Abstract
Today's experiment was to test the hypotheses that it was possible to cook Popcorn on the sandwich toaster and produce 90% kernel pop yield, filling the office with the yummy hot popcorn smell, and having hot popcorn that was ready to eat. Only equipment on hand was to be used, with the minimum amount of time and effort required to obtain a conclusive result. The experiment was very unsuccessful, with a much lower percentage of kernels popping than expected, and delivering a result much lower than achieved with the microwave chamber.
Introduction
Today we performed another interesting experiment to see just how far we can push our sandwich maker cookery skills. The sandwich maker is one of our favorite cooking utensils because it is very easy to clean, and with a little know how, you can cook all sorts of interesting things on them.
We recommend sandwich makers having a flat non stick cooking surface. This makes them both versatile and very easy to clean.
Riviana Popping Corn was the subject of this experiment, with the aim being to produce 90% kernel pop yield, filling the office with the yummy hot pop corn smell, and having hot popcorn that was ready to eat, while reducing the effort required to clean up afterwards to a minimum.
Required Materials
* Sunbeam Sandwich Toaster: Model: GR8400 240V, 2000W.
* Riviana Popping Corn Kernels: 375g total weight.
Method
1. Count out a small number of pop corn kernels onto the middle of sandwich toaster.
2. Close the sandwich toaster lid, turn on the power, and start timing. Listen for kernels to pop and note the times when kernels are heard popping. Cook the kernels for a maximum of 10 minutes before turning off power to the sandwich toaster.
3. Be careful not to poop your pants when some smart Alex decides to walk up behind the kitchen wall and make a loud exploding noise while you are carefully observing the experiment. The time spent waiting is when someone always thinks this is a great idea to make a loud noise and try to convince you that cold fusion has just occurred on the sandwich toaster.
4. Lift the lid on the sandwich toaster and observe the results.
Results
Only 2 corn kernels out of 8 popped (25% kernel popping rate) which is much lower than our target of 90% kernel popping rate that is achieved using the microwave chamber.
Conclusion
Cooking Popcorn on the Sandwich maker was possible but impractical due to the low achievable yield of popped kernels. We conclude that the sandwich toaster does not maintain the 180 degrees Celsius required for consistent kernel popping. There was some debate about if a small amount of canola oil on the sandwich toaster would help maintain the heat around the kernels, but because no oil was readily available, this could not be tested at this time.
Peer Review Status
Yet to be reviewed.
Related Experiments
For related experiments, see here.
Disclaimer
The contents of this article are intended for amusement purposes only. If you decide to follow the instructions above, you do so at your own risk. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are the property of their respective owners. Popcorn is a choking hazard to small children.
