General
- Popcorn or
Popping Corn is a type of corn which explodes from the kernel and
puffs up when heated. Special varieties are grown to give improved
popping yield. Some wild types will pop, but the cultivated strain is
Zea mays subsp. mays, which is a special kind of flint corn. Popcorn
was first formally discovered by Native Americans thousands of years
ago.
- Popcorn was very
popular in the 1890s, until the Great Depression. As corn crops became
more depleted during the Great Depression, nuts often replaced popcorn
as snacks. During the Depression, popcorn was a luxury at 5-10 cents a
bag, yet even when other businesses failed, the popcorn business
thrived.
- Popcorn is sold
either as a plain or flavor-added popped product, or as an un popped
product in moisture-proof containers ranging from plastic bags and
sealed jars to ready-to-use containers both for conventional and
microwave popping. Popcorn flavor is enhanced to individual tastes
with the addition of salt and butter. There is no end to the uses of
popcorn. One recipe book lists 200 different recipes.
Process
- Start with the
butter. Put your butter into the small pan (anywhere from a heaping
table spoon to 1/4 cup depending on your pot size and your decadence
quotient for tonight). Set this stove on low or medium-low heat and
let the butter melt while you cook the popcorn. If you're using
non-standard flavorings, you may want to add that to the mix as well
(depends on the flavorings).
- Next, pour
enough oil into the pot to form a thin layer on the bottom. Add 3 or 4
'sacrificial' kernels, turn the heat on high, and wait. When the first
kernels start popping, add the real payload -- about enough to cover
the bottom of the pot. Put on the lid. Turn the heat down slightly (on
a 10-notch dial, I'll turn it down to 8 or 9) and shake the pan every
few seconds. After about 1/2 minute or so, you should have a pretty
continuous popping coming from the pan. At this point, you should be
shaking the pan most of the time. My standard is 3 seconds shaking 1
second resting on the burner (to collect heat). The popping should
build to a furious crescendo and then subside.
- Once the popcorn
has reached the perfect moisture level, it is then cleaned and the
kernels separated and cleaned. This is where Weaver Popcorn inspects
each kernel with an optical scanner.
Market
-
Quality popcorn can also be sold on the open market
since the product will keep indefinitely if properly stored. This is
risky due to the very unpredictable popcorn market. Growers willing to
become small-scale processors can also package and sell popcorn for
local sales. Blue corn and popcorn prices would be expected to
be slightly higher than white/yellow food corns; however, specialty
corns generally also have a lower yield.
Demand for popcorn continues to increase,
especially in the movie theater and multiplex cinemas industry. In
addition to strong demand for imported popcorn, Korean consumers
consume even more white corn in the form of popped kernels. Imports of
processed popcorn have declined in recent years.
In South Korea, popcorn imports have been growing steadily. The
only competition for U.S. producers comes from Argentina, which
supplies about 4 percent of the import market. The United States is
the only supplier of raw white popcorn and processed.
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