Easy Grilled Corn on the Cob

I love - and I do mean love - good corn on the cob. By good, I mean fresh. Like you-have-to-shuck-the-corn-yourself fresh. And to me it's not about how you season it. It's about the texture and flavor of the crisp, crunchy, yet amazingly tender and sweet corn that I can eat right off the cob. You can't get that from the frozen stuff. Which means I am doomed to a lifetime of buying the corn that I have to shuck myself.

This has always seemed like a lot of hard work to me. You have to buy the corn, shuck the corn, pick off all the random strands of corn silk, fill a big pot with water, boil the water, and cook the corn. Made me feel like the Little Red Hen. And then you had to hope you didn't over-cook it and make it mushy. Too much drama. So corn on the cob became a luxury in my house that we didn't get too often.

All that changed a couple of summers ago when we bought our first grill. It was a charcoal grill (because that was cheapest), and I used it to grill as often as I could. I had heard rumors of being able to grill corn right in the husk so one day I gave it a shot.

Ooh, la la! It was cooked to perfection every time. And as an added bonus, it was super-easy to shuck! The corn silk came right off with the husk in a neat clump. And now that we have a gas grill it's even easier. This is one of those things that is hard to screw up. As far as I know, the only way it's even possible is if you under-cook the corn but I have yet to experience that.

First, you must wrap the corn (in the husk!) in aluminum foil.

Next, throw it on the grill for about 20 minutes. Often we'll grill some chicken or something else for dinner to, so we'll cook the corn for about 10-15 minutes on the bottom rack, then move it to the top rack for another 10 minutes while the meat is cooking on the bottom.

IMPORTANT:
When you remove the corn from the grill, it will be hot. Amazing, but true. I highly recommend allowing the corn to cool for about 20-30 minutes before shucking and serving. Your fingers will thank you. If you can't wait, however, just be prepared for toasty fingertips.
If you don't have time to wait, I suggest placing the cooked corn (still in the foil) in a sink of cold water for about 5 minutes to cool it enough to shuck without burning your fingers.

When you open the foil, the outside of the corn should look browned like this:

Remove the husk and admire the beautiful corn, cooked to perfection. Season as desired. We generally just roll our corn on a stick of butter and eat!