cook corn in a double boiler? The cooking time for young fresh corn in a double boiler is 30-35 minutes.
- How long does it take to cook corn in a slow cooker? In a slow cooker, young corn is cooked for 15 minutes, old corn for 20-30 minutes.
- How long does it take to cook corn in the microwave? Young corn can be cooked in the microwave in 10 minutes (if cooked without water in a tied plastic bag at 800 W).
Having found out how long it takes to cook corn, we will now consider each type of preparation separately.
Note: most delicious corn for cooking - this is young (light yellow, whitish color), which is also called sugar or Bonduelle.
How to cook corn in a saucepan?
Cooking corn cobs in a pan is the most popular way to cook it at home, since in this case it turns out soft, juicy and very tasty. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to cook corn in a pan:
- First of all, we prepare the corn for cooking: we remove the dried and dirty leaves, and you can leave the fresher ones, as they will give more pleasant taste corn after cooking. It is also necessary to wash the corn under running water.
- We choose a pan for cooking (preferably one that is larger and wider so that the cobs can fit into it, as well as one with a thick bottom and walls). If there is a lot of corn, and the pan is not particularly large, large cobs can be cut into 2-3 pieces before cooking.
- Place the corn cobs in a saucepan, fill them with water so that it completely covers them and bring the water to a boil over high heat (you can also add the corn after the water has boiled).
- After the water in the pan has boiled, reduce the heat (so that the water does not boil too much) and cook the corn for 15-20 minutes if the corn is young, or at least 40 minutes if it is old.
- 5 minutes before the end of cooking, add salt (a teaspoon per 1 liter of water), and at the end of cooking, taste the corn (separating a few grains from the cob with a fork); if it is already soft, turn off the stove and take the cooked corn out onto a plate. If desired, you can rub it with salt and butter to make it tastier.
Note: during cooking, you can add a little sugar and butter to the water to make the corn kernels more tender and soft, but many people recommend adding salt at the end of cooking (5 minutes before the end of cooking, or salting ready-cooked ears of corn).
To cook frozen corn in a pan (both whole cobs and individual kernels), bring the water in the pan to a boil, add salt and place the corn in the boiling water. After the water boils again, reduce the heat and cook the cobs for 30 minutes, and if they are grains, then 10-15 minutes until cooked.
How to properly cook corn in a slow cooker?
It’s quick and convenient to cook young corn using a multicooker, and often many housewives use the “Steam” mode on the principle of a double boiler to make the corn juicier and softer. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to cook young corn in a slow cooker:
- Completely remove leaves from the corn and rinse under running cold water.
- Place the cobs in the slow cooker and fill them with cold water until the water completely covers them.
- Close the multicooker, set the “Steam” mode and cook for 20 minutes.
- After cooking is complete, transfer the corn from the multicooker to plates and, if desired, rub with salt and butter to make it tastier.
Note: this cooking recipe is most suitable for fresh young corn, since older ones are cooked longer (at least 30-40 minutes + top up if necessary) more water into the slow cooker).
How to cook corn in the microwave?
Not everyone knows that corn can be cooked even in microwave oven, but it is important to know that it is better to cook it this way in small quantity(depending on the chosen method, you can cook 1-3 ears of corn at a time). Let's take a closer look at how to cook corn in the microwave:
- Place the peeled ear of young corn in a thick plastic bag, tie it and put it in the microwave.
- Set the cooking time to 10 minutes at 800 W and turn on the microwave.
- After the beep, remove the corn from the bag, rub it with salt and eat.
Corn becomes popular among our population towards the end of summer. Her scent and taste qualities attract many food lovers. Corn has a beneficial effect on the human body. One cob contains a lot of vitamins: B, C, D, K, PP, as well as many useful elements: magnesium, phosphorus compounds, potassium, etc.
Choosing corn
To make cooked corn enjoyable, you need to approach the selection process wisely. Try to buy young vegetables whose cobs have a milky yellowish tint. When checking the grains, pay attention to their softness and elasticity at the same time. Bright yellow corn is also ok to eat, but it will be a little hard. The foliage should be adjacent to the body of the cob and slightly peel off from it, have fresh look and a yellowish tint. If there are no leaves on the corn, this may indicate that the plant has been treated with pesticides. In this case, the leaves curl and look unattractive. In order not to alienate the buyer, they are removed in advance, explaining this fact by other reasons.
Cooking process
Once you have chosen the corn, you can begin the cooking process. The fastest way to cook corn is in a double boiler. Before starting the process, we pay attention to some more details. You should select cobs of a similar size overall and with similar kernel sizes. If you come across large cobs, and therefore have problems with them in the double boiler, then carefully cut them into two halves lengthwise. It is not necessary to peel the leaves; their presence during the cooking process will not spoil the taste of the product. If you have time, you can let the delicacy brew in cool water, then cooking corn in a double boiler will be even more successful.
If spoiled grains are found on the body of the cob, remove them. Before immersing the corn in water, the liquid must be boiled and salted. Corn can be cooked in a steamer from half an hour to two hours. This is influenced by the maturity of the fetus.
Determining the readiness of corn
The simplest method for determining the degree of readiness of corn is to take a sample. To do this, separate the grain from the cob and assess readiness. Focus on taste preferences. Before serving, the cobs can be brushed with butter. Serve salt separately.
Corn in a steamer is not the only cooking option. You can use a saucepan, pressure cooker or microwave oven. If the choice nevertheless fell on a double boiler, then before cooking it is recommended to cover the peeled cobs with butter (butter). For lovers of non-traditional taste of corn, you can cook special sauce from butter, cardamom and walnut. Mix all ingredients and keep on fire for several minutes. Place the cooked corn on a plate, pour over the prepared nut mixture and serve with salt (in a separate container). Corn in a double boiler is a convenient option for the housewife, because the cobs do not need to be peeled from leaves.
