Popcorn

Popcorn or popping corn is a type of corn which explodes from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Special varieties are grown to give improved popping yield. Some wild types will pop, but the cultivated strain is Zea mays averta, which is a special kind of flint corn. The process of making popcorn was first discovered by Americans Indians thousands of years ago.

What do you know about Popcorn? Pop this quick quiz.

1. When was popcorn cheap at 5 to 10 cents a bag and became popular?

2. During World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production causing Americans to eat three times more popcorn than they had before. True or False?

3. Each kernel of popcorn contains a certain amount of moisture and oil. Unlike most other grains, the outer hull of the popcorn kernel is both strong and impervious to moisture, and the starch inside consists almost entirely of a hard, dense type. What happens as the oil and the water are heated past the boiling point?

4. Commercial sale of freshly popped popcorn is done with the help of specially designed popcorn machines, which were originally invented in Chicago, Illinois by in 1885. He successfully introduced his invention at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Who created the popcorn machine?

5. Before the popcorn machine, how was corn popped?

6. What method is used for the great majority of popcorn sold for home consumption?

7. Producers and sellers of popcorn consider two major factors in evaluating the quality of popcorn. What are the two factors?: .

8. In popcorn jargon, what is a popped kernel of corn is known as?

9. How is popcorn usually served? .

10. Air-popped popcorn is naturally high in fiber, low in calories and fat, contains no sodium, and is sugar free. This can make it an attractive snack to people with dietary restrictions on the intake of calories, fat, and/or sodium. For the sake of flavor, however, large amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium are often added to prepared popcorn, which can quickly convert it to a very poor choice for those on restricted diets. True or False?

Answers

1. During the Great Depression popcorn was comparatively cheap at 5-10 cents a bag and became popular. While other businesses failed the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for some struggling farmers.

2. True

3. It turns the moisture in the kernel into a superheated pressurized steam, contained within the moisture-proof hull. Under these conditions, the starch inside the kernel gelatinizes, softening and becoming pliable. The pressure continues to increase until the breaking point of the hull is reached: a pressure of about 135 psi and a temperature of 450°F. The hull ruptures rapidly, causing a sudden drop in pressure inside the kernel and a corresponding rapid expansion of the steam, which expands the starch and proteins of the endosperm into airy foam. As the foam rapidly cools, the starch and protein polymers set into the familiar crispy puff.

4. Charles Cretors

5. They popped corn by holding a wire basket over an open flame. At best, the result was a hot, dry, unevenly cooked confection.

6. Microwave oven

7. One, what percentage of the kernels will pop. Two, how much each popped kernel expands

8. It is a "flake". Two shapes of flakes are commercially important. "Butterfly" flakes are irregular in shape and have a number of protruding "wings". "Mushroom" flakes are largely ball-shaped, with few wings.

9. Salted or sweetened. In North America, it is traditionally served salted, although a sweetened version, generally called caramel corn, is also commonly available. In the United Kingdom, ready-made popcorn is available either salted or simply sweetened with sugar, both varieties being equally popular.

10. True

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