The Real Reason to Go to the Movies...

IH from KC writes:

I want to make a kernel-free popcorn. I think this would be a useful invention, but don't know how to go about it. What do you suggest? I hate getting those shell-like things stuck in my teeth. (Please note, I'm talking about the post-popcorn state, not the pre- or unpopped-popcorn state.)

Hello IH, your inquiry is intriguing.

Where do we begin?

Well, popcorn "pops" because of the very thing we are trying to get rid of.

The kernel has an air/water tight outer covering; a white, dense meat; and a very miniscule amount of moisture. When you heat a popcorn kernel, this very small bit of moisture heats up, turns to steam, begins to cook the dense meat, which in turn expands. As the pressure builds, the structural integrity of the hull is breached (sorry, couldn't resist that great sci-fi cliche), and the meat of the corn "pops" through.

But, as you know, the hull is still very much a part of the popped corn. This is what we are trying to fix.

My first thought is, what if we could find a way to separate the hull and the meat, so that they are two independents. A hull that simply encases the meat, not actually attached to it. That way, when it pops the hull is exploded away from the popped corn.

The dangers of this option are immediately apparent. Every time someone would cook your popcorn they would be in a culinary battle field of flying shrapnel. People would have to dive for cover at the risk of losing eyes and breaking limbs and generations from now, you might hear a grandfather relating the story of how he still has bits of popcorn in his thigh...

I guess, depending on the genre, someone's movie watching experience may very well have been enhanced by such an event (if not fully enjoyed).

It isn't hard to realize that you'd only have to cover the popcorn as it cooks to avoid this tragedy, but then you'd still be peppering your popcorn with sharp bits of kernel. Even if the popcorn survived the experience (and managed to not become pop-powder), every splinter-laced bite would carry the potential of gum spearing agony.

Then I thought about some sort of water/oil soluble kernel that dissolves as the steam is priming the meat to explode. Could you get the timing just right?

I don't think so. I think the corn would always be popping prematurely (which would be more like pffff-ing) because it needs the solid husk to build up enough pressure to pop.

BUT then... revelation!

What if, instead of trying to get rid of the kernel, we made the kernel more useful/edible?

What if we were able to engineer a popcorn that has no hull--either by genetics, or actually physically removing it--and then we coat each kernel in some sort of hardened flavor enhancer?

My first thought was of a hardened candy caramel. That way, when it pops, instead of uncomfortable kernel pieces, you have wonderful bits of caramel. A new breed (literally) of caramel corn.

But you wouldn't have to stop there. You could have a hardened butter resin, a cheese resin, chocolate... maybe even nut.

It would be wonderful! And an entirely new snack-bar item.

What if you could then make it so that after it pops it somehow breaks down and melts in with the fresh hot popcorn?

That would be difficult considering the heat it already had to endure to pop the corn. But if you could do it, then it would be very like what you are hoping to invent (especially if you could master the melting-butter-resin kernel).

Mmm... I hope you can make this happen.
Does the IH stand for I'm Hungry? Because I am, too... now.

Thanks for writing, IH
Shad