Tried it once......nasty....tasted "cobby" to me...like the cob. Threw it out.

I'll take Linda's word for that!I scrape down the cobs after cutting off the kernals to get that additional corn goodness to put in the chili or soup. There's a point where thriftiness is belied by the time you put into it that could bring a better return elsewhere. Better to buy an extra ear or two when it's on special, maybe, for your Winter stock.

It can add wonderful flavor and depth to soups/ dishes. It doesnt have to be a pain, either- use your crockpot. Reduce it once you've strained it.

But it tastes like cooked corn husks smell.

Corn cobs IMO are compost fodder not food. I don't think they add any nutrients to stock nor do they impart anything but a slight cardboard taste to it.

To you it tastes like that, Lindac. Maybe you just don't like it, maybe your corn wasn't very good or was old. Maybe you had too much water to too little corn. A lot of people don't reduce sufficiently or season stocks and end up unhappy with watery stock- all because its not done yet.

Its a really common thing to do so there are a whole lotta people who like it.

Also try this:

http://www.simplycanning.com/corn-cob-jelly.html

dcarch

Yes. 1000x yes.

I live in Iowa......boy do they know corn here! Originally from New Jersey, my father's side was Dutch heritage, who knew all about saving all the bits and pieces that Iowans tossed to the pigs. Iowans don't know scrapple nor head cheese. Even the Dutch in Iowa, of which there are lots and lots, don't know that stuff. There's always more corn in the field and another hog out there eating it.
What corn stock is really is the bits of corn left on the cob after you cut the kernels off for freezing, boiled up and cooked down. Won't work so well with the cobs left from eating the corn off the cob with your teeth, because people do a better job of removing the kernels.
When I cut the corn off the cob I always run the back side of my knife down the cob to get the germ of the kernel out and into the dish with the corn. Not much left on that cob at all....and the resulting broth tasted strongly of cob.
Suit yourself, I know someone who saves the skins when canning tomatoes to boil up for broth. I think I get better flavor from an additional ear of corn and one more tomato, and it's a better use of my time and energy. But I know that mid-westerners feel that way about scrapple, headcheese and my beloved Taylor's Pork Roll....eww throw those nasty bits away....have another pork chop!

I've never heard of, or thought of, using corn cobs in stock or to make stock but I'm going to try it just to satisfy my curiosity, if nothing else.

I actually love to suck the juice out of the cob with fresh corn on the cob so, if I can resist the urge to milk all of the goody out of it, I might like the stock. Won't know until I try it but I'm thinking that corn cob stock might be really good to use (along with chicken stock) in the chicken enchilada soup that we love in the winter. Prolly not so much in other kinds of soup...

I'm thinking i would like it. I kinda like that 'cobby' smell. Usually quite a bit of substance left even after scraping with the back of a knife.

Might give it a try this weekend with another batch of corn for the 3-day weekend we will be picking up at the farmstand...fresh from the field.

I could see it being a once-twice a summer season tradition. Not really much trouble. Just a stock pot of water and maybe an onion and celery rib. I've got some leek tops i've been needing to use for stock.

The inner cob is pretty much woody air. (why i do not freeze corn whole). But still lots of flavor remaining on this batch of a dozen i smoked...(this is before scraping with the back of my knife).

Never thought of it before. Here too is corn country so I've never heard of using the cobs for anything but animal feed and compost. But this thread made me wonder, if the cob adds flavor, would not the husks? I have no idea, just asking the question. Perhaps others have knowledge or have researched it before. I could see potential for nutrition and possible flavor in the husks.

And the TRULY frugal would use the silks to mend their overalls I imagine. :)