Popcorn
Popcorn is a kind of corn whose kernels burst when heated. Water inside each kernel turns to steam, builds pressure against the hard hull until it ruptures, and the starch puffs out into a crunchy flake.
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Rancho Gordo - Crimson Popping Corn
Regular price $5.25 USDRegular price -
China Live - Peking Duck Fat Popcorn
Regular price $16.00 USDRegular price
How to choose Popcorn
- Kernels or popped. Raw kernels pop well only while they hold about 13 to 14.5 percent water, so buy them sealed and keep them that way.
- Mushroom or butterfly. Mushroom popcorn pops into a large, round, durable flake suited to caramel, chocolate and cheese coatings. Butterfly popcorn pops airy and irregular, the type movie theaters use.
- White or yellow. White popcorn has a small, rice-shaped kernel and yellow popcorn a rounder, pearl-shaped one.
About Popcorn
Popcorn is a type of maize grown for kernels that pop, and it makes up only about 1.5 percent of the corn grown in Indiana. The United States grows and eats more of it than any other country, with Nebraska and Indiana leading.
Growers dry harvested popcorn until the kernels reach about 13.5 percent moisture, the level that gives the largest flakes. Kernels dried to 11 percent or below can be rewetted, but they never fully regain their popping volume. When heated, the kernel works like a small pressure cooker, and a strong hull is what lets the pressure build.
Store kernels in an airtight jar in the cupboard, where they keep about 2 years. Season popped corn with melted butter and fine salt while it is still hot.
At a glance
- Made from
- A type of maize with a hard hull
- Main types
- White and yellow; mushroom and butterfly shapes
- Main origins
- United States, led by Nebraska and Indiana
- Unopened
- Kernels about 2 years in an airtight container
Popcorn questions
Why do some popcorn kernels not pop?
Usually the hull, called the pericarp, has a cut or weak spot, so moisture escapes as steam instead of building pressure. Purdue University research found that 4 to 47 percent of kernels failed to pop depending on the variety. Kernels that have dried out pop poorly too, because too little water is left to build steam, so a tight lid on the jar pays off.
Is popcorn a whole grain?
Yes. The FDA's draft guidance on whole grain labels lists corn, including popcorn, among the cereal grains. Whole means the bran, germ and starchy endosperm all stay in natural balance, and a popped kernel is the entire seed turned inside out, with nothing milled away.
How old is popcorn?
Very old. Archaeologists working at two sites on the north coast of Peru found corn cobs dated from about 6,700 to 3,000 years ago. The cobs show that the people living there ate corn several ways, including as popcorn and as flour corn, long before the snack reached a movie theater.
Sources: Purdue University Extension; Smithsonian Institution; US Food and Drug Administration.
