Fresh Fried Corn (Shucking, Silking, Cooking, and Freezing)
Lay out a table with every dish imaginable, absolutely everything under the sun, and if there is fresh fried corn on that table, 
you’ll know where to find me.
There is nothing in this world like the flavor of fresh corn, shucked and cut off the cob and cooked up in a skillet. No matter how hard companies may try (and I do appreciate their efforts!), no frozen or canned corn can even come close. The taste is night and day, as if it were two different vegetables entirely.
When we were little, shucking corn was a family affair. Mama would put a few buckets on the front porch and we’d each get our own brush and then everyone would set to work. We’d shuck a few bushels (at least) and she’d set to cutting it off the cob and cooking it up for everyone. I remember being able to have all the corn we wanted at dinner but it seems now that I’m grown and have my own family, I can never have such bounty. No matter how much I make, we always want more.
If you don’t grow your own corn and aren’t lucky enough to have a neighbor who does, keep an eye out on your grocery stores for a sale. Often times you can find ears four or five for a dollar. I snatched up eight ears recently when Piggly Wiggly had them for twenty five cents an ear. I just love Piggly Wiggly. The old folks call it Hoggly Woggly.
You’ll need fresh corn, a stiff brush, a bit of margarine, salt, pepper, and water.
If you were raised right, you’ll need bacon grease 
.
If you weren’t raised right, there is nothing wrong with converting now.
For the brush, you can just get a nice stiff dish brush, it’ll do just fine. Mama says back in the day no one bought their corn silk brush. The Fuller Brush man would go door to door and he’d give you one in hopes you’d order some things from his catalog. They sold brushes, brooms, and cleaning supplies and such.
Peel back the husks on your ear of corn..
Like so
Remove what silks you can with your hand.
Then take hold of all of the husks at the base and…
Break it off.
If kids are watching, you should make a big GRRR sound when you do this and act like you are straining really hard. It will impress them, honest.
Here is our almost ready ear of corn. There are a few silks left on it that we need to get at though.
If you take your stiff brush and just brush against the directions of the silks, that should do the trick. You may have to grab at a few and pull them off. If a few end up in your corn, the world won’t end. In fact, you won’t really notice because once you taste this, I doubt you’ll find time to draw breath again until you are done devouring as much as you can possibly fit onto your plate.
But maybe that’s just me.
Here is our corn. It wants to be cooked. It wants us to eat it. It wants to make us happy.
Good corn.
I am using eight ears and it was enough for four of us to have generous helpings of. However, I could have used sixteen ears and we would have eaten all of that, too. I know I keep going on and on about that but I’m stressing a point here.
Did I mention how much I love fried corn?
This is one of my favorite super-sharp knives and if you think it is awkward trying to hold a super sharp knife, an ear of corn, and focus and photograph at the same time, you’re right on the money. Bear with me.
Take each ear and stand it up like so. Run your knife blade down the side to cut the kernels off. HOWEVER, you don’t want to cut them off right at the ear, you want to leave a bit of the kernel bottom on the ear for the scrapings. The scrapings are what is going to give our fried corn it’s body. So basically, try to cut about 3/4 of the kernel off but leave the rest.
Mama likes to place her ear of corn in the center of an angel food cake pan and then cut the kernels off and scrape it. The center of the pan helps hold the ear and the kernels and scrapings fall right into the pan below. I would do this if I ever actually used an angel food cake pan enough that I didn’t have to go hunt it down when I wanted to shuck corn. Angel food pan = tube pan.
Kernels cut off, ready to scrape!
See how all of the little holes in the cob are filled? In the next picture you’ll know what I’m talking about better.
Take the blade of your knife and scrape down the corn cob. See how the holes are empty now?
We’ve gotten all of that good pulp out of there.
If you have stuff all over your hands like I do, you’ve done good!
Here is our corn all ready to go!
I know this smells good but you don’t want to eat it now. This is due to reasons which I do not feel need documenting on a food blog. Trust me on this.
Cook
Corn
First.
Now, in a large skillet, put about two tablespoons of butter or margarine and a tablespoon or so of bacon grease.
Add your corn and about a 1/2 cup of water.
How much water you end up needing is really dependent on your corn. Some corn will be starchier and need more, some corn will be thin and actually need thickening. For my corn here, I actually ended up needing a cup of water. If your corn ends up looking a little thin, you can stir in a tablespoon of corn starch or flour in with two or three tablespoons of water (mix it up pretty well) and then add that to your corn.
Salt and pepper to taste. This is always a very personal thing. I am using about 1/2 tsp pepper but if you prefer a more peppery corn, by all means add more!
I added about 1/2 tsp salt too. These are good starting points but most people add more.
In general, if you are preparing a meal for guests you should always under-season and then allow them to season their food to their personal taste.
Bring that to a bit of a boil and then lower the temperature of the stove eye to allow it to just simmer. Stir it often and cook for about thirty minutes.
One of my reader’s (Hey Dianna!) posted a comment back when I announced that I was getting a new kitchen with a house attached and asked me what I meant by stove eyes.
Dianna: OK. I gotta ask. What do you mean your stove has five eyes? I’ve never heard of a stove having eyes. You also said, “turn off the eye” in your Sweet Tea post. Is my stove watching me?
Okay, this was an eye opener for me! I had to call Mama and ask her what else they could possibly be called. She informed me that in other places they refer to them as “burners”. I’ve always heard them called eyes. I know, I really do need to get out more.
Yum, YUM, YUM!!
I could just dive into a vat of this, I swear.
This is a photo from last summer of a bushel of corn after I had shucked it. I put up three bushels last year.
Fresh Fried Corn
Ingredients
- Fresh ears of corn (I am using eight for this)
- margarine
- salt and pepper
- water
- bacon grease (optional but oh so good)
Instructions
- Shuck and remove silks from corn. Cut kernels off cob with a sharp knife, leaving about 1/4 of the kernel. Scrape cobs clean with the blade of the knife. Place about 2 T margarine and 1 T bacon grease in skillet. Add corn and corn pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water (more if needed).
- Bring to a slight boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and continue cooking and stirring for about thirty minutes.
- If putting this up for the freezer, just cook about half way through and then cool and place in freezer bags or containers and label. Thaw when ready to use and cook for half an hour just as described above.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by ZipList Recipe Plugin
Ingredients
- Fresh ears of corn (I am using eight for this)
- margarine
- salt and pepper
- water
- bacon grease (optional but oh so good)
Instructions
- Shuck and remove silks from corn. Cut kernels off cob with a sharp knife, leaving about 1/4 of the kernel. Scrape cobs clean with the blade of the knife. Place about 2 T margarine and 1 T bacon grease in skillet. Add corn and corn pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup water (more if needed).
- Bring to a slight boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and continue cooking and stirring for about thirty minutes.
- If putting this up for the freezer, just cook about half way through and then cool and place in freezer bags or containers and label. Thaw when ready to use and cook for half an hour just as described above.
Who needs watchdogs?
This is Henry. He is one of our squirrels.
Watching Henry from the sun room is one of Daz’s favorite activities now.
If squirrels ever try to take over the world, I think we have a pretty good early warning system. Unless..
…it’s Thumbcat’s shift.
We’re officially living in our new house but the unpacking may take a few weeks due to the fevered schedule at school as the year comes to a close. I ache for summer break!
It’s wonderful to be able to walk into the kitchen and look out over my gardens each morning, especially now that we live in a house big enough that me walking into the kitchen and making coffee doesn’t wake everyone! I’ve had a wonderful time walking around the yard, getting to know the place a bit. My heart is in flowers right now. I want them everywhere and I’m doing my best not to be heartsick that I can’t afford more! ~grins~
I have a few small pots on the front porch (they really need to be bigger to be in better proportion but you work with what ya got!) and another small pot on the back porch. Katy picked out a geranium and we have it sitting at the top step. I am longing for overflowing baskets of flowers and ferns around my doorway but am going to be content that I have the doorway to begin with!
I hope you are all having a wonderful week and thank you all so much for the emails and comments. I cannot tell you enough how much I love reading over the comments throughout the day. Two more weeks til school is out and I can devote a little more time to responding!
In my next post, I’m going to tell you all about my move, what I fed everyone, and a little more about the new town we live in now. I did the tutorial on Jiffy Poke cake, too, so I’ll bring that to you soon as well!
I am so very grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to read my ramblings!
Gratefully,
Christy
P.S. I have a name for my new home, and a neat story behind it. I’ll tell ya soon! It really did name itself but a reader had a hand in letting me know that!
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive & everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
– Author unknownContributed by Southern Plate reader, Jay. To contribute your uplifting or positive quote, please click here.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on May 13 2009. Filed under Side Dishes.
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[...] Fresh Fried Corn (Shucking, Silking, Cooking, and Freezing) [...]
I don’t think you told us how to freeze the corn. Do you just cook it all the way and put in freezer bags? How long is it good for in the freezer?
Sorry Christy, I see now where it said how to freeze. I don’t have the print option on this, but I will copy and paste. Corn like this is my favorite. I always have trouble with the silking. My granddaughter says, there is hair in my corn,
Christy,
I love receiving your posts. I have to admit I laughed heartily when you ask your Mama about stove eyes. I know our Southern citizens have their own lingo, but that’s a great one! I’ll have to start calling my burners “stove eyes” I know my grandkids will love it. We are going to have some of your fried corn. Sounds way too good to leave on the computer screen. Do you have a good recipe for coconut cream pie?
I loved the stove “eye” thing! That is ALL I have ever heard it referred to…guess I am a true southerner!
[...] corn and ingredients I have on hand. It is a neat way of sprucing up corn when I can’t have fresh and the hubs and son love [...]
[...] a full meal, I toss some carrots in with the pork roast, fry up some corn the day before and cook it fully to store in the fridge to reheat right before the meal. Then all I [...]
[...] just think of these for quickie meals, though. Why not serve up some pork chop biscuits along with fresh fried corn and some green beans for [...]
Christy – love your recipe for fried corn! I’m in Huntsville so not far! I made similar corn last week….just basically like yours but added some cornstarch dissolved in half and half to make it a little bit creamy….not too creamy though. Lots of salt is yummy! One of the writers above said try Lawry’s seasoned salt. That sounds good too! Thanks for the blog and your southern recipes. Can’t wait to get the cookbook. And yes, I call them stove eyes too. Even though I now cook on gas cooktop and they don’t look much like eyes.
Christy, I love fried corn. I found a new tool to use. Oxo Good Grips Corn Stripper. There isn’t any mess of flying corn. I love it.
AHHH! You’re starving me! I cooked squash with onions last night and I was so wishing I had some fresh corn. My grandmother called Piggly Wiggly that, too, or sometimes she called it Wiggly Waggly. Here in New Hope, we just call it The Pig!
HOGGLY WOGGLY… my Granny went to the HOGGLY WOGGLY all the time, I thought she was the only one that called it that!!! Thanks for bringing back those memories!! There are not any HOGGLY WOGGLYS in my neck of the swamp, so it was fun hearing that again!!!
Thank you so much for this post.
Growing up I loved my great grandmother’s cooking. It was some of the best around, but her fried corn was the best I ever had. If we ever had a family function she was always asked to bring the fried corn and her home made chocolate cake.
Now my great grandmother or granny as we call her has Alzheimer’s and does not remember her own children’s names much less remembers how to cook. But I long to be in her kitchen again in her hundred year old home, watching her cook fried corn, biscuits and fried chicken. Thank you so much for the recipe and the memories it brought with it.
OMG! That’s me… How funny to be mentioned in someone’s blog that you don’t know. Thank you Christy for opening my eyes.
Yes, here in Cali, I know them as burners.
Never had fried corn before, but I think I’ll give it a try next time it’s on sale. I usually prefer it cooked on the grill in the husk eaten right off the cob. (There’s a little benefit here too. Each person has to shuck their own corn this way.)
Love reading your blog (and your recipes too).
Hi,
I posted about this corn over a year ago and am just now getting around to making it. It’s as close to my mamaw’s without being my mamaw’s. Sure is/was good. And we had it on biscuits, too. With sliced tomatoes and fresh whole green beans cooked with a ham hock. Sweet tea, too.
Thanks for posting this recipe.
I have been looking all over the Internet for a recipe for Fried Corn! After reading yours I am ready to dive in and try it!
After my momma passed away a few years back, I couldn’t find her recipe for it. Ya know, “back in the day” you just used a bit o’ this, a dash o’ that…
Your recipe comes closest to what I remember helping her do every year! Thanks so much! I’m ready to have some fresh (supper tonight) and will be working in the corn all day tomorrow for freezing!
[...] go to the trouble of shucking and preparing fresh corn, I’m gonna eat every last bite of it fried. I recently put up eighty ears of corn and ended up with enough for about five meals. Thats a lot of [...]
When I was first married years ago, my inlaws had acres and acres of white field corn and found out for me, that was the best corn in the world! My mother inlaw just tipped her kernels and scraped the ear to get all the milk out of it. I always fried bacon or fat back in a cast iron skillet and used that grease to fry my corn in. Made the best creamed corn in the world and have the fat back or bacon on the side to go with the other veggies, and a pan of homemade biscuits and it was heaven!!!
[...] They are pictured here with pork chops and fried corn. [...]
We called Piggly Wiggly either The Pig or Pig Wig. I miss it, I had only heard of those stores before I moved to Wisconsin.
Hi,,,I just saw the other day, on a morning show, some northern ladies silking corn with a rubber band…ha…well I guess I’ll give it a try next season..go figure.
[...] ) Chicken Planks, Autry Pork Chops, Nilla Wafer Cake, Jordan Rolls, Squash Casserole, Tomato Melts, Fried Corn, Fried Okra, Home Brew, Home Brew, Home Brew and much more…. We Love It [...]
Christy, I’m putting corn up right now too. I don’t add water though, just a little milk sometimes, depending on the thickness. My grandma trained me in cutting corn off the cob for many years before she’d actually let me put a knife to an ear. Seriously, I had two children before she’d let me do it. I love to cook new potatoes on top of green beans to go with my fried corn. Add a fresh sliced tomato and that’s some good eatin, my friend. Love your cookbook, btw. I gave three of them as Christmas presents.
Love, love, love me so fried corn. Sometimes, right before the corn comes out of the pan, I put a big ol dollop of sour cream in and stir it up, kind of like creamy fried corn. The sour cream works well with the bacon grease and corn. It is delicious!
Christy I have a tip that I use for shucking corn, I cut the silk end of the corn off, this makes it easier to shuck and pulls most of the silks off. This makes it much easier to silk….Just cut enough to get the tip of the corn cob, also I use the corn cutter that has been around for years, much easier than using a knife. I am freezing corn today….
This is how I knew I would love Southern Plate. When you cook it like my Grandmama did, it’s got to be good. But instead of cutting it off the cob like she used to, I use Lee’s Wooden Corn Cutter. Had to move to Ohio for a spell to discover it, but have had it for 15 years and it’s still going strong. I leave the stem on the cob for a handle and scrape away. It just takes a few minutes to do 12 ears. Thanks for “spreadin’ the Southern”, Christy, everybody could use a little bit!
I am going to try this with bacon grease and also with butter. I have never had fried corn. Here in South Jersey (Southern New Jersey) we grow a ton of corn and it IS delicious! We buy it at farmer’s stands in the morning and eat it all the same day. Our corn is so sweet, I normally just wrap it in a damp paper towel, zap it in the microwave for about 5 minutes, husks, silk & all. Then, using another paper towel, pull off the husks & silk, cut it off the cob & toss in butter. I bet frying it would intensify the corny flavor. Thanks for the inspiration:-)
When you have to shuck a lot of corn try this tip, but ever so carefully. Take a large
meat cleaver knife and place the whole corn on a cutting board and chop both ends of the corn. This will cause the husk to peel off quickly thus saving your valuable time.
[...] Fresh Fried (Creamed) Corn [...]
What I wouldn’t give for some Alabama field corn! Great post, Christy.
The comment “I Wish You Enough ” was written by Mr. Bob Perks . He is a motivational speaker, I regularly get his newsletter and it is on all of them.
As for the corn, I love your recipes and this one is the way I have fixed mine except I don’t use bacon grease ( I used to ) DELICIOUS ! I can see you are from the South. GOOD GIRL.
Hello, I was Googling “fried corn” & came across this recipe. I’m Southern (Oklahoma) & have never heard of “stove eyes” either but that could always be a regional thing!
I had 2 comments: 1) If you’ll wait and remove the stem AFTER you’ve shaved and milked the cob, and cut the tip of the cob off, you’ll have a more stable grip & be less likely to slip & cut yourself. 2) Yours is the second recipe I’ve come across tonight that calls for cooking the corn for 30 minutes. I find that corn cooks very fast, 10 minutes tops, and any more than that it gets very tough. Have you ever tried cooking it for less time to see if it made a difference in texture?
Anyway, nice blog, I appreciate the thoroughness with the photos, makes all the difference. I will bookmark and visit again. Thanks!
I have never liked creamed corn, but it has always come from a can. I believe I could eat this! It looks sooo good! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Oh my stove eyes…! When I read this, it took me reading what your mother told you to even begin to think of what else they could be called! I was raised with a gas stove, grew up in GA- born and raised, and everyone- mother, grandmother, aunts, EVERYONE- referred to them this way. When I moved into my own place I had my first experience with an electric range…I’ve since grown comfortable with them, but many a “burner cover” has met it’s death by being on the eye that I mistakenly turned on.
So looking forward to making this corn! There is nothing better than fresh corn, love it grilled. Now I have another feather to stick in my cap
.
Made this corn today, it was soooooo delicious! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, I’ll be making it again!
I am so glad to hear it was a hit!!
I made this last night with the Chicken Planks. Oh my what a wonderful dinner we had. The corn was so sweet and delicious and the chicken was excellent. What a wonderful meal it was with some red potatoes I brought from OK when I was visiting. I don’t think I will ever leave the corn on the cob again. Thank you so much.
I have that same knife and just love it. I always grab it if I am going to peel potatoes or apples or just about anything. My father in law always grows a huge garden and we usually have an abudance of corn. But freezing it on the ear takes up a lot of space so we usually cut alot of it off the cobb. My husband found out the quickest way to do that is with an electric knife. Works wonderfully.
[...] Grandmother’s house they would go get KFC chicken and then make homemade mashed potatoes and fried corn to go with it and we’d eat it off of these plates. I always sat beside my great grandmother, [...]
Just made Fried corn…had frozen corn…added butter beans to it too! SO good!
[...] How to make fresh fried corn from start to finish (shucking, silking, cooking, freezing) [...]
[...] those days I’m home in time for supper. #2.Chicken Planks, Meme’s Mashed Potatoes, and Fried Corn. Okay so when I’m on a book tour, the meal I am thinking about most is the one featured on [...]
I read this thinking of learning a new way to cook corn. Turns out it’s just like creamed corn up here. lol I love it. Corn goes good in everything except popcorn.. oh wait… *grins*
I just read some of your great recipes & have them on my MUST MAKE List…I could not, however, take with out giving & after seeing the extent of work / time involved in “corn husking & de-silking”, just felt you may enjoy this video link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4
Hope you like it : D