Popcorn
Popcorn (also: popcorn , pop corn ) is a as a snack serving food , that by strong heating of a particular maize line is produced.
origin
Popcorn comes from the American double continent. However, it is not known exactly when popcorn was first made. Excavations have found popcorn kernels at least 4,000 years old, so it can be assumed that popcorn has long been a part of the Native American diet. During the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s, it became a popular snack in parallel with the rise of cinema in the USA and later worldwide. Popcorn varieties are usually differentiated between “white” and “yellow” as well as between “butterfly” and “mushroom” shapes. There are size differences within each of these varieties.
Processes in the making of popcorn
The starchy storage tissue contained in maize, the so-called endosperm , has a consistency that is firm on the outside and soft on the inside. Water is bound in it. If the corn is heated to approx. 200 ° C, the water changes its physical state from liquid to gaseous and water vapor is produced . As steam, water takes up a much larger volume : Under normal conditions , one milliliter of liquid produces over 1.6 liters of steam. Water usually boils at 100 ° C; under pressure , however, it remains liquid despite a further increase in temperature. At approx. 170 ° C, a third of the corn kernels, the rest from 180 ° C, can no longer withstand the pressure of the water contained in the corn kernel. It bursts open and the starch liquefied by the heat and pressure expands rapidly in the foamy structure of the endosperm tissue, but cools immediately and solidifies. The flake of the popped popcorn corn is 40 to 50 times larger than it was originally.
preparation
Only one special type of maize ( Zea mays subsp. Mays convar. Microsperma Koern.) Is suitable for making popcorn , namely puffed maize . Puffed corn has a very thin, but hard and slightly more glassy shell than conventional corn. After popcorn is made, parts of this bowl often stick to the end product. A handful of it makes a large bowl of popcorn. Unpopped popcorn is available from grocery stores .
With conventional corn, which is mainly grown for starch or forage, it is very difficult or impossible to make popcorn. Normal corn kernels are either too dry or too soft, which means that the heated water bound inside can only build up little pressure. In the event of damage, the water can also escape directly through openings.
Methods of preparation
Except for the hot air machine, you can add sugar and get caramelized popcorn. Alternatively, sprinkling with salt or cheese is also common. The following types and methods of preparation are known:
- Ordinary high pot with a thin layer of hot oil: When the oil starts to smoke, cover the bottom of the pot with a thin layer of corn and sprinkle with either salt or sugar. As soon as many grains burst ("pop") at the same time, shake the pot vigorously every 20 seconds. When the popping subsides, take the pot off the fire or stove and put the caramelized popcorn in another container - for example a bowl.
- Special pot with hand crank: As before, but can be cranked during preparation to keep the corn in constant motion. Devices of this type have been around for over 100 years.
- Popcorn machine with heating plate: Here the heating plate is already integrated in the device. A stirring mechanism keeps the popcorn moving. Only a low risk of overheating. The device lid can be used as a serving bowl. Only a small amount of oil / fat required.
- Microwave oven: the popcorn is either heated in a closed paper bag in the microwave or in special dishes. Fat or butter can be added for heating.
- Hot air machine. The device contains a hot air blower in the manner of a hair dryer . Above the outlet nozzle there is a small bowl with the popcorn through which hot air is blown from below. The finished popcorn escapes through an opening into a bowl. Salt or sugar must be added to the finished popcorn in the bowl.
additions
Popcorn is sugared , caramelized or salted . In the United States , Austria, Switzerland, Spain, and South America , salted and butter-flavored popcorn is particularly common; Caramelized popcorn is also common. The sugared popcorn common in Germany, on the other hand, is almost unknown in the USA, but a sweet and salty variant, "kettle corn", has been widespread for several years.
Nutritional value and ingredients
100 grams of popcorn without added sugar, fat / butter or salt has a physiological calorific value of (368… 382) kcal and contains a. the following substances: about 78 g carbohydrates (of which 12 g fiber or cellulose and 0.9 g sugar), 4… 5 g fat (including saturated and unsaturated fatty acids), 12 g protein , 281 mg phosphorus, 240 mg potassium, 81 mg Magnesium, 0.2 mg vitamin B1 , 0.3 mg vitamin B2 and 1.7 ... 2.7 mg iron .
Flavorings
Analysis of the components of freshly made popcorn showed more than 20 flavorings. The most clearly perceived components are 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (1) ( typical popcorn flavor ), ( E , E ) -2,4-decadienal (2) ( fatty ), furan-2-ylmethanethiol (3) ( coffee-like ) and 4-vinyl-2-methoxyphenol (4) ( spicy ); other components (flavor: roasted ) are 2-acetyl-tetrahydropyridine (5) and 2-propionyl-1-pyrroline (6) .
(1)
1- (3,4-dihydro-2 H -pyrrole-5-yl) ethanone
(2)
(2 E , 4 E ) -Deca-2,4-dienal
(3)
furan-2-ylmethanethiol
(4)
2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol
(5)
1- (1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-2-yl) ethanone
(6)
1- (3,4-dihydro-2 H -pyrrole-5-yl) propan-1-one
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-deca-2,4-dienal_200.svg){kind=small}
ethanone_200.svg)
propan-1-one_200_a.svg)
Popcorn in stores
Many people eat popcorn when they go to the movies . Almost every cinema has a popcorn booth. The food retail trade offers ready-made popcorn in various packaging forms. There are tubular bags, which you often get at the fair , as well as small and large plastic buckets with tight lids. There are also plastic toys for toddlers, only parts of which are filled with popcorn; this popcorn is mostly colored with food coloring and is much finer grained.
Popcorn as packaging material
Fat-free puffed popcorn is sometimes used instead of foam flakes as filling material for parcels in order to protect the goods to be sent from damage during transport. After the goods have been delivered, this popcorn can then be reused as cattle or bird feed or composted.
Roasted Corn
The so-called roasted corn (also "Cancha", "Culpi" or "Maiz Tostado") is similar to popcorn.
Like popcorn, it is a popular snack, but with the maize varieties used, the dried maize kernels do not pop open, they keep their shape, but double to triple in size and are therefore edible.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ A Modern History of Popcorn
- ↑ Popcorn Types and Popcorn Shapes
- ↑ Emmanuel Virot, Alexandre Ponomarenko: Popcorn: critical temperature, jump and sound . In: Journal of The Royal Society Interface . tape 12 , no. 104 , March 6, 2015, ISSN 1742-5689 , p. 20141247 , doi : 10.1098 / rsif.2014.1247 , PMID 25673298 , PMC 4345489 (free full text) - ( royalsocietypublishing.org [accessed November 25, 2019]).
- ↑ The Science of Popcorn
- ↑ Ternes, Täufel, Tunger, Zobel: Food Lexicon . Behr's Verlag, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 .
- ↑ USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (Engl.)
- ^ Message from Eagle Online Marketing GmbH & Co. KG on popcorn, accessed on July 9, 2020
- ↑ Peter Schieberle: Primary odorants in popcorn , J. Agric. Food Chem., 1991, 39 (6), pp. 1141-1144, doi: 10.1021 / jf00006a030 .
- ↑ The connection designations used in the publication are given in the text; the structural formulas in the gallery are provided with the systematic names.
- ↑ Cancha , accessed April 12, 2016
