Useful (or Useless) Kitchen Gadgets

[Big Frank]

Tired of removing corn silk the old way? Try doing it the NEW way! I can't remember where I saw this, but it's an actual product that's for sale online. I think it was at a place that sells Amish-style pushbikes. They're lightweight aluminum, by the way. Pretty cool if you want a low CG with your foot 2-3" from the ground, and to push, not pedal. If anything goes wrong you can simply step off to bail out, unlike a regular bike. I bookmarked the site but my carpal tunnel has been begging me to get offline, so I'm not checking to see if the corn silk remover is on there. Please post useful OR silly kitchen gadgets most of us may not have seen. I don't know if this is, "As Seen On TV", because I don't watch infomercials. Regular commercials either, for that matter.

https://cottagecraftworks.com/hunting-outdoors/outdoor-sports/amish-kick-scooter-bike

[Big Frank]

I like to cook my corn on the cob in the microwave, an ear at a time, with everything still intact. When it's done I cut it off near the bottom of the ear and pull all the leaves with the silk off one way, with a few rows of corn still on the stub of the cob on the stem the other way. I don't let that last bit of corn go to waste either. The leaves seal in the moisture like plastic wrap, but without all the toxic chemicals. Kind of like cooking in banana leaves but way easier to source.

[Rastus]

That is a pretty neat deal to get the corn silks off.  I mostly don't worry much about them when boiling corn.  They pretty much liberate themselves from the ear.

And on that note...it looks like an ear of sweet corn.  I like the regular field corn.  It's better for me with the salt and butter.     

Peg...what say you?  Field corn or sweet corn?

[alfsauve]

Sweet corn and we micro-wave then just slide the ear out of the leaves leaving the silk behind.

[Big Frank]

Sweet corn and we micro-wave then just slide the ear out of the leaves leaving the silk behind.

Bingo! We have a winner. I only cut off about a half inch off the bottom of the ear after I nuke it. Then I squeeze the top of the ear and it pops out of the leaves, clean as a whistle. Then I peel the leaves back and nibble at the couple of rows of corn just above the stem, instead of tossing the whole thing in the compost bin. And I like to unwrap one end of a stick of butter and rub it up and down the ear of corn, then sprinkle a little bit of salt on it.

I haven't had field corn since I was a kid and no one in the family liked it. It makes good animal feed, but it's not for me. When I was in Germany, during German-American Friendship Week, some guys had a carnival booth selling corn on the cob. A lot of German people wouldn't even try it because they thought corn was just for animals. One guy told me that at least one German woman bought an ear of corn, put it in her purse, and left with it. Presumably to eat it at home where no one would see. I don't think they had popcorn at the movie theater back then either, but I only watched movies on post where they were in English.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

I've been using Swing-A-Way can openers forever, but I saw an Easy Crank version at Gordons that looks a lot better. Instead of twisting a knob with you fingers and thumb, you grab the crank and turn it around in circles. No twisting your wrist with this one, or hurting yourself opening restaurant-size cans. They have them at lots of other stores too. I'm getting one free with my Amazon points.


https://www.amazon.com/Swing-Way-Easy-Crank-Stainless-Essentials/dp/B01IF8BATS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa

[PegLeg45]

That is a pretty neat deal to get the corn silks off.  I mostly don't worry much about them when boiling corn.  They pretty much liberate themselves from the ear.

And on that note...it looks like an ear of sweet corn.  I like the regular field corn.  It's better for me with the salt and butter.     

Peg...what say you?  Field corn or sweet corn?

I bet you knew the answer 'fore you asked it: field corn all the way.

I do like the peaches & cream corn from time to time, and sweet corn makes good creamed corn off the cob. But at the end of the day if I could have only one, it'll always be field corn.


Next time you're grilling, melt a stick of salted butter and a tablespoon of mayo and brush the cob o' corn with it and wrap in foil. Cook on the grill and then remove the foil and finish on the open grill. Do a final brush with the butter mayo mix and dust with sea salt.
Bacon grease works too.

[Rastus]

Looks like something I need to try.  I'll be trying to grow corn here this again this year.  Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping the deer out of the garden.