Grillmaster Reveals The Most Common Mistake You're Making When Grilling Corn

With warm weather ahead of us for the foreseeable future, we can finally break out the grill and enjoy cooking everything under the sun. But if you decide to grill up some corn, you have to take a little extra care when handling this vegetable. While this grill favorite doesn't present too many problemsc, you have to stay vigilant. If the heat ends up getting too hot, you run the risk of setting your corn on fire, let alone drying it out and rendering it inedible (via Allrecipes). To keep you on the straight-and-narrow when it comes to cooking your cobs, we consulted with Tim Donnelly, corporate chef at Publix, to get the full scoop on how to handle this classic vegetable on the grill. 

Donnelly has two approaches to grilling up corn, depending on your husk preference. "If you are leaving the husk on the ears of corn, you should soak [each ear] in cold water prior to reduce the chance of the husk charring too much and the moisture will also help steam the corn," Donnelly explains. "In my opinion, it may be better to soak the husk then place on the grill to steam and impart smokey flavor for maybe 8 to 10 minutes, turning often." After that time is up, he says to pull off the husk and coat your corn with either butter or oil and salt and pepper. "Then finish grilling to impart some charring for added flavor."

If you opt to go husk-less, you still have to pay attention to detail. "If you are grilling with the husk/silk removed, cook over indirect heat so you slowly cook the corn and don't just char it with the kernels being undercooked," Donnelly says. If you decide to shuck your corn prior to throwing it on the grill, you can still plan to cook each piece for about 10 minutes and you can even end up with some tasty charring if done right (via Delish).

When you want to take your cookout to the next level, don't rush your corn. Make sure that each step gets handled with the utmost care to ensure you end up with a final product that can make anyone's mouth water. After one bite of the perfectly-grilled corn, you won't want to enjoy this staple any other way. Thanks to Donnelly, you and your guests can enjoy the best corn on the cob straight from your own grill.