Burning corn - Get popcorn?

[Bill]

The thought just occured to me that if you were burning dried out corn cobs, you might get popcorn!

Does this happen?

[Dave Hinz]

Hard to say - I didnt' know anyone was burning cobs - not a lot of heat content for the volume.

[louie]

I don't know much about burning corn, but I would think the kernels are where the heat would come from (starch). If the kernels were dry enough, they shouldn't pop - since it's expanding steam that causes popcorn to explode.

[Duane Bozarth]

There are at least some producers who do burn cobs since they are an available otherwise of little balue byproduct--don't know of much other use, however.

As a note, there's no corn on a cob after harvested... :)

But, as louie noted, if it's dry grain, there's insufficient moisture to effectively pop kernels. Regular corn doesn't pop all that well anyway--it will pop if wet, but not nearly as well as popping corn. Popping corns are specific varieties bred for the purpose.

[mdonahoe]

just as another thought, popcorn is a specific genetic thread of corn... You'll never get a pop out of sweet corn or yellow corn....

[Duane Bozarth]

That's not true--if the moisture content is high, it _will_ pop, just not as well.

[Gary Dyrkacz]

It more complicated than that. Moisture is not the only factor. The corn has to have a low porosity outer coat to trap the gases in long enough for the pressure to build up. Popping corn is a specific seed variety breed for that characteristic.

Gary Dyrkacz [e-mail] Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+

[Dean Hoffman]

Doubtful. Popcorn pops because it has a harder shell and due to the water in the kernel. A quick rundown here:

More info here: I still remember my Dad and his neighbors picking corn in the ear. It was stored in the old corn cribs or in corn piles. The piles were put on 1x12 boards. Cribbing was used as a round wall. Farmers would get together to shell the corn. The grain was hauled to town and the cobs put in a pile. Some of the cobs were put in a building to keep them dry for use as fuel for a stove. The rest were burned just to get rid of them as I remember. I remember some of the corn was ground ear and all. It was then fed to cattle. They got a little roughage along with the grain that way. The old corn pickers are pretty much history in my area. Most farmers combine the corn and haul in just the grain. The cobs stay out in the fields. Seed corn companies still harvest corn in the ear. They shell and dry the corn in the processing plants. The cobs are processed for a number of different things now: Dean

[Duane Bozarth]

I said that...field corn _will_ pop, just not as successfully as popping corn.

We even popped milo as a treat at least once every fall from earliest harvest before frost. Only about a 50% popping rate or so and tiny kernels, but fun to do as kids...

[Harry K]

It was common back when to use cobs in the cookstoves. It did require regular feeding but the advantage was hot fires and quick cool down after use.

Harry K