Corn buying etiquette

[Anonymous]

At our local Giant, there is a garbage can for corn shucking.

What's the big deal?

[Anonymous]

I always peel back a bit to check. I'm picky about The quality of the food i eat and I've come home with too many crappy ears of corn not to. (I don't seem to have the touch for just "feeling" bad spots.) I don't generally husk it in the store unless there's a bin and I'm headed straight home to cook it.

For the PP who made the Skittles analogy, sorry but it's not the same at all. Skittles are made in a factory and designed and checked specifically so every bag comes out the same. A "bad" bag would be very very rare. Not so for corn at all.

[Anonymous]

I think it is sad when people are so afraid of chance that they can't risk getting a bad ear of corn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is sad when people are so afraid of chance that they can't risk getting a bad ear of corn.

But that's how they are able to live in a McMansion, drive fancy Euro-cars and send the kiddos to fancy pants schools. If only others knew their secrets to wealth and success then everyone would be a faux millionaire too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Corn in boiling water is the simple way. On the grill, husk on ROCKS. ( and I am from the South as well)

You are, at best, a 2nd generation transplanted yankee claiming southern roots. Ha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too am from "corn country"--literally grew up across the street from a corn field in central Illinois. And EVERYONE there peels back a little of the top to check the kernels before buying. If you didn't, you would clearly be corn-illiterate.

I'm a peeler from Danville, IL.

[Anonymous]

This thread turned out exactly as I thought it would. Thanks DCUM for not disappointing! The required elements were:

1. Question about peeling back the husk. I could tell this from the title.
2. Numerous answers misunderstanding the original question (that is, whether husking is ok)
3. Side discussion on the merits of the misunderstood question (to husk or not to husk? That wasn't the question)
4. Indignant disagreement over the main question, complete with claims of superior basis for knowledge.
5. Discussion of the impact on the less fortunate (downtrodden farmers)
6. Segue into how much DCUMers make and what they drive.

[Anonymous]

Another peeler here, from Iowa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread turned out exactly as I thought it would. Thanks DCUM for not disappointing! The required elements were:

1. Question about peeling back the husk. I could tell this from the title.
2. Numerous answers misunderstanding the original question (that is, whether husking is ok)
3. Side discussion on the merits of the misunderstood question (to husk or not to husk? That wasn't the question)
4. Indignant disagreement over the main question, complete with claims of superior basis for knowledge.
5. Discussion of the impact on the less fortunate (downtrodden farmers)
6. Segue into how much DCUMers make and what they drive.

Seriously. So predictable. Yet still entertaining. Particularly the idea that corn-checking is somehow associated with driving a fancy car and living in a McMansion. Logic does not deter intrepid DCUMers with chips on their shoulders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you don't SHUCK it before checking it out, you shuck it to buy it. I don't shuck in the store (that sounds dirty) since we cook with the husk on, but the shucking bins are not to check out the goods. Where are you from?

From the south and we shuck (this is not a dirty word) corn before cooking it in boiling water and where we know how to cook corn-on-the-cob properly.

You don't cook corn-on-the-cob "properly" by boiling it, you cook it by steaming it in an inch or so of water. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always peel back a bit to check. I'm picky about The quality of the food i eat and I've come home with too many crappy ears of corn not to. (I don't seem to have the touch for just "feeling" bad spots.) I don't generally husk it in the store unless there's a bin and I'm headed straight home to cook it.

For the PP who made the Skittles analogy, sorry but it's not the same at all. Skittles are made in a factory and designed and checked specifically so every bag comes out the same. A "bad" bag would be very very rare. Not so for corn at all.

I cut open the tomatoes to make sure I get one that's not too grainy. Sometimes it takes 5-6 before I find a good one. This is not rude in any way, shape, or form.

[Anonymous]

I have only seen white people do this, perhaps it's a white thing?

[Anonymous]

I can tell how good a piece of corn is through the feel of the husk, the stalk, and the "hair" on top. Peeling back a little tells me nothing of worth. Knowing the top few kernels are good doesn't tell me if the bottom ones are good. If the ear is a good ear, the kernels should be fine and any not-so-good ones can be cut off or eaten around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always peel back a bit to check. I'm picky about The quality of the food i eat and I've come home with too many crappy ears of corn not to. (I don't seem to have the touch for just "feeling" bad spots.) I don't generally husk it in the store unless there's a bin and I'm headed straight home to cook it.

For the PP who made the Skittles analogy, sorry but it's not the same at all. Skittles are made in a factory and designed and checked specifically so every bag comes out the same. A "bad" bag would be very very rare. Not so for corn at all.

I cut open the tomatoes to make sure I get one that's not too grainy. Sometimes it takes 5-6 before I find a good one. This is not rude in any way, shape, or form.

Again, not applicable. You can examine a tomato pretty well by just feeling and looking at it, and you have a pretty good idea of what you're going to get. With corn you can't even see it if it's in the husk. You run a decent chance of coming home with a bunch of crappy corn. Buying an extra 1-2 ears isn't necessarily enough. Also, unlike a tomato, peeling back a small edge of the corn does not make it unusable. (And anyway, if it looks OK, you buy it.)

Do you have any more analogies to share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always peel back a bit to check. I'm picky about The quality of the food i eat and I've come home with too many crappy ears of corn not to. (I don't seem to have the touch for just "feeling" bad spots.) I don't generally husk it in the store unless there's a bin and I'm headed straight home to cook it.

For the PP who made the Skittles analogy, sorry but it's not the same at all. Skittles are made in a factory and designed and checked specifically so every bag comes out the same. A "bad" bag would be very very rare. Not so for corn at all.

I cut open the tomatoes to make sure I get one that's not too grainy. Sometimes it takes 5-6 before I find a good one. This is not rude in any way, shape, or form.

Again, not applicable. You can examine a tomato pretty well by just feeling and looking at it, and you have a pretty good idea of what you're going to get. With corn you can't even see it if it's in the husk. You run a decent chance of coming home with a bunch of crappy corn. Buying an extra 1-2 ears isn't necessarily enough. Also, unlike a tomato, peeling back a small edge of the corn does not make it unusable. (And anyway, if it looks OK, you buy it.)

Do you have any more analogies to share?

As I and countless other posters here have said, you can examine an ear of corn pretty well by feeling it through the husk as well. Now, you may not be competent enough to do so, but maybe I'm too incompetent to examine a tomato just by looking at it from the outside.