Why Does Popcorn Pop?

More than 17 billion quarts of popcorn are consumed by Americans every year, according to industry analysts. Before we can chomp down that delicious popcorn we need to know what makes it pop.Today i'm going to tell you the process from it being in a field to in your bucket at the movies.

It all starts in a field the farmer sows the right seed and waits for it to grow. Once the corn has grown s/he will harvest it and a truck driver takes it  to the popcorn factory where it is taken off the cob and dried for 2-4  weeks. Then it is packaged  and trucked off to the supermarket or movies.

There are many different types of popcorn but only one pops in this paragraph. I'm going to tell you why this type of popcorn pops. The kernel has 19% water, not enough or too much means it won’t pop, it also has starch, a   germ which is where the corn was attached to the cob. The pericarp is the shell that contains all these elements . Here's a  piece of popcorn I made as an example. The water in the kernel turns to steam when heated on a frying pan or in the microwave which creates pressure once the pressure is too much for the perciap to hold it explodes the white fluffy stuff on the popcorn is the starch.

Next time you hear that pop pop pop sound you'll know  what amazing process all those little kernels went through.

By Tom