Popcorn (fail)- garage cooking

My kid and his torch. He wanted popcorn and decided to try popping corn with his torch.



The results as you can see, was not good. Too much heat plus a chuck of concrete made a huge snap and flew off. We will have to work on repairing that.



Next up was a cast iron pan that we figured would be safer then torching the floor. Once again the result was burned kernels. He held the torch further away when trying to pop the corn in the pan but still it was too much heat.


He is currently thinking on how or what to use to pop some corn while tinkering in the garage. He is growing into an interesting young man and believes he can rig anything in his garage with his tools. He has also suggested that I pick up some brats .Cooking garage style, must be a male thing.

 

Nope didn't work. But good experiment.

 

Heat the pan from the bottom with the torch. Add a little oil to help transfer the heat to the popcorn.

You might also want to measure how hot a pan on your kitchen stove burner will get at the same temperature you use for popping corn and then adjust your flame to get similar results.

Lastly, we used to have a basket style corn popper meant for use over hot coals. I assume these are still available somewhere. This way he can see the corn pop without losing it. If you have an outside fire pit he could pop corn the way it was done by the Indians.

 

Couldn't add the graphic to the original message

 

Your in for an interesting ride with that young man! Good Luck!

 

"Than", not "then". Not interchangeable. Common grammatical error.
As said, not a good thing on porous concrete. The heat of the torch is far too concentrated. Maybe try greater distance, and oil in the container.

 

Then, than ...... I get it wrong every time, which you pointed out last week also. Appreciate it.

 

Well....the kid could be sitting around playing video games all the time! Good for you mom, no one knows how to raise a kid. They are all different and no operators manual comes with them! The best single thing you can do is to be involved! So, again, good job!

 

Good on you for not discouraging his inquisitiveness..

 

Maybe try heating the corn in a metal collander, to spread the heat evenly?

 

I'd leave the hole unrepaired as a reminder every time he sees it .

 

I'm sure the landlord will remind them when they move.

 

Buy one of these. They work great and 1/2 cup unpopped corn takes about the same time to make as a microwave. It's simple, lightly coat the bottom of the pot with oil, put in corn - heat. When popping becomes rapid, turn handle - when popping stops remove from heat. Let stand for 2-3 minutes inside pot to crisp up. Salt, butter as desired and eat. Best popcorn ever.

 

The how to discussion has moved to a thinner pan. We need to find one that is not coated and we do have some wire that we can place over it. @avagdu I am going to check out that pan, Christmas is coming up.

 

1. Get him to research why/how popcorn pops.
2. When he starts to understand it is the moisture trapped inside creating pressure, then have him explore how can he create the most even pressure throughout the kernel.
3. Now experiment
4. Rinse and repeat with next project.
5. Hope he continues but not quite as far as the radioactive boy scout.
https://harpers.org/archive/1998/11/the-radioactive-boy-scout/

Have fun.
AT

 

As a kiddo, we popped corn over a stove burner in a fry pan with a fitted lid. A bit a oil, a large handful popcorn and cover. Shake until all is popped.

Perhaps a single burner propane stove? (Many for under $20) (Texsport Etna Single Burner Propane Stove - MPN: 14204)

or

 

I used to work with nuclear engineers at an offshoot of INEEL. One of them gave me a thick printout explaining how a fission reactor works than started to give me an overview. I summarized it with "Hot rocks go in water. Hot rocks make steam. Steam makes whirley thing go round and round. Whirley thing make sparkey thing go sparkey spark. Beer stays cold." She got a bit pissed off, so I asked her what part was wrong. We dated a few times after that...

 

Slow heat do the water on the inside pops