“You throw away my outside, you cook my inside. Then you eat my outside and you throw away my inside. What am I?” is a riddle that has been printed in many images. The answer is “corn.” The outer husk is thrown away, the corn kernels are eaten, and then the inner cob is thrown away.
 
“You throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside and throw away the inside? What is it? An ear of corn” was printed in the Osmond (NE) Republican on January 18, 1950. “What vegetable do you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside of the inside, then throw away the inside? Corn on the cob” was printed in the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle and many other newspapers on October 6, 1958.
   
     
Newspapers.com
18 January 1950, Osmond (NE) Republican, “O. H. S. Gossip,” pg. 3, col. 3:
You throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside and throw away the inside? What is it?
An ear of corn.
 
Newspapers.com
28 July 1950, The Gazette and Daily York, PA), pg. 37, col. 3:
Riddle
Terry—Guess this! You throw away the outside…cook the inside…eat the outside…throw away the inside. What is it?
Mary—I don’t know. What?
Terry—An ear of corn.
 
Newspapers.com
20 August 1950, Tulsa (OK) Daily World, “Riddles,” sec. 5, pg. 11, col. 2:
What vegetable is it that you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside and throw away the inside?
 
Newspapers.com
13 October 1955, San Francisco (CA) Examiner, “Wallaby Writes the News,” sec. 3, pg. 9, col. 6:
What do you throw away the outside, then eat the inside and throw away the middle? The answer is corn on the cob.
 
Newspapers.com
6 October 1958, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, “Fun Time—The Riddle Box,” pg. 15, col. 6:
What vegetable do you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside of the inside, then throw away the inside?
Corn on the cob.
 
Google Books
October 1962, Boys’ Life, “Think and Grin,” pg. 66, col. 1:
Steve: What vegetable do you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside?
Tom: I don’t know. What is the vegetable?
Steve: Corn on the cob.—Bruce Doty, Fresno 3. Calif.
   
Google Books
February 1968, Boys’ Life, “Think and Grin,” pg. 78, col. 2:
John: Of what vegetable do you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside?
Alan: I can’t guess. What?
John: An ear of corn.—John Binder, Los Angeles, Calif.
   
Google Books
Laughs, Hoots & Giggles
By Joseph Rosenbloom
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1984 (Abridged version 2007)
Pg. 53:
With what vegetable do you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside? Corn on the cob
     
Google Books
Southern Jack Tales
By Donald Davis
Little Rock, AR: August House Publishers, Inc.
1992 (Republished 1997)
Pg. 170:
Then he started his first riddle. “You throw away the outside and cook the inside; then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?”
 
The old stepqueen hardly thought for a moment. “Why, it’s an ear of corn, of course. Throw away the shucks and boil the ear, then eat the corn and throw away the cob!”
 
Twitter
Lord Sky
@LorrdSky
Corn “@COLOQUAL: I am sumtin You throw away my outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What am I?”
4:15 AM · Dec 14, 2012
     
Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/TheGreatJatsby June 15, 2014
When having corn on the cob…you throw away the outside then cook the inside, then eat the outside and then throw away the inside.
 
Twitter
all4BADDz
@all4BADDz
You throw away my outside to eat my inside, but eat only my outside and throw away my inside. What am I?
#an-ear-of-corn
11:31 AM · Jun 19, 2018
 
Google Books
Just One Bite:
A Novel
By Jack Heath
Toronto, ON: Hanover Square Press
2019
Pg. ?:
You throw away the outside and keep the inside, then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What am I?
     
Reddit—Riddles
Posted by u/stalkerduck_407 December 17, 2020
what am i?
you throw away my outside and cook my inside
then you eat my outside and throw away my inside
Answer: Corn (or fish)
 
Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/N1ghtmare3_ December 8, 2022
We throw away the outside of a corn, eat the inside, and throw away the inside.