Tips for Removing Silk from Corn?

If you're cooking it on the cob, remove the silk after you've cooked it. I typically microwave my corn in the inner husk, when you pull it out the silk just slides right off.

I use a soft brush (technically, it was sold as a mushroom brush).

Just brush along the length of the ear, towards the stem end, and it removes almost all of the silk. (way more than I'd get done using any other method).

update : So I was husking corn with my step-father, and noticed that I have much less silk left on the corn I was working on that needed to be brushed off, so I think some of it is the initial husk-removal technique:

If you attempt to peel off each leaf of the husk, you'll end up with almost all of the silk still on the corn. If you grab with both hands at the top of the ear, then pull in opposite directions to tear the husk, and pull down (I aim for taking off about 1/3 of the husk at a time), most of the silk will stick to the husk, leaving only a little bit of silk left that can be taken care of with a brush.

:-) Rachel Ray has a suggestion... Use a rubber band to "thread" it off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn19YBlw9bc

If after taking out of the microwave you cut off the stem end with a large knife, and include a little of the bottom row of corn, it all just slips off clean as a whistle.

Running it under cold water while rubbing it helps a lot. For informal meals, I just use dental floss to pick it out of my teeth later.

I also refrigerate it for a bit before I clean the corn. Sticky things get less sticky when they're cold. If the corn's at room temp or higher, the silk is going to stick more.

I find that running towel down the cob helps to pull all the silk away from the corn. It would help to wet the corn first, but it's not necessary.

Basically, you're just trying to get a better grip on it. I'm sure you've used towels before to help you open a jar or can - it's the same idea here.

Use a couple of wet paper towels under cold running water, and rub toward the stem end for a few seconds. Works like a charm.

Corn Silk Removal using "Norwex" Vegtable cleaning cloth (size of dish cloth). Directions:

1. After cob is husked, and easliy removed silk is pulled off, place cobs in tub of water.

2. Place the vegtable cleaning cloth product in one hand, cob in the other, keep submerged, rotate in spining motions, then linear movements (two cobs per minute).

Then it's done - 99% effective for silk removal. Blows the doors off of brushes, burning over a gas flame and microwaving.

I know this is an old post but I have found a wonderful corn brush just recently. It works better than I hoped it would!

Easy way to remove Silk from corn. Use a cornsilker machine!!. Can do 15 ears a minute, removes silk from husked corm and does not damage kernels.