An intermittent corn drying process of drying-tempering-drying in a laboratory scale thin layer dryer was optimized. A time lag function was developed to describe the influence of the tempering period on the drying rate in the post-tempering drying period. Three dryer control strategies (1) a drying-rate-first strategy, (2) an energy-efficiency-first strategy, and (3) an equal- importance (rate/efficiency) strategy were investigated. Results showed that intermittent drying processes were optimal except when a high drying rate was desired.