The Popcorn Process

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The Popcorn Process

• Kelley Hughes

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PopcornFACTS

• Americans today consume 17.3 billion quarts of
  popped popcorn each year. The average American
  eats about 68 quarts per year. Americans consume
  more popcorn than the citizens of any other
  country.
• Popcorn, also known to experts as zea mays
  everta, is one of six types of corn. It's the
  only type of corn that pops.
• January 30th is National Popcorn Day!

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PopcornHistory

• Oldest popcorn discover in New Mexico, USA 5,600
  years old
• Native Americans grew hundreds of
  varieties,invented poppers, and wore as
  decoration
• Was served as the 1st Thanksgiving
• Colonial settlers used as puffed cereal for
  breakfast
• Popular during the depression and WWII due to its
  low cost

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Important elements of popcorn

• The hard shell (pericarp)
• Moisture
• inside pericarp
• Starch
• inside pericarp

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How popcorn works

• When popcorn is heated, the moisture inside
  causes the pericarp to burst
• The starch expands into bubbles which fuse
  together, creating the white, fluffy substance
• This process will only occur if the correct
  amount of moisture is present

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Types of Popcorn

• Two main Types of Popcorn Kernels
• -butterfly large, light, and fluffy
• -mushroom used for coating

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Growing popcorn

• Popcorn is planted between April 20th and May
  10th
• A soil temperature of 10-13C (50-55F) is
  necessary

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Harvesting Popcorn

• Popcorn is harvested when the kernel has moisture
  content of 16-20.
• Popcorn that is too dry may not pop well
• Popcorn that is too moist may spoil when stored

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Summary
Processing
Harvest

• Conditioning

Screen Cleaning
Moisture
Gravity Table
Dirt and Debris
Destoner
Optical Sorter
Bulk or Microwave popcorn
Packaging
Shipping
Coated
Popped
Cooled
Flavored Popcorn
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Storing Popcorn

• Storing is also know as conditioning
• Once picked, the corn must be dried until it
  reaches its optimum moisture level of 13.5 to
  14
• Methods used for conditioning are a significant
  contributing factor in the quality of the popcorn
  

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Effects of conditioning

• Seed Coat Integrity
• Appearance of the popcorn for customer
  satisfaction
• Maximum expansion potential

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Removing Moisture

• Several different methods can be used to remove
  moisture from popcorn during conditioning
• Examples
• Natural Air-Drying
• Natural Air-Drying with supplemental heat
• Natural Air Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC)
  window
• Stirring

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Cleaning popcorn

• Foreign material, broken kernels, corncobs, and
  dirt must be removed
• Cleaning process consists mainly of three parts
• separating by size
• Separating by lower/higher densities
• optical sorting

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Processing popcorn-step 1

• Separating by Size
• -Industry Example Screen Cleaner
• 2 screens 1 large holes 1 small holes
• Removes material larger and smaller than popcorn
  kernels

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Processing popcorn-step 2

• Separating by lower/higher densities
• Industry Example Gravity Table De-stoner
• Gravity Table removes less dense objects i.e.
  broken, cracked, and immature kernels
• De-stoner removes very dense objects from the
  corn i.e. stones, clumps of dirt, and small
  pieces of metal

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Processing popcorn-step 3

• Optical Sorting
• Industry Example Optical Color Sorter
• Uses high-resolution optics to inspect all
  kernels

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packaging Bulk and Microwave Popcorn

• Must be packaged so that popcorn remains at the
  optimum moisture level
• Plastic is commonly used

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Flavored Popcorn

• After being cleaned, popcorn is popped
• While hot, flavors are added in a large tumbling
  devise to coat the popcorn
• The coated popcorn is cooled
• The popcorn is then packaged and shipped

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Caramel Popcorn

• Caramel is the most popular flavor used to coat
  popcorn

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Enjoying Popcorn

• Can be used an ingredient in pudding, candy,
  soup, salad and entrees
• Sold at cinemas, sporting events, ect.
• Can be eaten with hands or with a Popcorn Fork
  with a built-in salt shaker