How Does Microwave Popcorn Work?
The difference in cook timing however has to do with the “oil” concoction each company uses. Some get hotter more quickly than others and therefore cook more effectively. The bag flattens out because steam fills that bag like a balloon. Here is what “How Stuff Works” had to say: Popcorn certainly is unique. You toss a flat pouch no larger than a wallet into a microwave oven and in three minutes, it has expanded to a volume 40 or 50 times its original size. Not too many other foods act this way. There are three elements that make popcorn work like this: • Moisture inside the kernel • Starch inside the kernel • The hard shell surrounding the kernel When a popcorn kernel heats up (either in a popcorn popper or in the microwave), the moisture inside the kernel expands. Moisture is extremely important to a popcorn kernel. Unless the percentage of moistu