Unbelievable sweet corn

The sweet corn around me is really starting to get good. But I recently had the best sweetcorn of the year, no contest. The kernels were so uniform...so fresh...and the perfect balance between sweet and grain.


A guy at work was the one who brought it in. He said it was from DirtBall's corn in Kinsman. Hopefully I can find out where he bought it. Yum Yum!

dan

gonefishin wrote:The sweet corn around me is really starting to get good.

Where is around you?

I thought I had the location filled in within my profile, sorry. "Around me" is in Joliet. We have a couple of local farms that sell sweet corn locally. Both are quite good...but the DirtBalls corn was really just a bit above the others.

dan

The sweet corn is definately around now. I bought some last week @ the Ottawa farmers market, and wanted more this week, but the vendor who I bought it from was not there. We took a short drive over to the farmstand on Route 71 in Norway, and bought a dozen ears, and some sweet peaches. 6 ears prepared on the grill last nigth were excellent, the other 6 will be steamed tonight.

Another favorite thing to do is to make corn bread (in a cast iron skillet) on the grill, while grilling some more corn in the husk. It gives the corn bread a really nice aroma and flavor.

dan

finally got some local Illinois sweet corn on Sunday instead of having to settle for the corn I had been buying at the grovery store(I contend Illinois sweet corn is the best in the country).

Some folks had their pick-up with the back filled with sweet corn parked at a gas station in Ottawa, and were selling 13 ears of corn for $4. Not bad. I talked with them a few minutes, and they told me the corn was picked that morning in Newark, IL(about 20 minutes from there).

I took the corn home, soaked it in cold water for about 3 hours, and then threw it on the grill. Once the husks were charred they were done. I made 8 ears, and I ate almost 4 of them myself. Sweet as can be, with the kernels tender, small, and popping with flavor. Best corn since last fall. Its too bad there is such a short window for sweet corn, but I guess it makes the short time it is available much more worth it.

I was anticipating the corn being even later this year due to the wet spring most of the farming communities saw. The local paper was said alot of farmers gave up on corn this year, and planted beans instead.

No pics of me eating the corn, here is one of the corn on the Weber.

jimswside wrote:Its too bad there is such a short window for sweet corn, but I guess it makes the short time it is available much more worth it.

I agree, though there are few things that freeze better than roasted corn. Every year I roast several dozen ears, remove the caramelized kernels from the cobs, and freeze in freezer bags. I eat delicious roasted corn all year, with little noticeable loss of quality.

Kennyz wrote:

jimswside wrote:Its too bad there is such a short window for sweet corn, but I guess it makes the short time it is available much more worth it.

I agree, though there are few things that freeze better than roasted corn. Every year I roast several dozen ears, remove the caramelized kernels from the cobs, and freeze in freezer bags. I eat delicious roasted corn all year, with little noticeable loss of quality.

thanks for the idea Kenny, I may have to try that this year.

jimswside wrote:I was anticipating the corn being even later this year due to the wet spring most of the farming communities saw. The local paper was said alot of farmers gave up on corn this year, and planted beans instead.

We went to Peoria this weekend via I-88, I-39 and Ill. Rte 29, the heart of corn country. We were surprised at how many fields went unplanted this year, My cousin who works for the U of I extension down there said many farmers just did not plant due to wet weather. We saw a number of fields in sweet corn along Rte. 29 but the ears didn't seem very big yet.

LikestoEatout wrote:
We went to Peoria this weekend via I-88, I-39 and Ill. Rte 29, the heart of corn country. We were surprised at how many fields went unplanted this year, My cousin who works for the U of I extension down there said many farmers just did not plant due to wet weather. We saw a number of fields in sweet corn along Rte. 29 but the ears didn't seem very big yet.

I was expecting early AUgust for corn to be available if at all. I was pleasently surpirsed. I may take a trip over to Norway, and hit the roadside stand this upcoming weekend and see how their corn is progressing.

Hi,

Von Bergen's Farmstand in the Richmond-Hebron area advised they expected to have sweet corn this last weekend. I haven't called yet to verify.

While driving out west to LaSalle County, a lot of corn was in earlier stages of development than one usually sees in mid-July. They planted late, which has the pleasant affect of sweet corn deeper into September.

I saw one field just off of Route 60 in north Lake County, where they turned over the field when it was obvious the ground was too wet. Huge clumps of soil as hard as rock, which had to be the devil to resolve. Impatience in farming has a price.

Regards,

Don't forget about http://www.twingardenfarms.com/index.html producers of the Mairi sweet corn. It's the best corn I've ever had even when very simply cooked by wrapping a moist paper towel around the shucked eat and microwaved. On the grill, Out of this world. I wonder if smoking it would work?

MikeW665 wrote: I wonder if smoking it would work?

I have seen folks on the bbq forum I post on talk about smoking corn, but I have not tried it.

www.smokingmeatforums.com

MikeW665 wrote:Don't forget about http://www.twingardenfarms.com/index.html producers of the Mairi sweet corn. It's the best corn I've ever had even when very simply cooked by wrapping a moist paper towel around the shucked eat and microwaved. On the grill, Out of this world.

Mirai corn is not for me. It is super sweet, but somehow seems to be missing the corniness. Reminds me of a McDonalds hamburger bun. Ditto for the cherry tomatoes produced by Twin Garden. Through some expensive science, they had outdoor-grown tomatoes way before anyone else in the area. Like their corn, the tomatoes were candy-like, but missing acidic, tomatoey goodness.

Hi,

My frustration with Mirai is their marketing campaign. I have seen people reject, not even try, tri-color corn grown in our region. If it isn't Mirai, it isn't good enough for them.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

My frustration with Mirai is their marketing campaign. I have seen people reject, not even try, tri-color corn grown in our region. If it isn't Mirai, it isn't good enough for them.

Regards,

I'll eat pretty much any corn that's available, but after trying the Mirai last year I was hooked.

We picked up some at the Oak Park Farmer's market this weekend. Only one vender had it and not a large supply.

We ate it both Saturday and Sunday. Life is empty and hollow without this wonderful product.

I read in the Trib that the corn was expected to be especially sweet this year because of the low temps. The corn will take longer to ripen, hence the sweeter it will be.

I was recently in both North & South Carolina (post to come). The farmers there were crowing (get it, crowing) about their sweet corn, but one taste had me wishing for the best corn in the world, Midwest sweet corn (although, I don't expect to see the really good stuff for another 3 - 4 weeks). Their's couldn't hold a candle to ours. Now the peaches on the other hand...

jimswside wrote:(I contend Illinois sweet corn is the best in the country)

I agree.

Some folks had their pick-up with the back filled with sweet corn parked at a gas station in Ottawa, and were selling 13 ears of corn for $4.

Not to say whatever you bought wasn't worth the money, but that (3.25 ears per $1) doesn't seem to me to be such a great price, especially for selling it out of a truck rather than having to box it or package it and schlepp it to a store. It seems to me that the price for sweet corn starts out 2/$1 in the spring, moves to 3/$1 for quite a while, gets to 4/$1 as summer gets into swing, hits 5/$1 at peak quality and quantity, and sometimes goes for 6/$1 past that point when they're just trying to get rid of it. But then maybe the prices are going to be higher this year?

I was anticipating the corn being even later this year due to the wet spring most of the farming communities saw. The local paper said a lot of farmers gave up on corn this year, and planted beans instead.

I don't know about sweet corn, but my aunt downstate told me the other day that feed corn is growing poorly this year.

jimswside wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

jimswside wrote:Its too bad there is such a short window for sweet corn, but I guess it makes the short time it is available much more worth it.

I agree, though there are few things that freeze better than roasted corn. Every year I roast several dozen ears, remove the caramelized kernels from the cobs, and freeze in freezer bags. I eat delicious roasted corn all year, with little noticeable loss of quality.

thanks for the idea Kenny, I may have to try that this year.

Which yields better quality, cooking before freezing, or freezing first and cooking later?

Katie wrote:Which yields better quality, cooking before freezing, or freezing first and cooking later?

cooking before freezing by far. As with most vegetables, cooking the corn kills the enzymes that are responsible for deterioration. The enzymes do not die when frozen.

MikeW665 wrote:Don't forget about http://www.twingardenfarms.com/index.html producers of the Mairi sweet corn. It's the best corn I've ever had even when very simply cooked by wrapping a moist paper towel around the shucked eat and microwaved. On the grill, Out of this world. I wonder if smoking it would work?

FYI Mirai corn will be available at Roselle Main Street Market..market starts Aug 8..

Sweet corn was plentiful at the Lincoln Square Farmers' Market this morning. There was some in early July and then very little or none until this week. I believe that the wet weather in May has had a bigger impact on sweet corn availability than the cold weather in June because planting was impossible in much of the time window to produce mid-July sweet corn. Cold, wet weather around planting time is particularly devastating for the sweetness but little other flavor supersweet corn that dominates farmers' markets as seeds with the Sh gene rot quickly. Harold Lange grows corn with the Se gene, which has much more flavor while retarding sugar conversion to starch albeit for much less time than the Sh gene. Two ears of Harold's corn will be in our lunch.

Note on freezing or keeping sweet corn and green beans, among others. Blanching, not full cooking, is enough to kill enzymes that cause deterioration and stop sugar to starch conversion. Blanched vegetables will maintain quality better under refrigeration than unblanched.

another darn good batch of sweet corn out of Newark, IL. this weekend. THe folks with the from Newark had their pick-up full of corn parked at the gas station @ Route 23 and I-80 on Sunday, and I swooped in for a bag. 13 ears for $4. As good if not better than the corn they had 2 weekends ago.

I have a buddy who has been treating us to cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, hot peppers, etc. from his farm this summer, he tells me 3 weeks for his corn.

I am also hoping for a sample of Angus beef that he raises.

I picked up some sweet corn from a farm near Salem, WI last Saturday. The farmer said that this was their first batch of corn of the year. They had just started picking the day before. I shared some of this corn with a few LTHers on Saturday. I found the corn to be a bit starchy and not quite the sweet corn of my dreams. I guess it's still a little early for decent corn this year. I'm still awaiting for the good stuff that surely will start coming in the next few weeks.

stevez wrote:I picked up some sweet corn from a farm near Salem, WI last Saturday. The farmer said that this was their first batch of corn of the year. They had just started picking the day before. I shared some of this corn with a few LTHers on Saturday. I found the corn to be a bit starchy and not quite the sweet corn of my dreams. I guess it's still a little early for decent corn this year. I'm still awaiting for the good stuff that surely will start coming in the next few weeks.

Keep trying Steve, its out there..... Ive had 2 great local(sw of the city) batches already, . Id bet Wisconsin corn(not as good as illinois corn imho) has to be lagging weeks behind the local corn.

Good sweet corn is *finally* available everywhere in KC, even the supermarkets. Really late this year. But the quality seems to be right up there, happily enough.

BTW, the latest Cook's Illustrated has a neat recipe for Mexican-style grilled corn. It looks pretty interesting, and sounds like it would get pretty close to what we can (sometimes) get around here from Mexican vendors.

Geo

Hi,

I drove up to the Hebron-Richmond area yesterday. I bought a baker's dozen of corn from Von Bergen's. They noted some kernels may not be filled at the point due to the weather. They expect to have corn into October. Peak quality will be the next two weeks.

We boiled several last night for dinner. I roasted three ears at 500 degrees for 45 minutes with skins and silks on for lunch today. I picked this idea from a LAZ thread. Boiled and (effectively) steamed, these were terrific examples of sweet corn.

Regards,

Ive been doing my corn as I always do, soaked and then grilled in the husk. Or peeled, and steamed on a vegetable rack like I do my crabs/lobster/shrimp.

Ate another 2 ears last night. I love this time of year.