Cheeseburgers & Corn on the Cob

Mid July & a day I wait for every summer, when the sweet corn is ready! About mid week I noted that Suter’s little red barn had a sign out that said, “Sweet Corn & Tomatoes Sat.” Suters is a local area produce farm that has the best sweet corn there is. Mostly bi-color but they have some white, I think comes on later. I was there shortly after 10 am & they were already busy & still unloading the pick up truck loaded with sacks of corn. I bought a half doz. enough for the wife & I and 4 of their large tomatoes.

After lunch I cleaned out the smoker and changed the foil on the drip pan. That was a must since the last cook, I walked out to check on the smoker that was cooling down with the lid open. Here was a sparrow sitting in the middle of the open lid! I said chirpy if you go on my smoker I will shoot you. With that he did a 180, left a deposit & flew away! I checked & luckily it missed the grate & landed on the foil of the drip pan.

We have been having sandwiches a lot but a hamburger is the best thing that goes with corn on the cob. I liked the Weber gourmet burgers I made recently so decided to use their seasoning again but on the outside instead of mixing in with the meat & would have my favorite cheese, Swiss, melted on top. I decided to do a Caprese salad, recipe from “For the Love of Cooking” blog. I did not roast my tomatoes though, just had them fresh.
Early I reduced some balsamic vinegar for the dressing & would use fresh basil leaves from my garden. About 3 in the afternoon I cleaned my corn, which is to remove 2 or 3 outer husks, trim off both ends & into salted water to soak for a couple of hours. Some people like to peel back the corn husks, remove the silk & add butter for grilling, but to me the silk comes off nice & clean after it is cooked, & you can add the butter & seasoning as much as you want! After I had the corn soaking I made up 4 hamburger patties from 2 lbs. of ground chuck, seasoned with Weber’s Gourmet Hamburger seasoning, covered in saran wrap & in the fridge. I was now ready to start cooking at 5 pm.

I had decided to do the corn at 225 deg for a half hr. & then put the burgers on at 300 deg for a half hr. I had the smoker preheated to 225 deg. & got the corn on at 5 pm. At 5:30 I added the burgers, flipped them after 20 min. then at 6:00 I added the Swiss cheese & topped two with the buns. Another couple of min. the cheese was melted & buns toasted a little. That first sweet corn sure tasted good, The cheeseburgers & salad was great too.

When I have corn on the cob I always remember my Dad, he would sit there with a sharp knife & cut down the center of each row of kernels before adding butter & salt. This way most of the hulls stay on the cob. He said he learned that from an old man who had no teeth & after cutting he could still eat corn on the cob.

Corn in soaking

Caprese Salad

Ready for the cheese

Cheeseburger & Corn

Smokin Don