Sous Vide Corn on the Cob

Sous vide corn on the cob locks in the corn’s juices, ensuring that it arrives on the plate extra moist, perfectly buttered, and with more intense flavor.

Why Sous Vide Corn on the Cob?

It’s because the sous vide cooking technique locks the fresh corn inside a bag and cooks it in its own juice. The corn comes out uber juicy, tender, and packed with corn flavor. Simple as that. No other cooking method that I know of could achieve this marvelous outcome so consistently. Let’s look at the difference between cooking corn on the cob in traditional ways and cooking it sous vide.

• Boiling: When you boil corn in water, the corn touches the water directly, and you lose a ton of corn juice and flavor into the water during the process.
• Grilling or roasting: When you grill corn or roast it in the oven, the corn juice along with its flavor evaporates in the high heat, not to mention that you’ll have to keep an eye on it the entire time to make sure it’s not undercooked or overcooked.

Therefore, in my opinion, it’s totally worth it vacuum-sealing corn on the cob and cooking it sous vide. You not only get the best result you could ever imagine, but you also get to completely forget about it once it’s under the water.

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Essential Ingredients for Sous Vide Corn on the Cob

• Corn on the cob: Remove the husk and silk.
• Salt: You can use regular kosher salt or flavored salt like garlic salt, celery salt, etc.
• Butter: I would recommend unsalted butter. One tablespoon for two ears of corn. For extra buttery corn, use one tablespoon for each ear of corn or serve the corn with more butter.

Optionally, you can sparingly add fresh herbs to your sous vide bag to infuse the corn. Cilantro, thyme, garlic, rosemary, or even chili peppers are all good options. I personally love rosemary-infused corn. It’s heavenly.

 You need only three ingredients to make the best corn on earth.

Ziploc Bag or Sous Vide Bag/Vacuum-Seal Bag?

You’ve got the ingredients ready, now the question is, which bag you should use for sous vide corn on the cob? 

In many sous vide recipes, I’d say either a Ziploc bag or a vacuum bag works. However, for corn on the cob, a sous vide bag or a vacuum-sealer bag is ideal because sous vide corn and sous vide vegetables normally require a high cooking temperature. (The best temperature for sous vide corn is 183°F.) The seam of a Ziploc bag can rupture under high temperatures. 

Therefore, if you have a vacuum sealer, by all means, use it. The strong, vacuum-sealed bag is going to lock your corn tight and ensure no loss of any juice or corn flavor. Another great option is those reusable sous vide bags with a hand pump. Read more about how to choose the right cooking bag for the job.

If either of the options above is not available to you, double-bag your corn on the cob to minimize the possibilities of a Ziploc bag breaking down under the hot sous vide water bath. 

How to Prevent Corn from Floating

Like most starches, corn produces gas during cooking. To prevent the corn from floating, there are a few things you can do. 

The most straightforward way is to add a heavy shallow bowl or a glass casserole dish on top of the corn and allow the water to go inside the bowl to weigh it down even more.

How to Sous Vide Corn on the Cob

In just a few simple steps, you’ll be well on your way to the best corn ever.

1. Preheat water to 183°F using a sous vide machine. (I use the Anova Precision Cooker.)
2. Prepare corn by removing the husk and silk.
3. Place corn in a vacuum bag in one layer. Sprinkle with salt; add butter and fresh herbs into the bag. (Try rosemary—it’s so good!). Vacuum seal. 
4. Drop the vacuum-sealed bag into the preheated water. Weigh it down by adding a shallow bowl on top of it or using heavy-duty binder clips and fastening the bag to the side of the water container. Set the timer for 30 minutes. 
5. Once the timer goes off, remove the corn from the water, open the bag, and enjoy!

How to Enjoy Corn on the Cob

There are so many ways to turn your already amazing sous vide corn on the cob into even more marvelous corn recipes. Here are some ideas for you to munch on.

• Coat the corn with Garlic Lemon Aioli and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. I call it Caribbean-style. Oh boy. That’s addictive! 
• Mexican street corn, anyone? 
• Shave the corn kernels off the cob and season it however you like as a good side dish or appetizer.
• Make this corn and black bean salad!

What to Serve with Corn on the Cob

• Fish: The natural and intensified corn flavor from sous vide corn on the cob pairs well with fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and tilapia. 
• Beef: Serve the corn on the cob with some BBQ beef burgers at a cookout or pair it with sirloin steak.
• Chicken: Serve it with baked chicken wings and a side of sautéed veggies for a healthy and delicious meal. Of course, corn can’t go wrong with sous vide chicken breasts.

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