The American consumer eats over 16 billion quarts of popcorn. It is a whole grain snack that is good for you too! Every man, woman and child eat over 65 quarts of popcorn. With only 55 calories per cup, Popcorn is very low in calories. With 31 calories per cup if you air pop it.
Zea Mays Everta is popcorn's scientific name. Popcorn is a member of the grass family. It is a type of maize or corn. There are 5 types of corn. They are Flour, Dent or Field, Flint, Sweet and popcorn. The moisture in the kernals makes it pop. That level of moisture is between 13 to 15 percent.
There are 2 basic types of popcorn. Mushroom and Snowflake. Snowflake is normally used in concession poppers. It looks nicer and pops out larger. Candy makers prefer the Mushroom type. It holds up better and takes candy coatings better. There are over 700 varieties of popcorn.
In the early1700's, kettle corn was introduced. It was popped in large cast iron kettles. The settlers would use rendered lard and whatever sweetner they had on hand. Mostly molasses, honey or sugar cane.
Kettle corn is one of hottest ways to make money with popcorn. Thats why you see it being made at county fairs and farmers markets. It is one of the few products that has a low overhead and a high profit margin. Your initial investment can usually be recouped in a couple of shows.
Microwave popcorn was first discovered in 1945. Perry Spencer discovered that popcorn would pop when placed near a mocrowave. Mr. Spencer led the way to development of the microwave oven.
Some of the oldest known popcorn was found in Bat cave in west New mexico in 1948. The ears of popcorn were as small as a penny to over 2 inches long.
Popcorn became very popular from the 1890s to the great depression. Popcorn sold at 5-10 cents a bag. The street vendors would follow the crowds around pushing their steam and gas powered popcorn poppers for people to enjoy popcorn. This was one of the few luxuries people could afford. Many started their own thriving popcorn businesses to help make money for their families during the lean years.
Popcorn sales dropped off in the early 1950s, when the t.v. became popular. Movie theater attendance also dropped too. So did popcorn consumption, when the public started eating popcorn at home. Home poppers were first introduced around 1925.
January 19 is National Popcorn Day! October is National Popcorn Popping Month!April 7th is Caramel Popcorn Day!
Native Americans learned to pop their popcorn on the cob. They would skewer a stick through the cob and hold it over an open flame causing the popcorn to pop right on the cob.
The English colonists ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was brought as a gift by the chief's brother. The colonists ate the popcorn with milk and sugar. This is the first known breakfast cereal.
Popcorn is listed as a sugar free snack by the American Dental Association. It is low in calories along with apples, cheese, pears, nuts and plain yougurt.
For weight control, The American Diabetes Association uses popcorn as a bread exchange. It provdes the the necessary roughage and fiber to aid in digestion and the overall health of the body.Popcorn provides 1.3 grams of dietary fiber needed.
The unpopped kernals are called "old maids" or "spinsters". Good popcorn should produce less than 2 percent of "old maids". Popcorn kernals will start popping at the temperature of 347 degrees. Popcorn can pop as high as 3 feet.
Popcorn has more phosphorus, protein, and iron than ice crean cone, pretzels, potato chips or soda crackers.
Popcorn comes in many different flavors in different parts of the world. Germany,Luxemburg, Switzerland and Belgium love sweet popcorn. The rest of Europe prefers salty popcorn. Americans love it with salt and butter and a host of sweet coatings. The japanese eat their popcorn with seaweed or shrimp flavorings.
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