How Long To Steam Corn On The Cob (And Why)?

How Long To Steam Corn On The Cob (And Why)?

Exact Answer : 5 To 7 Minutes

Steamed corns are a great option when it comes to having a good tasty, healthy and a light meal, sitting in the backyard and enjoying the sunset. Moreover, another reason why steamed corn is considered as the best option is because it takes barely 10 minutes to cook. Yes! you can prepare this healthy and delicious meal in just a span of 10 minutes.

Another great thing about steamed corn dish is that you can eat in your own way. If you want it to be spicy, you can make it spicy. You want to make it cheesy and buttery, you can make it that way.

Moreover, talking about its health benefits, steamed corn is rich in carbohydrates and rich in potassium which is responsible for improving heart functions, bone strength and muscle strength as well. You can eat steamed corn as snacks, or along with your meal, add it in your dish like oats and smoothies, pair it with tea or any beverage or just enjoy it all alone.

How Long To Steam Corn On The Cob

How Long To Steam Corn On The Cob?

TemperatureTime
Low heat5 to 7 minutes
High heat3 to 5 minutes

The time it takes to steam corn on the cob depends on many factors like amount of water used and size of corn kernel, but it majorly depends upon the temperature, or heat provided to the corn.

Corn are steamed by pouring water in a bowl and then putting a steamer on top of it. After putting the steamer, corn kernels are kept over them and cob is ignited. This is the most simple way to prepare steamed corns on cob and mostly preferred by professional chefs as wells.

The reason behind amount of temperature or heat provided to steaming corn is the major factor is because of the water used in this whole procedure. As only two ingredients are used in this whole process of steaming corn is just water and raw corn, corn can’t be steamed without using water. Thus, water is the most important ingredient which affects the time it takes to steam corn on the cob.

Steaming Corn On The Cob At Low Heat

Since water needs to be boiled in order to evolve steam and consequently steam corn, water takes 4 to 5 minutes to reach boiling state when heated at low heat. Thus, when the water starts boiling after around 4 minutes, steam will be produced within a minute and corn would take almost a minute or two to get steamed. So in total, in would take around 5 to 7 minutes for corn to get steamed on the cob at low heat.

Steaming Corn On The Cob At High Heat

Steaming corn at high heat comparatively takes lesser time as compared to steaming corn at low heat. It is so because, since the temperature provided is high, water would take less time to reach boiling state, that would be around just 2 to 3 minutes. Moreover, once the water would start boiling, steam will be produced within a minute and consequently, corn will get steamed within one to two minutes. In total, it would take around 3 to5 minutes maximum for corn to get steamed on the cob at high heat.

Why It Takes That Long To Steam Corn On The Cob?

To prepare an extremely delicious and healthy steamed corn dish, the main step, that is, steaming the corn includes majorly three steps:

  1. Water to get boiled
  2. Steam is produced
  3. Corn gets steamed

Though second and third step do not play a major role in affecting the time for corn to get steamed because, once water is boiling, steam will naturally be produced and this step takes no time in real and practically. Also the third step that is corn to get steamed, this step also takes not more than a minute because once steam is produced, corn will get steamed itself.

However, the first step is the major step and the time deciding step as well for corn to get steamed on the cob. Thus, slow boiling of water or fast boiling of water is the reason why it takes this long to steam corn on the cob.

If you want to steam the corn faster, then you can provide high heat to boil the water and then stem the corn by putting steamer on top of the water. Moreover, another step that you can do in order to reduce the time period is that you can increase the amount of water in container.

By increasing the amount of water, more steam will be produced and thus the corn will get steamed faster.

Conclusion

No doubt that steamed corn is the most efficient and more easy way to consume a tasty and healthy meal. By just spending maximum of 10 minutes in preparing the meal, you can make an extremely versatile meal which can be paired with anything along, eaten as a part of diet meal, used as toppings, or can be eaten alone as well. Moreover, with its multiple health advantages, steamed corn can become yours all time favorite dish.

Though if you are conscious about precisely knowing the time it would take you, it would be around 5 to 7 minutes including each and every step from prepping to steaming to dressing the steamed corn to add some extra flavor to it and make it visually appealing. Among all these steps, steaming the corn on cob is the most important and the major step.

However, if you still feel that you don’t have enough time for it and want to spend lesser time on preparing this meal, then it is important to consider some points which would help you to decrease the time period required to get the corn steamed on the cob:

  • You can steam corn on high heat.
  • You can use more amount of water. But make sure to not to use too much.
  • Keep the raw corn in freezer or in refrigerator and then bring them out of it just a minute before putting them in steamer. This will make corn more exposed to moisture and they will get steamed faster.
  • Use a steamer which can build pressure inside it. Such steamers will make the steam not escape out of it and thus all steam will be consumed by corn only.

References

  1. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2103&context=extension_curall
  2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/star.19700220408
dot 1
One request?

I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️

Avatar of Nidhi

AboutNidhi

Hi! I'm Nidhi.

Here at the EHL, it's all about delicious, easy recipes for casual entertaining. So come and join me at the beach, relax and enjoy the food.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *