Boiled Corn on the Cob
Milk boiled corn on the cob! A buttery milk bath for the juiciest, sweetest corn. Perfect summer corn! Tender, flavorful and ready in 30 min!
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 3 cloves garlic, halved
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 6 ears corn, husks removed and halved
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine 4 cups water, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in milk, butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil; working carefully, add corn, reduce heat and simmer until just tender, about 6-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chives, if desired.
Notes
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution.
- Cut in half. Cut the corn cobs in smaller portions (thirds or halves) for easy serving.
- Fresh corn cooks faster. Fresh corn has a higher moisture content and will typically cook much faster than older corn. Be sure to keep an eye on the corn as overcooked corn can be tough and chewy.
- Use whole milk. While skim or 2% milk can work in a pinch, the fat content in whole milk is necessary here for maximum richness.
- Butter is key here. The butter will infuse the corn kernels with salty, buttery goodness. So good, you can skip the butter topping at the very end too.
- Omit the sugar. If you summer corn is already very sweet, skip the sugar. Alternatively, if you want to make this all year round (and you don't have much faith in the corn), the sugar will make all the difference here.
- Make it vegan. Use non-dairy milk such as almond milk and swap out the butter for vegan butter.
- Season and serve. No need to slather on that softened butter. The butter bath has taken care of all that work for you. Simply garnish with chives (and season with s+p if needed) and serve.