Popcorn On The Cob

of the same species as this cob of corn is used to make the popular soft drink Fanta

My uncle gave me an old dried out cob of corn about eight years ago and I’ve just had it around as decoration. Today, I got a bit hungry and noticed that this cob happened to be popcorn. This means that its hull is really strong, so when I warm it up, the moisture in the endosperm doesn’t just turn to steam and gradually escape. Instead, pressure can build up to about 135 PSI at which point the hull bursts and the starches and proteins in the endosperm turn into foam which we call popped popcorn.

I didn’t have any paper bags to do this in, so I decided to pop the popcorn on the cob directly. Here are the results; I call it “Popcorn on the cob”. As you can see, most of the kernels popped off the cob, but it’s delicious.

Here’s a fun fact: fruit of the same species as this cob of corn is used to make the popular soft drink Fanta.