How to Dry Corn Silks

Corn silk are the long, silky strands attached to ears of corn. The purpose of the silks is to catch corn pollen and to transfer the DNA from the pollen to the immature kernels of corn so that they develop properly. Once the silk has done its duty, it becomes superfluous as far as the ear of corn is concerned -- but the nutrient value remaining in the silk makes the silk an excellent source of vitamins and minerals and makes a tasty salad topping or a nutritious cup of tea. Drying corn silks allows them to remain edible for up to one year. Drying corn silks could not be an easier process.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towels
• Scissors or sharp knife
• Plastic baggie

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Instructions

• 1

  Remove the silk from the corn husk and the cob of corn. It is difficult to remove all of the silk from the cob, however, once you have pulled off all you can, wrap your hand around the cob and rotate the cob with your palm rubbing the surface of the cob, rubbing the remaining silk off.

• 2

  Separate the silks by hand as much as possible so that they do not remain in clumps.

• 3

  Spread the separated corm silks on sheets of paper towels and place the sheets where they will not be disturbed for three to four days.

• 4

  Dry the silks on their paper towels for three to four days, until the silks feel dry to the touch. Cut the silks into small pieces using a sharp pair of scissors or a sharp cutting knife and place the pieces of dried silk into a plastic baggie and seal it. Place the baggie in the refrigerator, where your dried corn silks should remaining good for up to one year.