How Bobby Flay Gets Juicy Corn On The Grill Every Time

Some backyard grill cooks put a lot of work into ensuring they master the meats for a good family barbecue. But the vegetables deserve some time and attention too. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay puts in the effort to make sure that when he grills corn on the cob, it will come out juicy and tasty every single time. One of Flay's biggest cooking tips is soaking the corn, in the husks, in water for about 15 to 20 minutes while the grill heats up.

"The moisture is going to help keep the corn nice and moist. You're going to get a little bit of the charred flavor from the corn, and all the natural sweetness of the corn is going to come out to the top. And you'll have a little caramelized flavor in there because you are cooking it directly on the grill," Flay said, as he explained the process in an episode from Food Network Boy Meets Grill, which Flay hosted from 2002 to 2007 (via Food Network's YouTube channel). If your corn has already been shucked, though, there is no need to soak the ears, but Flay suggests wrapping them in tin foil to keep in the moisture for grilled corn on the cob.

Corn is one of Bobby Flay's favorite foods. He uses it in a lot of recipes, and he's even made corn ice cream. In a 2007 CBS News guest column, Flay said he makes a point "to treat corn with the respect it deserves." When it comes to flavoring your grilled corn on the cob, Flay has lots of ideas. From the start, he suggests that you add some salt right into the water when you soak the corn to add seasoning. 

In a 2024 Mashed exclusive interview, he talks about how a good compound butter can add something special to the ears, but there are lots of options for the kind of compound depending on the flavor that most suits your barbecue attendees. "So grill the corn and then make a butter with maybe some fresh basil and some garlic. .... Maybe some maple and some hot sauce in some butter as well," he suggests in the interview. "So you get that sweet, you get the spicy, and then you have the smokiness from the grilled corn. That works really nicely too."