Public corn shuckers out there, I owe you an apology.
One of my biggest summer pet peeves is watching, or trying not to watch, people shucking corn in the supermarket.
And I say supermarket because at most farmers’ markets they wouldn’t let you do it.
Recently I got 6 ears of corn to make a corn salad. The recipe (which was amazing and will post soon) called for the corn to be shucked and grilled.
No problem. I did my usual grab of 6 ears of corn—shaking my head at the peepers and shuckers — and went home to make the dish.
About the second ear it hit me—I almost never shuck raw corn. Our two favorite ways to do corn are to toss it on the grill or pop it in the microwave. With either method it’s shucked after it’s cooked. There is still a bit of a mess, but the silk comes out easier and the cob can be popped out of the husk.
But when the corn is raw—oh baby what a mess!
By the fourth ear I was flashing back to childhood when the kids and the corn would be tossed outside so the mess would be in someone’s backyard.
After all six were done, I vowed that next time I was joining the other supermarket shuckers because it made such a huge mess!
The other thing you should know about me is that I hate doing floors. Don’t know what childhood trauma I suffered, but brooms and vacuums are the enemy. I’ll scrub a toilet or polish silver way before I’ll tackle a floor.
So, after all the work shucking, I’m now faced with getting bits of corn silk off the floor where it’s hiding under the butcher block and stuck in all the grout lines.
Now I owe all the supermarket shuckers an apology. The next time I’m making this recipe (and there will be many next times) I’m joining you around one of the giant trash barrels, where we can all make a mess and there will be someone to clean up after us!
However, if you’re one of the people who peel back the husk and reject the ear, or even worse, shuck an ear and toss it back, you’re still on my s**t list.
Don’t waste food.
As long as you have a newspaper, LOL
Our way to shuck corn neatly at home is to open up a section of the newspaper and shuck on top of it. Then fold up all the husks and corn silk inside the newspaper “package” and into the garbage.