It's one of the oldest questions of all time, right up there with why is the sky blue? Have you ever wondered why popcorn pops? Well, wonder no more. Get ready for the grain of truth.
Here are five things to know:
- Every year, it's estimated we eat enough popcorn to fill the Empire State Building. Not once. Not twice. But 18 times! Now that's a lot of popcorn. Forgggettt about itttt! It's our go-to treat at the movies or at home watching movies. But how and why does it pop?
- Inside the hull of a kernel of popcorn, there's a small amount of soft starch which contains water, a bit like when you cut a potato in half, and a starchy liquid comes out. But when you heat a corn kernel, you heat the water inside it.
- The water trapped inside the hard shell has nowhere to go, so it starts to turn into steam, building a huge amount of pressure as it expands until the kernel's hull can't take it anymore. It splits open and explodes.
- And as it explodes, the soft starch inflates and puffs up like a life-raft, literally turning the corn kernel inside out and delivering a brand new popcorn baby. Awww. So cute and delicious. Oy! Don't leave the top off your pan, though, as these cute kernels certainly like to celebrate by exploding and flying around 3 feet in the air. Clean up on aisle 5!
- But why is it that some kernels don't pop? Well, they don't feel like it. Kidding. That may actually be down to cracks in the kernel's hull that let the steam out before it has time to build up and explode. Unevenly heating it might also cause it to rupture as well.
Who knew such a delicious treat could be so complicated? But now you know how it pops, so make sure you spread the news. And you can always grab a giant bucket of the stuff to corn-graulate yourself later!