Corn on the cob holders

[rjwong]

Dean, I notice that you are using corn holders and that they are mismatched-proving that you are human.  But what really interests me is that with all of that fabulous new storage space, did you come up with a special slot for the corn holders or do you throe them into the bottom  of the "various implements" drawer like everyone else?

Actually, a "do you or don't you" thread on corn holders might be pretty fun.  We had corn tonight, sans holders. It was delicious.

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Mayhaw Man, your wish is my command, ... this time ...

There is an earlier discussion thread on How do you eat corn on the cob. Mind you, let's keep the discussion on those corn holders. Do you use them or not?

Just for the record, I use my hands and fingers and I don't throw them in the "various implements" drawer like everyone else.

[torakris]

never owned 'em, never used 'em

[evongvisith]

I own some holders which I got, inexplicably, as part of a grab bag of random stuff from Archie McPhee. They've never been used and live in the silverware drawer -- there's a "random" compartment in the silverware holder where they share space with some wine bottle stoppers that never get used, either.

I have the plastic kind shaped like little ears of corn At least these have metal prongs. The ones I remember using as a kid had plastic prongs which inevitably broke off while stuck into the end of an ear of corn.

[Irishgirl]

My husband uses them because he's he's a wimp about burning himself.

I have asbestos fingers......

And I LOVE corn on the cob. Can't wait for August!

[Shalmanese]

I use them. Our ones have a plastic screw on the end and you screw them into the ends of the corn. It works and it was like 10c so why not.

[jsolomon]

I use them. If they are not available, I've made due with forks, pocket knives, drywall screws, and many other implements.

But, the simple truth is, the cob holders are dug out for 10-15 days a year when the corn patch (God, I love using an 8-row planter) is going great guns, they never get put away.

The rest of the year, the corn is crap, so they're forgotten.

[Marlene]

I do not, but others in my family do. In order to prevent stabbing myself everytime I rummage through a drawer, they are kept in a small plastic tray in the drawer along with my turkey skewers.

[Mayhaw Man]

(God, I love using an 8-row planter)

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I know exactly what you mean. I remember the first time I ever saw a 4 row cotton picker. I think that we actually cheered at the possibilities. Shoot, they have combines seemingly as wide as the fields these days.

As far as corn holders go, I have three kinds-some old ceramic ones that are shaped like corn ears and have some seriously sharp spikes on them-an assortment of plastic ones with sharp plastic spikes that work marginally well-and finally I have a set of silver plated ones that look like corn.

That being said, now that the boys are older, we hardly ever use them unless someone thinks about it ahead of time, and even then, it's really only for the entertainment value.

I was thinking about this screw type deal, it sounds to me that they are pretty much like dry wall anchors. If you were having a big party, and felt the need, you could go to the hardware store and get a lifetime supply of the things really inexpensively. Nothing more manly than buying your cooking gear at the hardwares store.

[BarbaraY]

I have them along with the corn shaped dishes that I assume they came with. They were here when I moved in here. They live in a small box in my utensil drawer just in case. I never use them but I do like the dishes because you can roll the corn in them and pick up plenty of butter

[Ninjai Fanatic]

the only place i ever saw and used those things were at my grandma's house when i was a lot younger.. i love roasted corn (boiled then roasted over the fire until some of the kernels turn dark brown/black and some of them pop open) rolled in sugar.. the sprinkles of spices/salt is optional.

[racheld]

Ours are the requisite Barbiecorn size, perfect little simulations which would not fool even the slowest-witted squirrel. They came as a set of eight, now reduced to seven or six by the tossaway of picnic debris, or careless drop into the late evening grass.

They are a source of dainty delight to our granddaughter who now lives far away, but they do not get the usage they had been accustomed to in her tenure, for we use them only one at a time. Hubby is a corngriller extraordinaire, and almost all our corn comes to table encased in the well-marked, steamy shucks, to be skinned by the asbestos hands of the cook, with much sssss sssssssssss of indrawn breath as the green leaves are creaked away to reveal the golden treasure.

One minicorn is used per guest, for time allows no moment for the removal of the roundydoundy snub nose of the ear; a quick insertion of the little silver teeth into the blunt end, the ear is laid into the big platter of melted butter, given a quick spin to coat it to a shine, and handed forth, to be consumed in its most glorious, crunchy, buttersheened moment. And the round end, by shape and nature, always cools rapidly and makes a natural little handle in its own right.

And now, a more exalted place than a catchall sidepocket of the plastic silverware drawer thingie must be made---Fathers' day brought an immense metal case, worthy of a master carpenter or a surgeon, filled with all manner of barbecue tools with polished wood handles, including a dozen or so little brown knobs, shaped like corks with wicked prongs. Of course, in our household, (tongue firmly in cheek here), each and every tool and cornholder and longtongs will be immediately washed and restored to its pristine newness and replaced in its perfectly-shaped pocket in the toolbox. (And I won't be stepping on one of the things in August when I take out the trash).

Right.

[Marlene]

I have them along with the corn shaped dishes that I assume they came with. They were here when I moved in here. They live in a small box in my utensil drawer just in case. I never use them but I do like the dishes because you can roll the corn in them and pick up plenty of butter

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I also have the corn shaped dishes which we use all the time as well.

[Milagai]

pertinent question:

why do grocery stores etc routinely trim off

the stem of the corn on the cob,

when the stem can be used as a handle

and then you don't need a whole extra set

of sharp pointy doodads to eat c-on-c?

milagai

[ludja]

We use the corn holders and the dishes-- the first keeps butter off your fingers and the second keeps all the butter trapped to be rolled in the corn.

[cakewalk]

We used them when we were kids, but now that I'm a big girl I don't bother. I figure if it's not too hot to take a bite out of, then it's not too hot to pick up in my hands. (I guess my hands have toughened somewhat since my childhood days.)

[Pan]

Before today, I had never heard of these implements. Needless to say, I've never used them and hold corn on the cob in my hands. If it's too hot to hold even on the sides, I wait for it to cool down a bit.

[hjshorter]

We use them. The kids love them, and I want to eat my corn HOT without burning my fingers.

[mizducky]

My folks used to have a bunch of those corn-holders when I was a kid. Yellow plastic mini-corn-ears with a couple of metal spikes each. We used them frequently--in pairs, jamming one in the ear's stem-end and getting the other one precariously placed in the tip end. We'd keep losing them over the years, and my mom would keep buying more (always yellow, always trying to look like a corn ear, but in different interpretations of that shape), so we had a kind of mongrel mis-matched collection after awhile. I vaguely recall them all hanging out in one compartment of one of the two flatware trays my mom kept in various kitchen drawers.

I think I acquired some of my own when I first left home and set up my own household, but they somehow fell by the wayside and I haven't really missed them.

[NulloModo]

We use the corn holders and the dishes-- the first keeps butter off your fingers and the second keeps all the butter trapped to be rolled in the corn.

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Ah, you have the perfect combo there. It isn't the heat from the corn that bugs me, it is the butter that gets all over ones fingers. Plus, ears of corn are just a little too long and rigid to sit in a pool of butter on a dinner plate, and if you just put that pat on top, it all slides off.. No, that long shallow dish is a must so that corn can swim in the butter, and the corn holders so that your fingers don't have to.

My corn holders are little green mini-ear of corn looking things, probably the most common type. At least they have the metal spikes, I still can't get into the new plastic turnkey ones.

[Pan]

We use them.  The kids love them, and I want to eat my corn HOT without burning my fingers.

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I don't understand. My mouth is more sensitive than my fingers, so if it would burn my fingers, it would definitely burn my mouth.

And I don't like butting butter on stuff, generally. I like my corn on the cob plain.

[snowangel]

I have "mom hands" so they can handle anything. So, no corn holders for me, but corn holders for the kids. My great, late and most wonderful Aunt Laura gave me her set. They were metal, and did a most wonderful job of conducting all of the heat to your fingers, so they reside in that box of equally "important" stuff she gave me, like hat pins.

[Milt]

We have the cheap plastic corn cob shaped holders and we keep them in our tableware drawer in a zip lock sandwich bag. Now we are able to find all of them when we want to find them. I always use the holders. I want to butter the corn while it is hot enough to melt the butter - which means the corn is hot enough to burn my fingers. When I am eating the corn, I don't want to get butter all over my fingers. I will be using those same fingers to pass dishes, hold my glass for a drink, etc. and I don't want greasy handprints all over the dishes and glasses. My wife uses the holders part of the time, her hands part of the time, and tonight used only one holder because I had cut the ears into two sections - and she didn't feel that she needed two holders for such a small cob.

[Jaymes]

When I was about twelve, we used them. Until somebody shoved one into the corn at a slight angle. Not enough of an angle to see the metal prongs poking through the kernals. But enough to bite into. And to break my front tooth in half. And to have to get a crown. Which I've had to replace at least five times through the years. Until finally that tooth gave out and had to be pulled.

So to answer your question...

No. My family and I don't use them. We have wonderful little dishes shaped just like a cob of corn. You put some butter into it and spin the cob. Voila. Cob gets buttered without all that mess.

And you get to keep your front teeth.

Edited June 30, 2005 by Jaymes (log)

[hjshorter]

We use them.  The kids love them, and I want to eat my corn HOT without burning my fingers.

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I don't understand. My mouth is more sensitive than my fingers, so if it would burn my fingers, it would definitely burn my mouth.

Not me, although my hands are fairly desensitized to hot things too. Anything meant to be served hot I want HOT. It drives my husband crazy that I pour my coffee out if it cools off too much.

We had the "butter sliding off corn" thing happening last night. I'm going to look for some little corn dishes at Target.

[Marlene]

  It drives my husband crazy that I pour my coffee out if it cools off too much.

We had the "butter sliding off corn" thing happening last night.  I'm going to look for some little corn dishes at Target.

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I do that with coffee too. My husband puts an ice cube in his. Those corn dishes are great!