Five ingredients and almost no work, though the cooker needs a couple of hours.
The butter goes on after the corn comes out, not into the cooker with it.
Why This Recipe Works
- A quarter cup of water steams six cobs rather than boiling them.
- Steaming keeps the sweetness in the kernels instead of leaching it into water.
- A covered slow cooker holds that steam for the whole cook.
- Butter brushed on afterwards coats the cobs rather than floating away.
- Salt after the butter sticks to the surface rather than sinking in.
Ingredient Notes
- Corn, husked
- Six ears, whole. Husked before they go in, and not cut into rounds — the cobs stay whole throughout.
- Water
- A quarter cup for six cobs. That is deliberately little: it makes steam rather than a bath.
- Melted butter
- Four tablespoons, brushed on after cooking. It is a component the title never names.
- Chopped parsley
- Two tablespoons at the end. The only other thing on the finished cobs.
How to Make It
Husked cobs in, with a quarter cup of water
Place the husked corn in a 6-quart slow cooker and add 1/4 cup water.
HIGH two to two and a half hours, or LOW four to five
Cover and cook on HIGH 2 to 2 1/2 hours or LOW 4 to 5 hours, until the kernels are tender.
Out, and brushed generously with melted butter
Remove the corn and brush generously with melted butter.
Salted
Season with kosher salt.
Parsley, and served hot
Scatter with chopped parsley and serve hot.
Why It Is a Quarter Cup and Not a Potful
Five ingredients and three of them go on at the end. Almost everything worth knowing about this recipe is in one measure - the amount of water - and in the decision to keep the butter out of the cooker entirely.
HUSKED, and left WHOLEWhole cobs
6 ears, husked before they go in and not cut into rounds. The cobs cook whole with no husks, and husking first matters practically too - a husk is a barrier between the steam and the kernels, and it would leave you peeling hot corn afterwards.
1/4 CUP of water - the whole point1/4 cup, no more
For SIX cobs, in a 6-quart cooker. That is nowhere near enough to submerge them and it is not meant to be. A slow cooker is a sealed humid box: a quarter cup becomes steam and stays trapped, and steam cooks corn perfectly well. Boiling corn in a potful of water pulls its sugars out into the water, which then goes down the sink - steaming leaves them in the kernels, which is why slow-cooker corn tastes sweeter than boiled.
COVERED - 2 to 2 1/2 hours HIGH, or 4 to 5 LOWUntil tender
The lid is what makes the previous rung work; lift it repeatedly and the steam you are relying on leaves. Either setting reaches the same endpoint, which is stated as a texture rather than a time: UNTIL THE KERNELS ARE TENDER.
Butter AFTER, and brushed rather than addedOut of the cooker first
4 tbsp MELTED, brushed generously onto the cobs once they are OUT of the cooker. Butter put into the cooker at the start would separate and sit in the base, and the cobs would come out no more buttery than they went in. Brushed onto hot corn it clings to every kernel - which is where the GLOSSY surface in the photograph comes from.
Salt, then parsley, then straight to the tableIn that order
1/2 tsp of kosher salt AFTER the butter - salt on dry corn bounces off, salt on buttered corn sticks. Then 2 tbsp of chopped parsley. Butter and parsley are both components the title never names, and the recipe is equally clear about what is NOT here: no cheese, no chilli, no other seasoning.
Success Tips
- Resist adding more water — a quarter cup is meant to steam, not submerge.
- Brush the butter on while the cobs are hot so it soaks into the kernels.
- Salt after the butter, so it has something to stick to.
Serving Ideas
Six whole cobs on a white plate, bright yellow and glossy with melted butter, scattered with chopped parsley. No cheese, no chilli and nothing else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only a quarter cup of water?
Yes. The cobs steam in a covered cooker rather than boiling, which keeps the sweetness in the kernels instead of drawing it into the water.
Should the butter go in the cooker?
No. It is brushed on after the corn comes out, so it coats the cobs rather than pooling in the base.
Can I add cheese or chilli?
Not in this one — butter, salt and parsley are the whole finish.
