Introduction
So you’ve bought some fresh corn, and you’re ready to grill it. You open the bag, pull out your skewers, and get ready to cook. But how long do you need to cook corn on the cob? Sure, it’s easy enough to figure out how long it takes when you’re cooking in an oven or on a stovetop—but what about a charcoal grill? Well, I’m happy to tell you that there is an easy way to figure out how long your grilled corn will take: just follow these simple steps:
Light your charcoal grill.
To get your grill ready to cook, you’ll need to light the charcoal and put it in place. There are a couple of ways you can do this:
- Use a chimney starter. This is an inexpensive contraption that looks like an oversized coffee can with handles on each side. You fill it with newspaper and stuff pieces of kindling or twigs down into the bottom of it (to help get things going), then set fire to them by lighting some long matches or lighter fluid-soaked wicks sticking out from holes in one side of the canister. After about 15 minutes, when all those flames have died down enough for coals to be produced inside without being totally consumed by fire, dump out all of those hot coals onto your grill surface!
- Use lighter fluid directly on top of regular briquettes–but please don’t! Not only does this pose serious health risks due to inhalation exposure during use; it also damages outdoor surfaces like concrete so badly that they may never recover from damage caused by careless application methods such as these ones here today.”
Put a drip pan in the center of the grill and fill it with water.
- Put a drip pan in the center of the grill and fill it with water. The drip pan will catch any fat that drips from your corn, keeping it from burning and causing flare-ups.
- Use a large aluminum foil pan or roasting pan to hold this water, as they are more stable than plastic containers and won’t melt under high heat like glass jars do.
- Make sure there’s enough room between your grill grates and the drip pan so you can place your ears of corn directly on top without them falling through (you can also use long-handled tongs). If necessary, adjust by moving either one of these items closer together or farther apart until both fit comfortably within their respective spaces.* Pour about 1/4 inch deep into the bottom of this container–this is just enough liquid so that when things start cooking off some steamy goodness will rise up into those tasty crevices between each ear’s kernels but not so much liquid that it spoils all over everything else!
When you have good coals, spread them evenly over the grill and let them heat up until they are medium-hot (you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above them for 5 to 7 seconds).
When you have good coals, spread them evenly over the grill and let them heat up until they are medium-hot (you should be able to hold your hand 6 inches above them for 5 to 7 seconds).
Place corn on cob directly on grill grate with husks removed or wrapped in foil. Cook for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes so all sides get charred and cooked through.
You can test the temperature of your coals by using a hand test. If you can hold your hand above the coals for 7 seconds, they’re ready!
Once you have a good amount of coals, it’s time to test the temperature. To do this, hold your hand above the grill for 5-7 seconds. If you can hold it there for less than 2 seconds and not feel any heat or discomfort, then your grill is too hot! If you can keep holding it over 10 seconds without feeling any discomfort at all (or even thinking about taking your hand away), then that’s also bad news–your fire needs more fuel and/or air flow in order to get hotter. The ideal situation is if you can manage 7 seconds with just enough warmth so that when your hand comes back down from its position above the coals all four fingers feel slightly warm but not uncomfortably hot.
Conclusion
Now that you’re ready to grill your corn on the cob, all you need to do is put it on the grill. The best way to cook corn on the cob is by using indirect heat and flipping every few minutes until it’s cooked through. You can also wrap each ear in foil before placing them on the grill so they don’t dry out!