Has Anyone Actually Tried This? Cooler Corn?

Updated on October 21, 2011
✩.!. asks from Boulder, CO
11 answers

My mom sent this to me in an email, so I just copied and paste. But I was curious if anyone has ever tried it?

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 introduced 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. Then my sister, a capable Maine cook with years of camping experience says "let's do cooler corn!" Before I can ask "what’s 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.

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

And here is yet another reason we need a flower button for posters.

Next summer we will try this too.

5 moms found this helpful

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✤.J.

answers from Dover on

Never heard of it myself, but it's a spectacular idea!

3 moms found this helpful
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C.H.

answers from Chicago on

Heating plastic releases potentially harmful chemical - Bisphenol A ( BPA).

I would contact Coleman and ask them if their coolers were suitable for hot liquids. In the FAQ on the Igloo site it specifically says that they are not. The other two did not have the info on their websites. As a general rule, I am skepticial of using any plastic used with food/liquids.

2 moms found this helpful
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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

Never heard of it, but Im definetly going to try it...next summer! Thanks!!

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J.W.

answers from Houston on

Last year I was my job to make the turkey for the family Thanksgiving at the ranch. So I cooked the turkey at home part of the night. The next morning I packed the turkey and dressing into a cooler on top of a large roaster pan that was turned up side down. That way it would not be sitting in any grease. When we arrived two hours later it was still hot, and juicy. Much better than heating it up and drying it out!

We have done the same thing with smoked brisket for a BBQ! Tender and yummy!

2 moms found this helpful

L.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Um, no, I hadn't heard of cooler corn either! But what a great idea! Thanks for sharing... :)

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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

This would work with lots of hot boiled foods. At a luau they heat rocks with fire and when the fire is all coals they place a pig on the heated rocks and take it out hours later and the pig is cooked. Same idea.

Good luck to you and yours.

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J.M.

answers from Denver on

I received that email this week also. Brilliant idea. You probably need to remember to take tongs to remove the corn as it is served. I have precooked corn, buttered it and then placed in a cooler and that worked well. I also bake potatoes and place them in the cooler for large events. I'm going to try it for our next big "summer" event. Corn is now out of season here in Colorado...we had our first snow 12 days ago and our first freeze this week. Where did summer go?

2 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

That sounds good!!! We have neighborhood crawfish boils in the spring and we could do this with the corn too!!!

BLAH BLAH about the plastic. We are in the plastics industry. You might worry about BPA if you are injecting it into your bloodstream. That is all a big marketing ploy as well so you can pay more for plastic....

2 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I saw a youtube video the other day about a man cooking the corn with the husks on in the microwave for 4 minutes each ear of corn. Took them out with hot pads (dah!!) and cut the bottom end off - then held the corn by the opposite end and the corn fell out with out one piece of silk or husk on it!!

2 moms found this helpful
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S.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

Thanks for sharing this genius idea! First time I've heard of it but (logically) it should work just fine cos we usually boil corn on the cob. I'll try it out and let you know! :) Have a fun weekend!

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