The way I've done it is to open them up a bit, pull out the corn silk, rub a little butter in there and then wrap them back up tying on the end with a little bit of husk. Then I soak for at least a half hour if not longer. When cooking I turn them over just to make sure evenly cooked. I don't put them in foil.

I've not tried cooking them on coals with the husks, though I mean to try this Summer. However, here is another method, which is very yummy:

Spicy Fire-Roasted Corn with Citrus

1T cayenne pepper mixed with
1 1/2 T salt.
ears of fresh corn (Cook extra, if you want leftovers for roasted corn salad)
One lemon and one lime cut into wedges.

Fill a salt shaker with the salt and cayenne pepper.*

Shuck the corn and trim ends for corn skewers if you will use them at table. If it's your first time roasting corn this way, it's a good idea to practice on one ear before committing all to the grill.

Brush your hot grill (not the corn) with a bit of oil, and using tongs, place the corn on the grill. Keep an eye on the ears, and turn them occasionally to prevent too much charring in one spot. You do want some browning and a bit of char as the carmelized bits give the corn a wonderful flavor. The corn should be done in approximately 5 minutes, depending upon the freshness and size of the ears.

Serve the corn with wedges of lemon and lime and the shaker of cayenne-salt. The diners rub the wedges all over the corn and then sprinkle with the cayenne-salt to taste.

* If you have children eating who might be put off by the cayenne, make a second shaker with equal parts of salt and sugar for them to use instead.

Leftover Roasted Corn Salad

2 ears leftover fire-roasted corn
4 T lemon/lime juice
2 T honey
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 cups assorted grated or chopped vegetables. (I like grated carrot, chopped red bell peppers, green onions, diced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, crunchy celery, thinly sliced radishes and frozen peas, but just use up whatever odds and ends your refrigerator or garden produces! I've even added chopped apples or pears at times!)
1/4-1/3 c toasted, roughly chopped pecans, cashews or hazelnuts*
1-2 T minced fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, tarragon or parsley) -optional-

Cut leftover roasted corn from cobs into a bowl and then gently scrape the little juicy bits from the cob with the blunt side of a knife into the same bowl. Mix the lemon/lime juice, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk until the honey is completely dissolved. Toss the vegetables with the dressing, and let sit at least 10 minutes for the flavors to develop. If you are adding fresh herbs, toss them in just before serving. This salad is wonderful with any simply grilled meat or fish, and pairs quite well with rice or couscous as a starch. It can also be made hours ahead, although it might soften and the colors might fade a bit if you make it the day before. Sprinkle the nuts on top of the salad before serving.

*Toasting the nuts really brings out their flavor. Before chopping, put the nuts into a pan over a medium-high heat. Shake the pan gently back and forth as though you were making popcorn until the nuts darken slightly and become fragrant.

You can shuck and grill just as you would any grilled veg or you can roast/steam the corn in the shell, so to speak. Both ways give you unique flavours.

I'd try it with minimal other flavour first...I like just the grill and butter after.

If you are grilling "skin on" I do soak the cobs in water for a good while.

No sense doing it in foil...those little foil or parchment packs don't care if its a campfire, grill or indoor oven.

I do like Gibby does. Take off silk and soak. I usually end up soaking for about an hour. I don't know why but I don't care for corn grilled right on the fire. Just takes that tenderness away for me.

I used to presoak but now I just toss the unshucked cobs on the grill. Got to thinking about those big corn roasters that you see a flea markets & fairs. They don't presoak & the corn has a wonderful roasted flavor. Also, I've found that the silk peels away from the corn a lot easier after the corn is cooked. Almost all of it comes off w/ the shuck so that makes for another reason to take the minimalist approach.

I've never heard of pre-soaking corn in water before grilling. DH grills wonderful corn on the cob just by rubbing it with butter or olive oil, salt and pepper, wrapping in in foil, and tossing it on the grill. Doesn't corn come pre-packed with lots oaf water, naturally?

Sally

Sally - as Metaxa mentioned, once you wrap it is foil, yes, you keep the moisture in but you also keep any smoke flavor out. By not using foil, the smoke flavor actually gets to the corn but it may dry out a lot faster without the prior soaking.

Alexa

I don't have a grill and I'm not sure if there will be a grill there. That's why I was going to wrap it in foil, so I could put it right on the coals.

Gotta find me some skewers someday! They would be good for toasting marshmallows too! I had some groovy ones once, but they were at the place I worked, custom made for me by the blacksmith!

LPink, bent wire coat hangers make great skewers...if you are afraid of the paint, sand the end that goes into the food and wrap some tape around the end for a good handle.
No need to spend money on skewers.
And corn wrapped in foil and placed directly on the coals likely would scorch. I would soak well, leave the husk and place directly on the grill.
Linda C

I do have lots of coat hangers!! But no grill. I was afraid the corn would scorch on coals wrapped in foil, I've had other things do that, but my campfire cooking skills have improved considerably, thru trial and error. Mostly error, lol! Maybe BF has some kind of grill apparatus.

LPink??!!! Did I hear correctly??? You going camping with a Boy Friend???
Tell us more! I mean even Annie didn't keep Elery a secret for long!
Linda c

That's why I was going to wrap it in foil, so I could put it right on the coals.

Hence the water soak (for me, anyway). You want the outer husk as moist as possible to prolong the time it can spend in those coals.

And there are coals and then coals. I don't put corn right in the center, hottest area, I lay it around the primeter and sort of rake coals over the cobs as needed.

Yes, a bit messy, yes a bit finikey but worth the effort I think.

Long tongs and a good pair of gloves, peel the corn on spread newspaper and toss it all into the fire when you are done shucking it.

I've never roasted corn over coals, so I'm no help on that. But as for the marshmallows ... when I was a kid, we used to roast marshmallows when we had cookouts at the fireplace in my best friend's backyard. We always cut branches from her forsythia bush--always checking that the layer under the bark was green, not brown--and used them as our long-handled skewers. I suppose almost any kind of branches would do, as long as they're not poison ivy!

Have fun on the camping trip!

Sue

I know this is too late for useful info, but I like my corn best, caramelized on a grill, with the kernels brown and smokey.

oh yeah...we do it all the time. Soak the corn in water for a couple hours - husks, silk and all....but the most important thing is to start the fire early enough so you have a wonderful bed of coals....

lay the corn in the coals and they're right - gloves and long tongs are essential. And keep turning them - once you can see the kernels through the burnt husks, they're ready! Nice, roasted - browned in some spots - yummy corn!

It's a little labor intensive but sooooo worth it! (be careful! This past camping trip? I woke up and combed my hair and realized it was all cinged a little bit around my face...:-( )

Yeah, who cares about corn, I want to hear about the new BF!!

OK, I soaked it a little, wrapped it in aluminum foil that had some holes in it to allow the smoke to get in, and the campsite had a grill, which I had to keep lowering and raising depending on how the fire was going. The corn was yummy!! But I would definately not want to mess with skewers, I just want to put it on the fire and forget about it, not keep holding it over the fire like a marshmallow!! If I ever don't have a grill I would definatley put it right on the coals. I think Metexa is right, there's coals and then there's coals, and the right kind of coals would be good I think. I used to teach open fire cooking so I kind of know about coals. It's hard to get good coals though, if you don't have good wood. Next time I'm going to be in charge of firewood, lol! I miss all my open fire tools, but they weren't mine, they belonged to the places I worked. No room to keep such rarely used items at my house now.

As for the new BF, we just like to keep things a little private, that's all. My usual rule is if I talk too much about my BF's they have a way of disappearing!! But the basics are he's a very nice guy, lives about 40 min. away from me, and so far we are hitting it off well. We may go to MI end of the month so we'll see if we're still together after that. He's from New Jersey originally.

Cool, LPink!

I'm glad to read about the soaking, then, cause even though the corn DH grills is very yummy, it's true, it doesn't have the smokey flavor. One of these times we'll try soaking it first, and leaving off the foil.

Sally

I normally do it this way:

With the husks on, I microwave them until they are almost cooked, them I BBQ them.

I found this to be the quickest and easiest way to have the BBQ flavor and all the ears cooked evenly. No foils.

dcarch

Over the coals gives it this yummy caramely outside....mmmmmmmmmm.