Unlike with most smoking recipes, smoking corn doesn't really require any prep leading up to the actual cook
The most you'll need to do ahead of time is soak the wood chips in hot water for at least half an hour, but this only applies to if you're using wood chips and not chunks.
When you're ready to smoke, pour your charcoal and wood into your grill, light it, and place on the grate.
Let the heat build up inside, adjusting air intake and fuel as needed.
Corn smokes best at around 230 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take 10 degrees either way.
For best results, this is where you'll want your corn before you put it on the heat.
There's not much you need to do to get smoking process started.
In fact, there's nothing you have to do.
Unlike with most methods for cooking corn, all you'll have to do to smoke it is place corn on the grill inside the husk.
To fully cook, you should let your corn stay on the heat for a minimum of two hours.
Depending on how tender you want the kernels, you could let it cook for a maximum of four hours, but cooking it much longer than that could risk burns or mushiness.
As it cooks, remember to adjust heat levels and add more charcoal and wood as needed to keep the temperature within the target range.
Cooking the corn over a low heat for several hours is the best way to ensure it's evenly heated and fully cooked by the time it comes off the grill.
Once the corn comes off the heat, you'll want to let it rest for about ten minutes or so.
Unlike with meat, there's no real benefit to allowing corn to rest in terms of flavor or texture.
The reason you let corn rest is pretty simple - it's really hot.
As a food you eat with your hands, you'll want the corn to cool down enough to handle before you go about shucking and serving.
This shouldn't take very long, so use this as an opportunity to finish up anything else you're cooking before you come back to it.
After you've let the corn cool down a bit, it's time to shuck.
Cooking the corn inside the husk has a lot of advantages you don't see in other cooking methods.
Not only does it help keep the kernels softer and more flavorful while preventing it from burning, it's also easier to shuck overall.
Corn husks that have cooked with the corn will come off much easier than raw husks on uncooked corn.
The corn silk, too, will pull out of the kernels with little effort compared to the arduous task of trying to remove all the silk before cooking it.
Shucking the corn can be done ahead of time so that the cobs are ready to eat at the time the rest of the meal is served, or you can skip this step entirely and let your guests shuck their own ears of corn as needed, though the latter option could get a little messy at the table.
Shucked or unshucked, your corn should be ready to eat.
All you'll need is a little butter, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and you'll be in business.