What Makes Popcorn Pop

We all enjoy popcorn in its finished popped up state, but what makes popcorn pop? We constantly try to find the brands and methods, that leave the fewest unpopped kernels. Most of us only give thought to kernels of unpopped corn at one time, when we reach the bottom of our bowl and find the last few unpopped kernels. What we normally don’t think about, is the process between the two stages. How do we get a snack ready popcorn from each kernel.

Native American tribes were believed to have been the first to make popcorn pop. They had their own spiritual belief about the popcorn popping process. They believed that spirits resided inside of each kernel. When the spirit’s home (the kernel), began to be heated (cooked, usually by heating a bowl of sand that the kernels were buried in), the spirit would be so angry that their entire house would shake (the agitated vibration of cooking kernels). Then, when the spirit finally got angry enough, it would burst forth from it’s home with a screaming hiss (the air releasing upon the actual pop).

It’s a great story. Considering the Native American belief in spirits, it fits the process very well. In the thousands of years since the Native Americans began popping corn, we’ve learned there is a little more science to the process. While we refer to it as popcorn, not all corn will pop. The kernels that we use to make popcorn pop are one of a select few types of corn that will actually cook into our favorite snack. Now that we have the right type of corn to make popcorn, next comes the heat. The heat’s affect on the small starch lined sack that resides in each kernel is what really makes popcorn pop. This sack is filled with a tiny drop of water. Water, that as the temperature rises, becomes steam. Once this steam reaches a temperature of 450 it expands with incredible pressure. That pressure causes the starch pocket, as well as the entire shell of the kernel around it to burst open. Read more

Popcorn History

Popcorn, like many other American staples, has some close associations in our minds.  Popcorn and the movie theater go hand in hand.  Popcorn and baseball have shared a bond since 1908 when popcorn made it’s “buy some peanuts and cracker jacks” appearance in the song Take Me Out To The Ball Game.  While the history of popcorn is surely American it is actually even pre-American.

Popcorn has been found in several archaeological sites.  Some archaeologists figure the popcorn at these sites to be as much as 4000 years old.  Others say these same caves are more likely from around 100-200 AD.  Either way, that is some old popcorn history.  These early popcorn eaters didn’t have the convenient machines that we do today.  They cooked their popcorn kernels by burying them in a sand filled bowl and heating it.  As the sand got hot enough the kernels would pop up to the top of the sand.  We recommend eating your popcorn within a few months of purchase, but some of the popcorn found at these sites still popped when heated.

Popcorn was a luxury during the depression era.  It turned out to be one of the luxuries that people were able to afford.  Single bags cost between 5-10 cents.  The young men who sold these bags were profiting 70 cents out of every dollar, making the popcorn vendor a great job at a tough time in history.

In more recent history, popcorn has risen and fallen with the television era.  The television era beginning in the 1950’s hurt theater attendance.  Consequently, the popcorn business suffered as well.  Then, home popping grew in popularity and popcorn’s relationship with television became nearly as strong as its ties to the movies.  After the introduction of the microwave oven and microwave popcorn, popcorn sales became stronger than ever.  In the 1990’s, microwave popcorn sales accounted for over $240 million dollars in revenue.

Hulless Popcorn-Gourmet Companies and Popped

The term ” hulless popcorn” is somewhat misleading.  All popcorn kernels have a hull.  When kernels are heated, a drop of water within the hull turns to steam.  As the steam rises in temperature it builds pressure until it bursts through the hull.  No hull, no popped popcorn.

The hulless varieties have a very small kernel and therefore produce little or no hull when they are popped.  The larger hull of standard varieties breaks into pieces lodging itself in the center of the fluff.  The hull of the hulless varieties expands out become part of the fluff of the popcorn.  Hulless varieties produce more delicate pieces of gourmet popcorn.

Hulless popcorn comes in three main varieties.  Lady Finger, the smallest and rarest of the three varieties.  Baby White pops up a little larger than Lady Finger popcorn and is as nearly as tender.  Finally, Premium White is the largest of the hulless popcorn varieties.  There are companies that sell various other hulless varieties but these are the most popular.

Hulless kernels are a favorite for the light and delicate popcorn they produce.  They are also a favorite in the medical community.  It’s recommended by dentists and orthodontists.  Their patients with dental restrictions, such as dentures, braces, orthodontics or other fragile dental work can still enjoy popcorn

It’s also recommended to patients who suffer from diverticulitis.  Diverticulitis is a gastrointestinal disorder that would prevent anyone who suffered from it from eating a product like regular gourmet popcorn with it’s small seeds and bits of hard shell.  Thanks to hulless popcorn, many doctors are letting patients enjoy popped popcorn again.

With this long string of positives there is one drawback.  Hulless popcorn does pop up a lot smaller, due to its smaller hull.  For all it’s advantages though, it’s worth popping up a little more of your favorite variety to make up the difference.

Yellow Popcorn vs. White Popcorn

White popcorn or yellow popcorn? It really comes down to personal preference. There are several varieties of popcorn. Whether or not they end up as white popcorn or yellow popcorn is determined by the kernels. All popped corn looks white. The yellow we see at movie theaters and baseball games is from butter. Which one is better? Only one sure way to know; test it out for yourself. Nothing like another good reason to eat gourmet popcorn.

Yellow popcorn is often just marked popcorn. It is the standard kernel variety. White popcorn is the anomaly. Bags of white popcorn will be marked as such. The reason that companies go to the trouble of selling as well as packaging white popcorn, is that it is somewhat of a popcorn delicacy. Normally it is a smaller kernel. This allows it to pop up a little lighter and a lot more tender and delicate.

White popcorn is sometimes known as rice popcorn. This isn’t for it’s color, but for the rice shape of it’s kernels. Yellow popcorn can be broken down in to two varieties - large yellow and small yellow. Both sizes of yellow kernels come in a larger rounded pearl shape. While they are known by the colors. The varieties biggest distinctions are their size characteristics.

Like farmers everywhere, those that grown corn have experimented with hybrids. Attempting to find a blend of these types of corn. It seems though, that each one has a place in the market. Each ones drawback are worth it to certain consumers. We will likely see the three separate varieties remain independent of each other.

Popcorn can be found in a variety of kernel colors. There are several specialty popcorns available in a few other colors; blue, red, black, and brown.

Caramel Pecan Popcorn Recipe

Mix up a batch of this caramel pecan popcorn (say that 5 times fast) for an outrageous snack that is sure to impress. Easy, quick, tasty and popcorntacular!

Recipe Ingredients:

10 cups warm freshly popped popcorn

2 cups pecan pieces, roasted

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

salt to taste

Recipe Directions:

Prepare - Lightly grease baking sheet pan; mix freshly popped popcorn with pecans on sheet. Set aside.

Caramel - Whisk together in a pan the sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high; boil, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 255°F (124°C) about four minutes. Remove pan from heat and then stir in vanilla, salt and baking soda.

Combine - Slowly pour the caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans, stirring lightly to mix. Let cool completely. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.)

See Caramel Popcorn in Action!

Bypass the Carmel Pecan Popcorn Recipe and buy a batch of Sweet Georgia Pecan Gourmet Popcorn instead!

Ishake Popcorn

Ishake Popcorn is a unique twist on popcorn snacks.

POPtions! Gourmet Popcorn

POPtions! Gourmet Popcorn, where you can create your own personalized popcorn blend, opens in St. Louis, MO and is showcased on Show Me St. Louis TV show.

Welcome to Popcorn Gifts

When you cuddle up on your fine leather sofa and crank up that magnificent home theater system featuring the huge plasma television set and the 7.1 state of the art sound system with woofers the size of Peterbilt hubcaps to watch a just released top quality DVD of a Hollywood blockbuster, you can’t really just ruin the whole experience with a box of plain, store-bought popcorn! You have to recreate the entire cinema experience and what better way to do that than to enjoy some lip-smacking gourmet popcorn?

There are so many ways to enjoy theater style popcorn at home. Check out the many brands of Movie Style Popcorn which are soaked with the same type of specialty butteroil that you can only find at cinemas. The downside is that it carries a fairly considerable caloric load, but the amazing taste is going to be more than worth it. If you’re really watching that waistline and can’t afford to fall off the wagon even for one night, try some of the low fat versions of butter-flavoured popcorn, some of which can have as little as 25% the total fat of the regular versions. Read more

Popcorn Nutrition Facts-calories

Popcorn is an all natural, very nutritious and per cup is one of the lowest calorie foods you can have. There are many caveats about those statements, though, and popcorn can quickly escalate to a caloric nightmare if you’re not careful.

Very few people are aware that a large bucket of popcorn at some movie theatres contains more fat than five Big Macs. In these cases, it isn’t the popcorn’s fault at all. It is in the special butteroil which is generally only available to popcorn retailers. It adds that special movie popcorn taste, but it is also composed of nearly 100% fat. Some movie theatres serve giant buckets of butteroiled popcorn which contain over 2,600 calories, or the equivalent of six pounds of supermarket ice cream!

Air popped popcorn contains only 30 calories per cup. You would be hard pressed to find anything else edible that would fill a cup with that light of a caloric hit! Note that this is strictly air popped with no fats added. The problem is that in most cases an enormous amount of fat in the form of oil is added and the calories skyrocket. Read more

Canadian Maple Popcorn Recipe

Canadian Maple Popcorn Recipe - This recipe is called the Canadian Breakfast Popcorn and has a splash of maple syrup and can be topped with real bacon bits.
1/2 cup unpopped corn
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup real bacon bits
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1/4 cup butter
Salt to taste

Make the popcorn in a popper.  Melt butter over moderate heat then stir in the bacon bits and maple syrup.  Add to popcorn and toss well.

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