I don't think it will work, unless you keep rotating and turning the ears every minute.

Electric roaster cannot cook evenly very well.

dcarch

Do you mean an electric roaster like a Nesco? I haven't noticed the unevenness that DCarch mentioned, but then I've only used my mother's, which is fifty years old. Basically, you can make anything in it that you can bake in an old fashioned oven you can do in the roaster. The biggest problem would be quantity. If you want to do dozens, you're better off roasting them in the oven and perhaps keeping them warm in the roaster while you cook something else.

My mother would remove most of the silk, first, and dampen the inside of the husks before pulling them back over the ears, but you probably don't have to. Do make sure that they don't dry out too much. And definitely put them on a rack in the roaster, not on the bottom.

It's just that if you stack them up they won't cook nicely at all. That's why it would be better, if you have a lot, to space them out on several racks in the oven to roast, with at least an inch between the ears. You can stack them up to keep warm. :)

How many people and how/where will the corn be served? It'll make a real mess, even tho it comes out pretty clean, because people will have to get rid of the husks.

Serve at the table? Where to put the husks?

On a buffet line? Everyone waits in line while the corn gets shucked by the person getting corn. (where to put the husks?) And someone will have to demonstrate how to shuck it, and help the aged/infirm/children do theirs.

For 4 to 6 people, maybe okay. For many more than that, it sounds like a mess.

"---I haven't noticed the unevenness that DCarch mentioned,---"

The husk on a ear of corn is a good insulator. A roaster oven heats with the heating element on the vertical surfaces. Unless you are only cooking a few ears, it will be difficult to have the inside ears cooked.

I agree with everything Sushipup said.

dcarch

Oh, well I agree about the many ears. :) Spacing them out enough in a roaster would be the problem, but the same is true in an oven. If you just stack 'em up in even in the best convection oven, the middle ones won't get cooked nicely.

Never heard of oven baking corn. It would need constant rotating. If stacked together in any cooking method.
Lowered into simmering water for 3-5 min is the most even method. spinning and rolling around a bit. (shucked) for easy eating for a crowd. The quickest method.

For a BBQ i leave it un-shucked, soaked in a bucket of cool water an hour or a few, then lay it on the grill. It needs rotating and lots of grill room.

I did attend a bbq where each ear was wrapped in foil. ?! Very strange. That was allot of wasted foil. I think it may have been baked and way over cooked. It just continued to steam forever. It was stacked/packed in a cooler to keep warm.

Another used a big steamer lobster pot with a few inches of water, in the husk, stem down, lid on, and steamed them for 15 min. Then did another batch. (this was outside)
Worked well for the situation. Fella from Maine.

Hmm, lots of thinking to do.
Keep the comments coming, please.

Have you heard of cooler corn? I probably heard about it on here - you shuck the corn first, put it all in an insulated cooler, dump boiling water on it and shut the lid. When you are ready to eat it is supposedly nicely cooked (I think around 30 min - but more or less might be ok). That sounds much better to me than having everyone husk their own for the reasons mentioned above. I might give a try myself for my son's upcoming graduation party!

I pull husk & all off Roll each cob in foil add a little water close both ends, put in hot 450 oven for about 30 minutes mmm good.we like kellers salted butter on them delicious..

Oh boy. I really like the cooler corn idea, but Snopes says it's not the best messing with chemicals.

I've cleaned out the cooler that I want to use and have a pot of water boiling on the stove. Now to see if it warps or not.

Okay, I've done my homework! If i used the cooler trick, I would put pans in the cooler to avoid any leaching.
But have decided to use the Nesco electric cooker.
Thanks for all the help, I really needed it!

BTW, when I tested the cooler (Igloo) it did not warp.

This post was edited by kathyg_in_mi on Thu, May 22, 14 at 22:51

I found this on the web, from Bon Appetit.

Also, I have sent an inquiry to Igloo.

This is driving me nuts!
Kathy G in MI

Here is a link that might be useful: Bon Appetit

Good idea for a crowd. Not sure about boiling water and a plastic cooler for obvious reasons.
I have a metal lined one that would be good. Might do that for the 4th of July. I would not even shuck it since we are outside and a garbage bin and compost bin are near the table.

You cold let the hot water drain out after a bit and it would stay warm for a while.

Interesting - I never researched it, just recalled hearing the idea mentioned. Let us know what Igloo says!

I do mine in foil all the time, both on the grill and in the oven, and it comes out great. I would do it in the husks but I have family members who really freak out if there is even one corn hair left on it. - I know, spoiled rotten. - I have a hard enough time picking it all off husked, much less trying to get it all out with the husk attached.

My family and friends would freak out using all that foil, : )
My mother would save and wash every piece. My sister won't eat anything that touches foil or plastic, lol. My SIL and family use fabric for gift wrap and recycle it...
My grandparents used to lay out paper towels to dry and re-use on the counter, haha.
(we use cloth) Buncha freaks we are. A roll of p-towels lasts months...mostly for dog puke and spiders....

Funny what makes a freak tick, some can't stand the sight of a corn silk, and others can't stand the sight of plastic or tinfoil touching their food!!! LOL!
Then there's people like me who freak out over SQUARE PLATES!!
I HATE them! Whenever I see them I can feel my BP rise, can't explain it, don't know why.
My FIL saves pieces of tinfoil, balls of string, etc. Must be that depression-era thing. I use them and toss them, no thought about it whatever.

I do save rubber bands and paperclips...and recycle foil. But I don't think I could use up a whole roll of foil just on corn that already comes with husks. Maybe if it were going in the coals, but you'd have to have a really big fire to do that many ears in the coals. :)

The cooler method is an interesting idea, given a food safe box inside, though making use of the cooler's drain is part of the appeal. I, too, will be interested in Kathy G's report.

But, Kathy, you could do the same method in your roaster, baring the drain. :)

Rita, I don't like square plates either (though not to the BP stage) because they look messy when they're crooked, and stuff gets stuck in the corners. I think my reasons are rational, but they might just be rationaliztions. :)

you don't use a whole roll of foil I get the box at bjs sheets,youre missing out on delicious corn...your loss.

Just wanted to say that I have used the Cooler Corn with Great success! From family gatherings to 100 Band kids!

Also, the corn will stay at the perfect temperature for hours which is a great help. My very picky sister was most impressed - she thought it tasted freshly steamed.

Well, Igloo was no help! Gave a rather vague answer that didn't even touch upon the question.
After all this, my ddil was using the roaster for the ribs.
I decided on using the cooler with pans. Not the best choice, some were cooked. Some not so much.
I think I would have been better off to have used a disposable aluminum pan inside the cooler and put water in and around it.
Next time I do corn, I'll use the outdoor turkey fryer!

I think it would work. I cook them like that in the microwave all the time. With as many as I can fit in the mw. I add a few drops of water for moisture in the MW. They will steam themselves inside the husks and it makes it so much easier to remove the silk and husk when cooked. It all comes off without me having to pick at them and rub them off.

I'm not surprised that Igloo would not want to respond. It is a 'cooler', an 'ice-box',...
But thermally can be used for heat if careful...a hot from the oven casserole should not be placed directly, but laying a blanket or towel first will keep it steamy and continue to cook a bit for travel...
I doubt they would want to be endorsing its use as a hot cooking vessel on the web.

Looking at my cooler on the deck, ready to be packed soon for a long weekend travel...
i think if i wanted to use it for corn for a crowd, i would simmer what fits in my pasta pot with insert for 5min, then cary out just a few steps to the cooler and lay them in, then start another batch using the same water and insert, and re-peat till cooler is full.
They would be evenly cooked and stay warm and continue to steam...
Only if i had to travel or had no other way to heat just before serving...

Last weekend i did soak a half dozen ears for a couple hours in spring water in the husk and put them on the smoker far end. Delish and smokey, the husk was near black but corn was just slightly smoked and steamy...Florida corn, not local fresh yet...