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I was just making some popcorn in the microwave and thinking back to my days working as a concessionist in the movie theater. The popcorn popper there, while powerful, took about three minutes per cycle and even then had trouble keeping up with business.
I envision a machine with a continuous rotating
tunnel about six inches in diameter and three feet long. The inside of the tunnel would have a spiral shaped agitator on the side of the tube such that the rotation of the tube would drive popcorn out of the machine. Kernels would be stirred in a holding tank and kept about 30 degrees under popping temperature. I am not a scientist, but things could be adjusted if there would be a problem with the kernels slow cooking and failing.
There will be a lever on the front of the machine. The concessionist places a bag against the lever and the machine operates like a drink fountain. Some systems could very easily incorporate a bag dispenser and conveyor for total popping automation triggered by the cash registers. When activated, kernels would be generously dispensed into the tube and be carried through a section being bombarded with about 12,000 watts of microwave energy. Maybe more, maybe less, I didn't bother to do the math. This energy would instantly pop the corn which would expand out the dispenser. A stainless steel tube would run into the exit side of the rotating tube and drizzle butter, if requested, onto the just-popped corn.
The system is obviously very powerful and very dangerous and would need a fire supression and air exhaust system. However, let me point out that today's theater-size poppers already require a hood, oil pump, and fire system, but with my idea even this system could be more compact. The oil pump would dispense the proper amount of oil and emulsified salt into the drum right around the kernel entrance. The system would definately need to have some intelligence and be able to read temperatures and bag-fullness on manual units. The holding tank temperatures, microwave power, drum rotation speed, and oil pumping would need to be controlled automatically to ensure the safest work environment. I'm not sure what material to use for the microwaving section of the tube but I'm thinking either pyrex, ceramics, or some kind of plastic.
Any concessionist will tell you that they spend al ltheir time working serving popcorn and then cleaning the rediculously huge hoppers at the end of the shift. With my system, all some routine cleaning of like three or four parts would be completely automated and reliable.
About Popcorn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn
[jhomrighaus, Jan 11 2007]
Popping in a vacuum
http://www.discover...physics-of-popcorn/
"'Let’s suck away!' physicist Paul Quinn announces, flipping the switch on his stove-top vacuum cooker." [jutta, Jan 11 2007]
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Not so much instantaneous as continuous, and not a bad notion. However, "I didn't bother to do the math" irks me somewhat, as does "emulsified salt". Also, I'm not sure why you're using microwaves; why not just heat your tube conventionally? |
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I wonder if they would pop in a vacuum? Perhaps it would give instant boiling of the water inside. But the cold pop-corn would need to be warmed up, afterwards. Before someone says that a vacuum would take a long time to build, it could be developed in a cylinder in advance, and then used to evacuate the pop-corn chamber. |
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//Kernels would be stirred in a holding tank and kept about 30 degrees under popping temperature//
Unfortunately, steam is constantly escaping at this temperature, so the result of your holding tank will be corn that can't be popped at all. And Ling, you can pop corn in a vacuum, but only if you heat it. The temperature advantage won't be that much. |
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Might popcorn expand to larger than normal sizes if popped in a low pressure environment? |
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//Might popcorn expand to larger than normal sizes if popped in a low pressure environment?//
From Nature: "The trick is simple: just pop the kernels at a lower pressure. Paul Quinn of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and Joseph Both of the Stanford School of Medicine in California achieved this by fitting a simple vacuum pump to the pressure cooker in which they popped their corn.” |
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Vacuum alone wont do the job. The shell of the kernel will act as a pressure vessel and nothing will happen. The popcorn pops because water turning to steam expands to 2000 times its original volume, Lower pressure during popping may yield larger popped corn due to an increase in the pressure differential once the kernel pops. |
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You heat popcorn in oil because the oil can heat the kernel above the boiling point of water, causing the internal moisture to turn to steam which pops the popcorn. If you lowered the air pressure inside the popper, the corn could pop at a lower temperature. Indirectly heat the popper over boiling water - popped popcorn without oil. |
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I dont know if popcorn will pop at 100C, I think it has to build up sufficient steam pressure to rupture the kernel. Wiki says 135psi to rupture the hull that would require temps greater than 100C to achieve. |
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Jutta that setup still requires heat, the inside of the popcorn needs to be hot to pop properly |
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If that 135psi figure is correct, that happens with an oil temp of 350F.
If you pop in a vacuum, that drops the pressure required to 120psi, and the temperature required is then 341F. So you save 9 degrees. |
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Interesting. In that link they call it "monster popcorn", too.
ldischler, to make it work better, we need some really concentrated vacuum. |
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I think about [ldischler]'s 15psi is about as concentrated as vacuum gets. |
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Unless you really think hard about it. |
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