Scientists Discover Why Some Popcorn Kernels Don't Pop

[matcom]

<snip>

INDIANAPOLIS -- Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids.

The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes.

It's long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center -- about 15 percent -- to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel's explosive success lies in the composition of its hull.

It turns out there is an optimal hull structure that allows kernels to explode, and leaky hulls prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for kernels to pop.

"They're sort of like little pressure vessels that explode when the pressure reaches a certain point," said Bruce Hamaker, a Purdue professor of food chemistry. "But if too much moisture escapes, it loses its ability to pop and just sits there."

He and his associates compared the microwave popping performance of 14 Indiana-grown popcorn varieties and examined the crystalline structure of the translucent hulls of both the popped kernels and the duds.

In the varieties popped, the percentage of unpopped kernels ranged from 4 percent in premium brands to 47 percent in the cheaper ones.

http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/4401069/detail.html

[KittyWampus]

1. Well Now I Can Sleep At Night Knowing Why 'Old Maids' Don't Pop!

edit- actually, it's kinda interesting.

[derby378]

2. Better living through science

I can see the ads now:

Orville Reddenbacher Country Fair Kettle Popcorn - Now With Greater Kernel Hull Integrity!

[HereSince1628]

3. Orville may rest better in his grave.

[benburch]

4. 47% unpopped?

That's some third rate popcorn there!

[DS1]

5. No shit! Next thing you know the popped corn will start thinking it has

a mandate or something :D

[KittyWampus]

6. Mandatory Posting Of Popcorn Eating Smilie-

:popcorn:

[unblock]

7. roflmao!

[edbermac]

8. Why does "light" popcorn taste like styrofoam pellets?

That shit should be banned by the FDA....:popcorn:

[Arkana]

9. Things like this are what make this country great.

:silly:

[TlalocW]

10. I've never heard of the term Old Maids for popcorn

I always referred to unpopped kernels as "Flopcorn," thanks to Rich Hall's Sniglets.

TlalocW