North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

Sorry, I know this is off-topic. Just a quick follow-up.


> FWIW, when kernels of super sweet corn get damaged or bumped in 
> handling, the sugars will often oxidize and discolor the kernel. Try 
> hitting an ear, let it sit for an hour or more, then cook it. Odds are 
> good the damage will show as a dark place.


Thanks, Lon. That might be it, since these were ears that had been 
pecked by birds, and I cut those parts off before cooking (so I could 
have bruised them, particularly at the ends where the brown color tended 
to show up).

I asked the county extension service here, too, and they suggested that 
I might be cooking it too long. The one time I boiled the ears, I left 
them in the boiling water for 15 minutes (I asked my elderly mother, and 
she cooks hers for 20 minutes). The extension service said it should be 
only one to three minutes.

I usually microwave the ears, and they didn't give me any guidelines for 
that. Really, despite this being corn country, this seemed to be a 
brand-new question for them (my questions usually are, it seems).

And yes, I had smut - a very large growth, anyway - on one small, 
undeveloped ear of corn. That's all I've seen. And although I've heard 
that it's edible, I wasn't too wild about eating something like that, 
without knowing for sure what it really was! Heh, heh. Not wanting it to 
spread, I threw the whole thing in the garbage.

Let's see... oh, yes, the birds. The extension service confirmed that 
birds will eat sweet corn as I described. They particularly mentioned 
blue jays, and I have an abundance of them around here (I suppose I 
should stop feeding them peanuts, huh?). They recommended putting paper 
sacks over the ears - or netting, of course. I can't use old socks, 
Donna, because I'm still wearing them. :-)

Thanks for the replies!

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
I don't have to read it, or know what's in it. I'm going to oppose it 
anyways. - Sen. Jim Inhofe (Republican, Oklahoma)