It won't be as good cooked ahead....but very likely will be plenty good enough.How many ears will you have to cook? 200?
Times when I have had corn that has been for a mob of that size, what was done is the corn cooked ahead, and kept hot in a steam tray with a couple of inches of sweetened water in the bottom and a tub of softened butter to smear on each ear as your got your own out of the bucket.
For your situation, I would cook the corn ahead and keep it cooled in tubs. Then on site, have your pot of boiling salted water....stick the stick in your corn and pop it into the water until heated through, and remove it to the other pot which has a couple of inches of sweetened water in the bottom to keep hot and work that way.
I would not have a pot of clarified butter....I think clarified butter is pretty well tasteless...all the butter flavor is in the milk solids.
I would have a dish of very soft butter and one of those silicone basting brushes....or maybe 4 or 5 of those brushes and let people but their own very soft butter on their ear.
At the Iowa state fair there are always several booths serving "corn on a stick" and some do the dip it in clarified butter thing and some have a squeeze bottle of "butter" on the counter....which may or may not be butter....but it tastes better than the oily taste of the clarified to me.
I know some people like chili powder on their corn and others garlic salt etc....but to me butter and salt and pepper are best!
Linda C

Cooking the corn in advance will make for very gross corn.

My suggestion...

Beg, borrow, steal, buy, or otherwise get another couple of stoves.

Or, another suggestion...

A large two or three burner BBQ grill and several separate deep pans, sort of like military mess hall pans, on top of the grill, which is going full blast. You'll be able to get the corn into and out of the water faster, and if you don't keep it too deep, it will recover heat more quickly.

A 2-burner propane stove will take forever to get that much water up to heat, and will REALLY struggle to keep the heat up to compensate for the heat loss when the corn is added in that size of a pot.

As for clarifying the butter...

To heck with the cheese cloth.

Melt the butter in a heavy pot (the deeper and narrower the better) while you boil a tea kettle of water.

When the butter is fully melted, but before the solids have a chance to burn, remove it from the heat and slowly pour at least 3 inches of boiling water into the pot.

Leave it sit on the stove top for at least an hour to separate, then move it to the refrigerator.

When the butter has solidified into a puck, remove it from the water, blot it dry with a paper towel, and store it in the fridge.

If you really want to spike the flavor of the butter as you clarify it....

Crush several cloves of garlic and add it to the melting butter. The same with several crushed pepper corns.

After it's melted, leave it steep on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, being careful not to burn it, before doing the water trick.

Take your corn, halved and boil. Then skewer, wrap in tin foil and put in a cooler. Have your butter in a deep pot for dipping.
Coolers can be used for cold and hot!

I agree with kframe - no cooking corn ahead of time. The ears won't taste crisp, sweet and nice. I love garlic on corn-on-the cob as well as Old Bay Seasoning. Salt, pepper and fresh butter to spread over it all also.

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies.

I'm now going to scrap the clarified butter idea and just melt butter in pot on site so can dip into before serving.

My 2-burner propane stove is not a sissy & can heat 4 gal of water to a boil in a hurry. It's what I use for canning out on my deck.

So... 2 or 3 things settled. Will cook on site and not clarify the butter. And that means will boil the corn in water. Shuck the corn, cut in half, impale on stick at home and keep in ice chest until ready to cook.

Thanks!

jt

That's a better option....the corn will be better, but some people may have to wait for their corn if they come faster than you can cook it...or some may have a "kept hot" ear if you cook corn faster than they eat.
Believe me it won't be "gross" if cooked, chilled and reheated...if you don't over cook the ears to begin with. Just 2 minutes in the boiling water.....then reheat for another 2 or 3 minutes. But if you are going to do that might as well cook it all the way on site.
Linda C

A favorite corn on a stick here is deep fried corn. Sprinkled with brown sugar and no need for butter. It's rich and sweet, fried to a golden brown.

Again, thanks for the replies!

So much will depend on the freshness of the corn when I buy it. A month ago roadside stands were everywhere with just picked homegrown corn. Fresh high sugar content corn cooks in a real hurry. Older corn sometimes takes several extra minutes for some reason.

Truth is that I would much rather roast the cobs, but my gas grill is huge and not about to load it into my truck. But that gets me thinking again... My old Weber 22" might work. And a cook it yourself concept! WallyWorld sells fantastic bamboo skewers at 94¢ per 100 pk. 12" long and 5/32" diameter. Very heavy duty. This is a very laid back group of people from all over the world and if Food Network shows up again I'll post video clips.

Usually I soak the corn in saltwater for a few hours and just throw on the grill. Blacken two sides and then remove husk. This corn would be husked, cut in half and skewered. I made a fantastic version of Annie's Salsa last week using tomatillos, turtle beans, shoepeg corn, Bhut Jolokia peppers etc that I think will make fresh too & serve on corn tortilla chips.

Rambling again.

jt

cook it yourself sounds like a winner.
Heck, you could start out with a shucking contest and have really fresh corn for all to put on the grill or plunge into the water.
Sounds like fun.
Kay

jt, I like the sound of your new idea. I love roasted corn and it could be a lot of fun for everyone to cook their own and add the toppings that they like. Go for it!

john ... what happened with the "Corn on a Stick" ... were you doing it for the meet where you won all those prizes (as reported over on Harvest Forum)?

When and Where? I want to come! I like your new plan with the Weber 22" but it sounds like you'll be 'as busy as a one-arm paper hanger' on the day of...I agree with Linda about the butter. If you use those bamboo skewers make sure to soak them in water before hand to keep them from burning on the Weber. Mmmm, sounds so good!