Reducing contemporary corn off the cob appears comparatively simple till kernels go flying throughout the kitchen and rolling underneath the fridge. The excellent news: With the correct method, separating the kernels from the cob might be clear, environment friendly, and surprisingly satisfying. 

Or, actually, we should always say with the correct strategies, as a result of we have now a couple of most well-liked technique to get the job executed. Within the video above, chef and meals stylist Julian Hensarling shares two foolproof approaches to reducing corn, every with its personal benefits. One technique shortly produces a tidy bowl stuffed with particular person kernels and is nice for banging by means of a whole lot of corn without delay. The opposite is barely slower however yields extra elegant, irregular slabs of connected kernels, which look nice in salads and different extra composed dishes.

With these two meals stylist–accredited strategies in your pocket, you can make quick work of nevertheless a lot corn you must reduce up, and management what it seems like ultimately, regardless of what corn dish you are cooking.

Methodology #1: The Inverted Bowl Methodology

Many cooks swear by the Bundt pan trick, during which the ear of corn is stood on finish within the pan’s middle, after which the kernels are sliced off with lengthy, vertical knife strokes. However this requires a Bundt pan, which not everybody has (and even if you happen to do, do you actually need to haul it out simply to chop some corn?).

This two-bowl technique relies on the identical idea, however is healthier, and it produces a big mixing bowl stuffed with free kernels. To do it, invert a smaller bowl inside a bigger one. Then stand the shucked ear of corn on its finish on prime of the smaller bowl. Utilizing a pointy knife, fastidiously slice straight down the edges of the ear, separating the kernels from the cob. The bigger bowl will catch your kernels, stopping them from skittering throughout your kitchen. Word: It may assist to stabilize the large bowl with a moist paper material to forestall it from slipping when you’re slicing.

When to make use of it: Esquites, tacos, salads, and soups—any dish the place you need particular person pops of corn or a sprinkle of kernels as a topping.

Why it really works: The smaller inverted bowl props up the cob and lets the kernels fall neatly into the bigger bowl as you slice. It additionally lifts the ear of corn increased, serving to to forestall the knife from placing the edges of the bowl as you slice downward, which might boring and even chip the blade.

Heads up: Do not let any corn bits go to waste. Utilizing the again of your knife, scrape the size of the cob to extract any remaining kernels and all the surplus corn milk, a starchy, candy liquid that offers dishes a daring increase of corn taste. Freeze the stripped cobs for inventory or chowders, and even ice cream.

Methodology #2: Reducing Board Methodology

Particular person corn kernels are nice, however generally you need bigger sections of linked kernels, which might look extra nice in a corn salad and different extra structured platings. The planks of corn that come off with this technique are typically fragile, which is ok—the thought is not a lot to have large, unbreakable planks, however as a substitute chunks of tender corn of various sizes (that stated, if you happen to reduce extra deeply into the cob, you’re going to get corn “ribs”: lengthy, hefty strips of corn usual into rib-like items which might be sturdy sufficient to be tossed on the grill).

Begin by securing your reducing board with a moist paper towel to maintain it from slipping. Set the shucked ear of corn down on its aspect on the board and, utilizing a big, sharp knife, fastidiously reduce off the kernels on the aspect, rotating the ear as you go till all of the kernels have been eliminated. They need to fall off in linked planks and segments.

When to make use of it: Any time you need dramatic, chunky sections of corn, whether or not in salads, soups, or glazed barbecue corn ribs. This technique is slower, so it is best reserved for instances while you need not de-kernel 50 ears of corn.