Whether you’re preserving summer’s harvest or simply making supper, the most labor-intensive part of warm-weather cooking might be the seemingly endless prep work of washing, shucking, stemming, seeding, peeling, dicing, and slicing produce. Breaking down a windfall of fresh fruit and vegetables is a thankless undertaking for home cooks and an expensive line item when it comes to restaurant labor costs.

Chef Douglas Keane, co-owner of Sonoma County’s Michelin-starred Cyrus, embraces ingenuity in all things, especially when it comes to easing the labor load for his team. Early in his career, he sought a shortcut for one of many painstaking tasks faced by kitchen staff: removing the kernels from fresh cobs of corn. And the old-school tool he discovered has become a bit of a hat trick for restaurants and home cooks alike. 

Lee’s Corn Cutter and Creamer

Lee’s Corn Cutter and Creamer is priced around $10 for the wooden model. Though many cooks eschew gadgetry, this deceptively simple tool easily overcomes any resistance you might feel with its triple-threat combination of low price point, ease of use, and incredible effectiveness.

The Cutter Creamer is as simple to use as it is in its design. With a gentle motion, you can quickly and efficiently remove the kernels from countless cobs. The blade slices off whole kernels, leaving them intact and gently shuttling them into a container or cutting board below. Adjust the setting, and the same motion will produce creamed corn.

Keane grew up in Michigan and loved its very short corn season. “I love to cream corn,” he says. “It’s a ton of work with a paring knife. You have to hold the cob in one hand, slice each row of kernels lengthwise and scrape, scrape, scrape. I did this for 20 years or so. One day, I just typed corn creamer into the internet, and boom, there she was. The tool of my dreams.”

“To mimic that just-picked, sun-kissed flavor, I make creamed corn with a touch of butter and saikyo miso and salt,” he says. “And, whatever you do,” he cautions, “don’t toss those cobs out. Use them to make corn stock!” 

This low-cost tool is made with longevity in mind. It’s easy to clean: All you have to do is wash it with warm, soapy water by hand. And it’s relatively small, measuring, but 17 by 2.38 inches, so it’s easy to store away. Best of all, the design is downright fun: It looks like a mandoline, or better yet, a bottle opener specifically designed for corn.  

But it’s not just Keane who swears by it. When he brought it on “Top Chef Masters,” Keane recalls the show’s host and chef Curtis Stone being wowed by the tool —one of the few items from home Keane was allowed to bring to the show. “I didn’t see him at the end of taping, so I left the cutter as a present for him. He called me a few weeks later, and he’s like: Thank you so much for this. Now where do I get more?

The answer is easy: Right now this genius tool is just $10 at Amazon. What are you waiting for? Corn season is nearly here. 

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