Slow-Cooked Corn on the Cob

First warm weekend of spring. Aunt Linda hosted a Saturday afternoon cookout in her back yard in Sapulpa. The high was sixty-eight. The forsythia along the side fence was in early bloom. Roy had pulled the grill out from the garage Thursday and cleaned the grates and stocked the propane. The whole family came — me and Dustin and Brayden, Mama and Cody from the cafe (Cody had hired Tracy Patton’s teenage daughter Marlee to cover Saturday lunch as a one-shift trial), Aunt Patty and Bobby with Hannah and Hayden, Roy Calloway from down the street.

I brought the slow-cooked corn. The slow-cooker method for corn on the cob is the right method for a cookout where the grill is occupied with burgers and chicken thighs and you do not have spare grill real estate for the corn. You shuck the corn, place the cobs upright in the slow cooker, add half a cup of water and a stick of butter and a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt, set the cooker to high for two hours. The corn comes out sweet and tender and butter-glazed and ready to serve straight from the cooker.

The cooker was on the deck table next to the grill, plugged into the outdoor outlet. The kids (Brayden in his bouncer on the deck, Hannah and Hayden seventeen and as old as the cookout had ever felt) circulated through the deck and the yard with the easy rhythm of a family gathering in early spring. The corn came out at three-thirty. Roy carved the cobs in half on the deck table and we ate the corn standing up around the grill, butter on our chins, the way the cookout has been eaten since I was small.

Sunday I wrote up the recipe at the apartment in Tulsa. The slow-cooker corn is the kind of recipe that does not feel like a recipe because the steps are so simple but it earns its place in the blog rotation by being the right answer to a real grill-day constraint.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 3 hours | Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

6 ears of corn, husked and halved (or left whole if your slow cooker fits them)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/3 cup water

Instructions

Prep the corn. Husk the corn and snap or cut each ear in half crosswise so the pieces fit easily in your slow cooker without forcing the lid.
Layer and season. Place the corn pieces in the slow cooker. Scatter the butter pieces over the top, then sprinkle evenly with salt, pepper, and garlic powder if using.
Add water. Pour the water into the bottom of the slow cooker around the corn — this creates steam and keeps the corn tender without boiling it.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours or on HIGH for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the kernels are tender and bright yellow.
Serve warm. Use tongs to transfer the corn to a platter. Spoon any melted butter from the bottom of the slow cooker over the top before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooked Corn on the Cob