Medha Imam: The United States is the biggest producer
of popcorn in the world,
and the majority comes from right here in the Midwest.
The secret to the American popcorn
people can't get enough of
are these one-of-a-kind kernels,
which only grow in the Midwestern region
known as the Corn Belt.
There's kernel in my boot!
This type of kernel is what you most likely eat
in a movie theater,
and this type is better
for your caramel and cheese coating.
But no matter the type, if you're eating popcorn,
there's a high probability it comes from here.
We get an inside look at both the making
and planting process of the popular,
crunchy snack.
We visited Preferred Popcorn in Indiana in the spring,
when popcorn kernels need to be planted,
so they can be harvested in the late summer or early fall.
The company plants 100 million pounds
of popcorn kernels a year.
For all those kernels to turn into
the best American popcorn,
it all starts with the soil.
Farmers here say conditions in the Midwest
create soil that produces near-perfect kernels --
first of all, because of temperature.
If you go too far south in the growing conditions,
it gets too hot, and popcorn does not like a lot of heat.
So southern Indiana to northern Indiana
and out through Nebraska
is some of the best areas to grow corn.
It gets cooler at night,
the higher expansion we will have out of it.
In southern Indiana here,
we get over 60 inches of rain a year,
is our normal season.
So, Mother Nature takes care of us.
Medha: This extra rainfall allows the soil
to be fertile and rich.
The moisture in the soil provides the corn
the nutrients it needs to grow.
The flat land also makes it easier to plant
and harvest crops.
Brian: When you pick up the soil
and it crumbles like that between your hands,
your fingers, that is ready to plant.
Medha: OK. Versus if it would clump --
Brian: It would clump together and clay,
then it won't, the seeds can't germinate through it.
So you want it to be mellow like this,
is what it's called.
It's just perfect to plant today.
There they are.
Right in there, ready to grow.
I'll cover that one back up. We need it.
Medha: In about seven days, these seeds will germinate,
and three days later, they will emerge from the ground.
And as they grow, there's a telltale sign
to know if what you're looking at
is actually popcorn or another type of corn.
The only way to tell the difference
between popcorn and field corn
as you're driving down the road:
Popcorn tassels hang down like an umbrella,
where field corn, tassels stay erect.
Medha: Popcorn is one of six types of corn.
It's a variant of flint corn
called Zea mays everta, or "corn turned inside out."
It's the only maize that pops.
The kernels are generally smaller and harder
and can come in about 100 different strains.
Farmers breed the popcorn plant
to enhance taste, texture, and popability.
We have two different types of popcorn.
You have butterfly popcorn,
which blows apart and makes like a butterfly,
and then you have mushroom corn.
It makes like a ball.
The difference is in that we plant different seeds
in the ground in order to get that.
To look at the kernels themselves,
you really can't tell a difference
between the butterfly kernels and the mushroom kernels.
Medha: At the time of the harvest,
the corn is picked and fed through a combine,
which strips the ear from the stalk
and removes the kernels from their cobs.
The kernels are then taken to a storage bin.
Brian: OK, we're looking at our storage bins.
We can hold, what is it,
about 25 million pounds of corn here in the big bins,
is where we're going to go to first.
Medha: Yeah, let's get in.
Is this good?
Oh, wow.
Ah! [Brian laughs]
There's kernel in my boot!
Brian: There's kernels in your boots.
Medha: All right. So, where are we right now, Brian?
Brian: We're in bin No. 110.
It holds 3.2 million pounds of popcorn.
So, what we have a hold of here
is a temperature cable.
Now, we have cables in the bins,
because like we've talked about
how important the moisture is.
Well, what this does is every three foot,
there's a moisture sensor on this.
So when the bin is completely full,
then it's checking the moisture throughout the bin
and it's turning the fan on and off
depending on the outside conditions.
If we need to add a little water
when the humidity is high or it's raining a little bit,
it'll turn the fans on automatically
to keep that moisture content perfect
all throughout the whole bin.
Between 13.5% and 14.5%,
that's what makes that kernel blow up
to the highest potential.
Medha: So, I'm touching this kernel right now.
Can you by feel know the moisture content?
Brian: No, I wish we could.
The way it flows, it's in perfect condition.
If corn is a little wet, it doesn't flow good.
Like, when we step in this and the corn slides down,
that means it's in good condition.
It's just nice big kernels of corn.
But we can keep it for four or five years.
Medha: Four or five years? Oh, wow!
Brian: That's what's good about popcorn.
It has that real hard outer layer, a pericarp, on it,
so that protects it.
So as long as we can keep the moisture in and check on it,
then it'll keep for a long time.
You could put field corn in an oven
and try to heat it up, and it will burn
and just kind of explode a little bit.
Medha: I tried to do that when I was a kid.
Brian: [laughing] It will not work.
But we need to try it.
Medha: And that's why, because that corn is way too soft.
The kernels are too soft for it to actually pop.
Brian: Yes.
That's what fills the bin.
Medha: Oh, that's what fills the bin?
We're going up a silo, correct?
Brian: Yes.
Medha: All the way to the top.
Oh, my -- wow.
We're on top of a silo with Brian over here.
Holy moly.
We're going down.
So, we're on top of?
Brian: We're on top of -- there's about
2 million pounds of corn in this bin
that we're standing on top of.
Medha: Oh, my God, imagine if we sunk in.
Brian: [laughing] Yes.
Medha: So 2 million pounds.
Brian: 2 million pounds of popcorn.
Medha: Holy moly.
Brian: Oh. So if it, I guess if this popped up,
it would be 48 times the size of this bin, popped.
So think of that.
Medha: Wow. So imagine 48 of these silos,
these sandboxes.
All right, we're coming back up.
I'm gonna try to unload all the --
When the kernels have reached the optimal moisture level,
they go through a series of sorting machines,
where size, shape, color, and cleanliness
are taken into consideration,
while foreign materials like cobs are eliminated
through an air-generation system.
During this step, teeny-tiny kernels are separated
if, for example, they don't meet popability requirements.
These lighter kernels unfit for human consumption
are separated through a gravity table
and transported to a bin for cattle feed.
For the lucky kernels, it's time for packaging.
Brian: The bags are on a conveyor belt here,
and it goes down and then it slides them down.
The corn is in a bin above us.
They hold about 6,000 pounds each.
And as they fill,
that's weighing the exact amount out
and then dropping the corn down into the bag.
A normal load is 900 bags.
Medha: 900?
Brian: Yes. And we've had to do 10 loads a day,
so we process approximately 9,000 bags per day.
Medha: Here at Preferred Popcorn, kernels are packed,
shipped, and sold to high-end clientele,
movie theaters, and grocery stores.
Brian and his team take out one bag
out of every first and fifth pallet,
dump it out on a table with bright lights,
and check the kernels by hand as a final test.
Brian: We're looking for anything that would be
not popcorn in here, like a weed seed or a stick.
Something that would be introduced from the farmer's field
into the combine as he's harvesting.
What we're doing is double-checking our cleaning equipment,
making sure that it was thorough
with getting everything out
and having a very nice finished product
to be ready to ship.
Out of that corn, we take out
250 grams of popcorn.
We're going to add a half a cup of coconut oil
and put it in an MWVT tester.
And what it is, it's testing what the percentage
of expansion is from the weight.
So we have to let the temperature get up to 480 degrees.
And that's why this is a special popper.
It's different than what you would see in a movie theater
because it has the consistent temperature of 480 degrees,
where a movie-theater popper will heat up and cool down.
This will stay consistent.
Medha: So, with the popcorn that we're testing today,
how many times more than the kernel should it expand to?
Brian: Mushroom corns will pop about 30 to 33 times,
and butterfly corns will pop 42 to 48 times expansion.
So it means you're going to get more servings.
That popped really good.
Popped to about a 35, 34 to 35,
which is really, really good.
What we're looking for is a round ball with no wings on it.
This would be a mushroom kernel, but it has wings on it.
So we're trying to get just round balls.
And then we have a farmer that gets this
and feeds it to his chickens.
Medha: Once the test is complete,
2,500 popcorn bags are shrink-wrapped
with net and plastic and stacked onto a pallet.
Brian: Leaving the farm.
Medha: Preferred Popcorn ships about three and a half loads
of its Monster Mushroom variety
to Chicago's Nuts on Clark once a month.
They're known for adding classic toppings
like cheese and caramel,
which are best made with the round-shaped popcorn
that comes from the mushroom kernel.
The way you get popcorn is there's moisture in each kernel.
So when it heats up, then it steams,
and then it pops.
That's how you get popcorn.
Medha: Most popcorn will pop
when the kernel's internal temperature
reaches 400 to 460 degrees Fahrenheit.
The thicker pericarp, or hull, of the popcorn
allows for pressure from the heated water to build
and eventually forces it to rupture.
When heated, the natural moisture inside the kernel
turns to steam.
The inside starch becomes soft like gelatin.
And when the skin bursts, the gelatinized starch
spills out, cools, and literally turns inside out,
forming the fluffy mushroom popcorn shape as we know it.
Medha: Can I try it?
Robert: Yes!
Well, of course you can try it.
Medha: Real quick. We're all vaccinated.
That's yummy!
Robert: Yummy isn't the word! It's delicious!
Medha: It's delicious!
I'm gonna try to unload all the --