This old-school trick coats every kernel—and leaves you with a bonus snack.
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Every summer, I find myself dreaming about Fresno State sweet corn. This is slightly ridiculous. I escaped the triple-digit temperatures of Fresno years ago and eventually settled on the Oregon coast, where summer generally arrives wearing a light sweater. Yet the moment corn on the cob starts appearing in grocery stores, my brain wanders back to California’s Central Valley.
I grew up in Fresno, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, where some of the country’s best produce is grown. Its grapes, peaches, tomatoes, figs and strawberries are all excellent, but Fresno State corn—grown by students at the University Agricultural Laboratory—was the thing people talked about. Every summer, locals lined up at the Gibson Farm Market to fill their coolers with it, and somebody inevitably showed up to every barbecue carrying a few dozen ears. Even now, years after moving away, it’s the standard against which I judge every other ear of corn. Which is why I assumed there couldn’t possibly be that much to say about buttering it. No matter how you cook corn on the cob, the buttering part always seemed fairly straightforward.
Then we asked Taste of Home readers how they butter their corn.
The responses ranged from practical to very specific. There were pastry brushes, butter baths, Mason jars, dedicated gadgets, and techniques that had apparently survived generations of family cookouts. Plenty of readers swore by rolling a hot ear of corn directly across a stick of butter. But one method appeared so often that it was impossible to ignore. And, as it turns out, that method has a surprisingly famous fan.
What is the best way to butter corn on the cob?
One method appeared again and again in the comments: buttered bread.
The technique involves spreading softened butter onto a slice of bread—many readers specifically recommended the heel of the loaf—then using the bread to coat the corn. Some wrap the bread around the cob. Others roll the corn across it.
The method even has the endorsement of one of our favorite celebrities. In his memoir Taste: My Life Through Food, Stanley Tucci describes a family tradition of buttering homemade bread and using it to coat salted ears of corn. The bread, he writes, became its own reward afterward, soaked with melted butter and sweet juice from the kernels.
Once you think about it, the appeal is obvious. Bread is flexible enough to mold itself around the cob in a way a butter knife never will, helping distribute butter more evenly across the corn.
What are some other ways to butter corn?
Of course, not everyone was on Team Bread.
Roll the corn on a stick of butter
This was easily the second most popular suggestion. Place an unwrapped stick of butter on a plate and roll the hot corn across it until it’s coated. Several readers mentioned that they’ve been doing it this way for years, and others said they keep a dedicated stick of butter for corn season.
It’s also how I grew up buttering corn, and it’s still how we do it at my house. The stick of butter gets passed around the table, each person gives their corn a quick roll, and nobody thinks much about it. Admittedly, the method works best among family members and close friends. After all, there are limits to how much communal buttering most people are willing to embrace. Still, for an ordinary weeknight dinner, it’s hard to beat the combination of simplicity and efficiency.
Try a butter bath
Several readers recommended dipping corn into melted butter or a mixture of butter and hot water. One reader described using a Mason jar filled with melted butter, while another shared a family method that involved butter floating on top of hot water.
If you’re serving a crowd, a butter bath is probably the most practical option. It coats the corn evenly, keeps the butter warm and eliminates any concerns about sharing a stick of butter with half the neighborhood.
Use a pastry brush
For readers who prefer a little more precision, a pastry brush dipped into melted butter remains a popular option. It may not have the old-school charm of bread or the satisfying simplicity of rolling an ear on a stick of butter, but it gets the job done.
Shake everything together
A surprising number of readers recommended placing hot corn and butter in a covered bowl or container, then giving the container a vigorous shake. It’s an especially useful approach when you’re feeding a crowd and don’t feel like buttering a dozen ears of corn individually.
After reading through the comments, I’m not convinced there’s a wrong answer. Corn on the cob seems to inspire the kind of tradition that is inherited, defended and passed along with remarkable enthusiasm. But if you’ve never tried the buttered-bread method, it might be worth a shot. At the very least, you’ll end up with perfectly buttered corn. If Stanley Tucci and the Taste of Home readers are right, you’ll also end up with a very good piece of bread.
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