Corn silk remover fails to remove silk

I enjoy eating corn on the cob, but it’s a pain to remove the corn silk. Enter Amco’s Corn Desilk­er, which is supposed to remove “stubborn silk from ears of corn” by running a cob through the center of a brush, “repeat(ing) as needed.”

Does it work? No. With respect to the company, the instructions don’t say how many times the cob has to pass through the circular brush. I ran one cob through the bristles 10 times, but maybe I was supposed to do it 50 or 100 times. I tried running it straight through, rotating the cob clockwise and counterclockwise as I pushed it through, pushing it through the top end, and then pushing it through the opposite end.

I even tried standing on my head, jumping up and down, and using my feet … just kidding. While the device did remove some silk, it surely did not remove “stubborn silk.”

Pros: The website notes that the tool’s “flexible bristles remove silk without damaging corn.” This is true. Silk is removed and the bristles are so flexible that nary a kernel is bruised. Dishwasher safe, compact, easy to hold and use.

Cons: Doesn’t remove all the silk and some of the silk that is removed gets caught in the bristles.

Cost and availability? It’s less than $10 on various websites, but don’t even bother.

Worth it? No. I guess I’ll just have to endure and continue to pick out silk stuck between the kernels to enjoy sweet, buttery corn on the cob.

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