Pop Pop Pop!

The other day I was walking the “snack aisle, and sort of marveled at all the options. Really? Do we need 28 different potato chip flavors and 19 different ways to make corn chips (must admit, the blue ones are cool!). One snack that hasn’t changed “that” much (ok, dill pickle??) is popcorn. Simple, plain, cheesy, salty or sweet, it is entering the ridiculous category (maple fudge caramel nut surprise). For me, I still like the traditional theater style, especially when me and Jackie and the kids and grandkids all make it to the theater. I like the butter flavor with a DASH of salt, then… add a bunch of parmesan cheese – this is an absolute winner! Popcorn is such a common, simple snack that we rarely stop to think much about it. Whether it’s a bag at the movies, a quick one in the microwave, or a bowl for the big game, it’s a must. My family loves using the “Whirley Pop” pot when making popcorn, especially when I put just a little bit extra into the container, and it overflows while popping! These little kernels have a surprisingly long history, and a pretty remarkable ability to turn themselves inside out. Enjoy!! (and be sure to grab extra napkins).

Corn was domesticated about 9,000 years ago, in what is now the Balsas River Valley of Central Mexico. Archaeologists discovered that people have known about popcorn for millennia. Fossil evidence from Peru suggests that corn was present there as early as 4,700 BCE, and popped there over 1,000 years ago. Between 2007 and 2011, evidence as early as 4,700 BCE for popping corn was discovered as macrofossil cobs at the Paredones and Huaca Prieta archaeological sites on the northern coast.

The popcorn we know today comes from a special variety of corn called Zea mays everta. Its kernels have a hard outer shell, starch inside, and just the right amount of moisture. Heat the kernel, and the moisture turns to steam. Pressure builds until the shell gives way and the starch rapidly expands. And here’s a fun little bit of popcorn science: immediately after popping, popcorn isn’t actually crunchy. The freshly expanded starch is more like a hot foam. It cools almost instantly, hardening into the light, crisp snack we know. So, technically, popcorn has a very brief life as corn foam.

So, what actually happens inside that little kernel? A popcorn kernel is essentially a tiny pressure cooker. Inside the hard outer shell is a small amount of water, typically around 13–14% moisture, surrounded by starch. As the kernel heats, the water turns to steam. Because the tough hull doesn’t let that steam escape, pressure builds inside. At around 350°F, the pressure becomes too much for the hull to contain. It ruptures, and the superheated water vapor rapidly expands. That sudden expansion pushes the soft, hot starch outward, turning the kernel inside out and creating the familiar fluffy shape. One kernel can expand to roughly 30 to 40 times its original volume.

Popcorn generally pops into one of two shapes:

Snowflake, or butterfly popcorn, is irregular and airy, with lots of little wings and crevices. It’s perfect for butter and salt because all those nooks and crannies give the toppings plenty of places to hang on (and make it easier to grab in the dark theater).

Mushroom popcorn is rounder, denser, and sturdier. That’s why it’s often used for caramel corn, chocolate coatings, and other heavily coated popcorn. Some kernels are apparently born to be buttered. Others are destined for caramel.

By the early 1800s, popcorn was becoming a popular snack in the Eastern United States. It wasn’t necessarily called popcorn, though. It was sometimes sold as “pearl” or “nonpareil.” By the 1840s, references to “popped corn” were appearing in American writing. Henry David Thoreau wrote about it in 1842, and by 1848, the word “popcorn” had found its way into A Dictionary of Americanisms. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F2R5VM9?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback ) The name pretty much tells the whole story. Pop. Corn. (get it?)

Popcorn wasn’t always an evening snack. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was sometimes served as a breakfast cereal. Recipes suggested grinding popped corn and serving it with milk and fruit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture even recommended cooking it with water, much like oatmeal.

Today, movies and popcorn seem inseparable. But it wasn’t always that way. When movie theaters first became popular in the early 1900s, many actually banned popcorn. Theater owners considered it messy and distracting. But popcorn vendors began setting up outside theaters, and moviegoers started bringing their purchases inside anyway.

Then came the Great Depression. Because popcorn was inexpensive to produce and inexpensive to sell, it was an ideal treat when money was tight. Theater owners eventually figured out that selling popcorn could be a very profitable part of the movie business. By the mid-1940s, more than half of the popcorn consumed in America was being eaten at movie theaters. Popcorn had found its stage…(get it – stage-theater?).

During World War II, radar technology was instrumental in helping Allied forces achieve victory. After the war, U.S. aerospace and defense company Raytheon continued its research into radar and the magnetrons used in it. Engineer Percy Spencer was working with radar technology at Raytheon when he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket had melted while he was working near a magnetron – the device used to generate microwaves. So he tried popcorn kernels… and they popped (not in his pocket!). He experimented with other foods, too, including an egg that reportedly produced a considerably messier result. Those experiments helped lead to the development of the microwave oven. The first commercial microwave was introduced in 1947.

The early machines were enormous and expensive, but eventually the technology became smaller, cheaper, and commonplace, and popcorn found a new home in American kitchens beginning in the 1980’s.

Popcorn may have started simply, but we’ve become remarkably creative with it. The classics still rule. A reasonable Top Five would be:

Butter – The old reliable. Movie theater popcorn wouldn’t be the same without it.
Salt – Proof that popcorn doesn’t need much help to be good.
Caramel – Sweet, crunchy, and probably responsible for a lot of popcorn stuck to people’s teeth.
White Cheddar – One of the most popular modern popcorn flavors.
Cheddar Cheese – Usually recognizable by the bright orange powder that somehow manages to find its way onto everything within three feet of the bowl.

There are also popcorn kernels that never pop, known as the dreaded “old maids.” Nobody knows exactly why some kernels refuse to cooperate, although damaged or improperly dried kernels are among the usual suspects. And if you’ve ever wondered why one kernel occasionally launches itself across the kitchen, you’re not imagining things. The rapid release of steam and expanding starch can actually send a popping kernel several feet into the air.

And the big question – how much do we eat? Americans consume roughly 17 billion quarts of popped popcorn a year – more than four gallons for every person in the country. (For my engineer buddies out there: It would take about 8,100 standard movie theater auditoriums to hold 17 billion quarts of popcorn. How did I get this #??

Theater Size: A typical medium-to-large movie theater screening room is roughly 40 feet wide, 70 feet long, and 25 feet high. This gives a volume of about 70,000 cubic feet per room.
Quarts Conversion: One cubic foot equals roughly 29.92 quarts.
Auditorium Capacity: Each theater room holds about 2,094,547 quarts of volume.
The Math: Dividing 17 billion quarts by 2,094,547 quarts per room results in roughly 8,116 auditoriums
And it would take about 17 billion large cups of soft drinks to go with it! (I love the internet and new AI!)