For all you Bar-B-Quer's out there. This is just a fantastic idea!
The Best Way to Cook Corn on the Cob for a Crowd?
It's Cooler Corn
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Am I the only person who hasn't heard of "cooler corn"?
As an obsessive food nerd, you'd expect that I would have
at least heard of it, but over the weekend I was blindsided
by the simple genius of this method for cooking loads of
corn on the cob (which is still in season, no matter that
summer already seems like a sad memory) perfectly.
I was hepped to it while visiting my family in Maine. Short
story: We like corn on the cob. And with eight adults at
the table, that means a couple of dozen ears. We would
have used the lobster pot to cook them all, but the lobster
pot was busy steaming lobster. (And please don't spell it
"lobstah". It's not funny.) Then my sister, a capable Maine
cook with years of camping experience says "let's do cooler
corn!" Before I can ask "what the hell is cooler corn?" a
Coleman cooler appears from the garage, is wiped clean,
then filled with the shucked ears. Next, two kettles-full of
boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed.
Then nothing.
When we sat down to dinner 30 minutes later and opened it,
the corn was perfectly cooked. My mind was blown. And I'm
told that the corn will remain at the perfect level of doneness
for a couple of hours.
Turns out, Cooler Corn is pretty well known among the
outdoorsy set (I found a handful of mentions on various
camping websites). But for those of us who avoid tents as
much as possible, it's perfect for large barbecues and way
less of mess than grilling. In fact, I may even buy another
cooler just so I'm ready for next summer. Now that I'm in
the know.