Posted on 05/16/2005 2:52:41 PM PDT by Mr. Blonde
Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids. The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes. It's long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center - about 15 percent - to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel's explosive success lies in the composition of its hull. It turns out there is an optimal hull structure that allows kernels to explode, and leaky hulls prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for kernels to pop. ``They're sort of like little pressure vessels that explode when the pressure reaches a certain point,'' said Bruce Hamaker, a Purdue professor of food chemistry. ``But if too much moisture escapes, it loses its ability to pop and just sits there.'' He and his associates compared the microwave popping performance of 14 Indiana-grown popcorn varieties and examined the crystalline structure of the translucent hulls of both the popped kernels and the duds. In the varieties popped, the percentage of unpopped kernels ranged from 4 percent in premium brands to 47 percent in the cheaper ones. The findings could be good news for people who savor the snack and those who grow the 17 billion quarts of popcorn sold each year in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.netscape.cnn.com ...
Oh no you didn't!! LOL!!!
Oh my word....speak for yourself!
I love your tagline!that's hilarious.
popcorn ping
And it has a common ancestor with Kettle Corn.
I think we're talking Nobel Prize here!
I got it, I got it! LOL
You and Null and Void are the two wittiest ones on this forum.
Thanks for the giggle factor.
"Now I'm obsessing about what happened to those single missing socks."
You really need to stick with pantyhose, hon.
That's been solved. Socks are larval forms of wire coat hangers. Once the sock larvae metamorphesizes, it becomes a brand new wire hanger in your closet, Thus explaining both the decreasing number of socks in your drawer and the increasing number of hangers in you closet.
Old maids? I'd never heard of that one.
That's been solved. Socks are larval forms of wire coat hangers. Once the sock larvae metamorphesizes, it becomes a brand new wire hanger in your closet, Thus explaining both the decreasing number of socks in your drawer and the increasing number of hangers in you closet.
***
That never works for me...I have fewer socks AND fewer hangers. LOL
LOL!!! I've always liked family gatherings, loads of fun. Other than that, I'm a real party pooper.
When I must go to a party, I keep looking at my watch and pop out when nobody is looking after quietly thanking my host and/or hostess.
Don't even joke about that!
"Now I'm obsessing about what happened to those single missing socks."
Yeah, I know. I keep finding those for the right foot and keep losing those for the left foot. Someday I’ll sort it all out and write a science research paper on it. I plan to ask for a grant.
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