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