Description
The kernels hold water and starch sealed inside a hard shell. Heat turns the water to steam until pressure bursts the shell and the starch expands into foam.
Cultural Background
Maize was first farmed in what is now Mexico from a grass called teosinte about nine thousand years ago. Evidence of popped maize appears in sites in Peru and New Mexico from about six thousand seven hundred years ago. Indigenous people heated kernels in clay pots or over open fires to make the food. French explorers later recorded Iroquois people using heated sand inside pottery jars for the same purpose. Each kernel has a tough outer layer called the pericarp that acts as a sealed vessel. Inside sits starch packed in tiny grains and a small amount of water. As the kernel heats the water becomes steam and pressure climbs to about one hundred thirty five pounds per square inch at one hundred seventy seven degrees Celsius. When the pericarp ruptures the pressure drops and the steam expands the starch into a light foam in milliseconds. The craft that decides success is reaching that exact temperature evenly across all kernels. Adding a few test kernels to hot oil shows when the pan is ready then resting the rest of the kernels for thirty seconds lets them all approach the popping point together. One surprising true fact is that a single kernel can expand to forty or fifty times its original volume.
Recipe Info
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 8 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 13 minutes
SERVINGS: 4
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Adult: Place the oil and three test kernels in a large heavy pot with a tight lid over medium heat.
- When the test kernels pop remove the pot from the heat.
- Add the remaining kernels cover the pot and wait thirty seconds.
- Adult: Return the pot to medium heat and shake it gently while the kernels pop.
- When popping slows to one pop every two seconds remove the pot from the heat.
- Pour the popcorn into a bowl and toss with the salt while it is still hot.
Tips
- Kernels that stay hard mean the oil was not hot enough or the kernels were too dry check the test pop stage next time.
- Use peanut oil if canola is unavailable.
- Shake the pot more steadily next time to reduce unpopped kernels at the bottom.
Nutrition
Calories: 140
Protein: 2 g
Carbs: 15 g
Fat: 8 g