For a long time, I grilled corn the same way everyone else does. Shuck it, soak it in water, wrap it in foil, throw it on the grill for 15 minutes, unwrap it, eat it with butter. It works. It's fine. The kernels get soft, the corn gets a little char where the foil opens up, and nobody's disappointed.

Then I started thinking about why I was doing it that way.

The water soak seemed important, but I wasn't sure why. Something about keeping it from drying out? I asked Paul about it once, and he said that was a myth. Water doesn't keep corn from drying out on a grill. The husks do that. You could soak it or not, and if the husks are still on, it doesn't matter much.

So I tried skipping the soak. Still came out fine. Better, actually, because you're not handling wet corn and getting your kitchen floor wet.

Then I started thinking about the foil. Why was I wrapping it? The husks were already protection. Were the husks enough?

I made the mistake of leaving an ear on the grill without any wrapping one day. I was grilling something else and just set it down on the grate without thinking. When I came back to check, the husks had blackened where they were touching the heat, and when I pulled one back, underneath was this perfect ear of corn. The kernels had a slight char from where the heat had found a seam in the husks, and the corn tasted like it had been roasted.

Better than foil. The char from the husk itself actually improved the flavor.

Now I do corn three different ways depending on what I'm feeling.

The first way is purist. Just the husk.

Leave the husks on. Pull back just the tip and yank off the silk—all of it. This takes a minute per ear if you're careful. Once it's clean, pull the husks back over the ear and lay it right on the grate. Medium-high heat, lid closed, and leave it for about 12-15 minutes. You want to hear the husks start popping a little. That's moisture escaping, which is what you want.

When you pull it off and peel back the husks, they'll be blackened and charred. Don't be scared of that. The black is flavor. Underneath is this incredibly sweet corn with a little smoke taste and little char marks where the husks had a gap. No need for butter, though butter's fine. The corn tastes like corn, which is the point.

The second way is the indulgent way. Butter and seasoning wrapped in foil.

Shuck the corn all the way. Dry it off. Brush it with softened butter mixed with whatever you want—salt, pepper, fresh herbs, cotija cheese if you're feeling fancy, lime zest if you want something bright. Sometimes I'll mix the butter with a little garlic powder or smoked paprika. Wrap each ear in foil tight enough that it holds together but not so tight you can't open it to check.

Grill for about 12 minutes on medium heat. The butter will steam the corn and infuse it with whatever you mixed in. When you unwrap it, the corn is tender and the butter's soaked in. This is the most forgiving way because the foil prevents any char, and everything stays tender.

The third way is a hybrid. Husk first, butter after.

Leave the husks on and grill like you're doing the purist version. Get that char, 12-15 minutes, lid closed. When you pull it off and peel back the husks, brush it immediately with herb butter while it's still hot. The butter will melt into the corn and mix with the char flavor from the husks.

This gives you the taste of the charred husks plus the richness of butter. It's the best parts of both worlds.

I've learned that how you season matters too. Salt is always right. Pepper if you like pepper. But there's a reason Mexican street corn is so popular—cotija cheese, lime, mayo, cayenne—because those flavors show off what corn actually is. Something sweet and a little spicy and tangy makes sense together.

The thing about corn is it doesn't need the grill to be good. Corn is already good. What the grill does is add flavor and texture. Char if you do it right. Smoke if you want it. But the corn is carrying the show. You're just making it better.

I've noticed that when I'm grilling for people who haven't been around much good corn, the three-way method—husk charred, then butter and something green on top—gets the most attention. It looks fancy. Tastes fancy. But it's just corn and butter and a little thought.

My wife has started asking me to grill the corn instead of boiling it. Said it tastes brighter, which I think is the char doing something to the kernels—opening them up or something. I don't know the science. I just know that corn that's seen heat on a grill tastes different than corn that's been boiled in water.

Corn only comes in for a couple months. Sweet corn, the kind that matters, is July and August mostly. So when I see it at the market, I buy a bunch. I follow this approach for grilling corn three different ways over a week or two. Some with just husks, some with butter, some with both. See which one people reach for first.

Most of the time it's the charred husks with butter after. There's something about the combination of flavors that just works.

But the main lesson corn taught me is that you don't need to complicate things. A husk is wrapping. Fire is heat. Time will tell you when it's done. Sometimes the simplest way is the best way, and you don't find that out until you try it.