Butter Bucket for Roast Corn

I had a few folks over for a backyard BBQ and corn roast this weekend. Only about 8 of the 10 folks commented on the size vessel I was using for the melted butter. I was using my Thai sticky rice steamer.

I thought they were just teasing me about the amount of butter I was using (What have you go in there, 5 pounds of butter), until I realized that the mysteries of the Midwestern Corn Roast are more prevalent in Chicago than I once thought.

When I roast big batches of corn, for ease and efficiency I make a dip can. The best thing to use is an old coffee can a little deeper than an average ear. You really don't need all that much butter. If you fill the can about 3/4 full of water the melted butter will float on top. Dunk the ear in and when you pull it out all the butter at the surface applies a nice even coating on the way out. Viola!

...it ain't exactly rocket surgery

One of my favorite parts of going up to Road America, aside from the racing, is getting the grilled corn they serve (OK, and the brats). Once you've ordered your corn they dip the ear into a #10 can of butter. Until your post I never considered that it might not be entirely full of butter - or that, even if it is, it isn't that hard to reproduce at home with the water/butter combo trick. Thanks.

If this is off-topic, sorry.

Darien, WI which is about 10 miles NW of Harvard, IL on US-14 has a Corn Festival on the Friday-Sunday after Labor Day weekend.

During the mornings, they offer FREE roasted corn on the cob to all who make an appearance. You do not have to be a resident to participate and the only limit is the amount you can eat.

That is a really neat trick. There is nothing like buttered roasted corn with a barbeque. It seems almost necessary to include it.

I like my corn with butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper on it.

pdaane wrote:When I roast big batches of corn, for ease and efficiency I make a dip can. The best thing to use is an old coffee can a little deeper than an average ear. You really don't need all that much butter. If you fill the can about 3/4 full of water the melted butter will float on top. Dunk the ear in and when you pull it out all the butter at the surface applies a nice even coating on the way out. Viola!

...it ain't exactly rocket surgery

pdaane,

It may not be rocket surgery, but it's brilliant. I mentioned this technique to The Wife, and she was impressed. Actually, I don't usually butter my corn, but she and my daughters do, and they tend to press their cobs into the butter, leaving odd impressions all along the length of the stick. Thanks for the hint, Heloise!

Hammond

pdaane wrote:...it ain't exactly rocket surgery

Peter,

It might not be rocket surgery (?), but it is, as Hammond said, brilliant. I'm a Wisconsin boy myself and I'd never heard of the corn/butter trick.

I'd like to add in addition to Peter's brilliant butter trick, the corn he made for dunking was exceptional. He first soaked the corn, husk and all, in salted water then grilled direct over a low lump charcoal fire in a standard Weber kettle.

After the corn was roasted he tossed it into a cooler (no ice, just an empty cooler) where the corn not only stayed warm, but steamed slightly in the husk lending a tenderness to the kernels that complimented the brown toasty bits from the grill.

Thanks for the corn tips Peter.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hi,

I told this over lunch to my friend Helen, who said she knew about it already. She had been to a fair, where she noticed there was water under the butter layer and surmised the butter bucket technique. I asked why didn't she tell me about it. She thought I knew about it already.

Well this technique does take away one of life's mysteries: how do you reuse the butter everyone's been dunking their corn in? I really did believe there were pounds of butter present, which seemed irresponsible to simply toss.

Thanks for lifting the curtain!

Regards,

In culinary school we used to set up baine maries full of clarified butter so that it was melted and ready when the line got busy. So I started doing the same thing when grilling corn.

I set up a baine marie on my sideburner. I use a medium sized stainless utensil holder in a pot of simmering water. filled with 1/3 water and 2/3 butter. When done I generally ladle the top of the butter off and strain it. Then I usually put it in small ramekins or timbales and set it at the place settings so that everyone has their own individual butter.