Why isn’t all Flint Corn just Popcorn? Don’t they both Pop the same?
From What I’ve heard
Popcorn (Zea mays var. everta) Puffs out when Popped
Flint Corn (Zea mays var. indurata) Cracks open with all the puff being inside instead of puffing out.
Corn nuts/Cancha Corn (Zea mays var.I DON’T KNOW perhaps var. arachis fits?) Cracks open but doesn’t spill out, exactly like Flint Corn.
Cuzco/Mote/Choclo/Big Peruvian White Corn (Zea mays var. amylacea) Pops exactly like Cornnuts but It’s Classifed as a Flour Corn!? How can this flour corn be good for popping & Grain? Does this mean all Grain Corn can be popped thus absolutely pointless in separating?
Is it safe to treat all Cornnut Varites as Flint Corn? Because Apparently Cuzco Corn (Aka Peruvian Big White Corn or Mote & Choclo is a Grain corn & is eaten with beans after nixtamalization. (Also how would you Nixtamalize Popcorn in a Popcorn machine?)
I’ve popped a Cornnut Variety called Chulpe Corn & it had Wrinkles on it’s kernel exactly how Fully Dried Sweet Corn Kernels do. When it puffs up it tastes sweeter than all the other cornnut varieties I’ve Tried. & less Starchy Crunch.
Just take a look (Left = Unpopped, Right = Popped). Note the Wrinkle on top of each kernel
Now Compare Chulpe Corn with Sweet Corn Kernels from GTS. How is Chulpe corn not a Sweet Corn Variety? & does that mean I can Pop Sweet Corn Kernels just like Chulpe Corn?
Even Teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis) “The Wild Corn” pops like Popcorn & It’s not domesticated!
Perhaps the rule is, if corn is dry enough it will pop with enough heat? I mean for Crying outload even Sorgum & Amaranth Seeds are Poppable! I’ve even Heard Mustard Seeds were Poppable but I doubt that rurmor.
hmm… From my experience there’s too kinds of pops.
Popcorn = Puffs out. It seems seeds have to be small in order to puff out.
Cornnut = Puffs in. Seeds can be very large because it doesn’t have to puff out.
It seems that all other varieties of Corn pop like a Cornnut but Only Popcorn pops like Popcorn.
This makes landracing fun because if every corn variety will pop than it’s irrelevant which corn I let cross. Thus freeing up so much mental tracking.
Chulpe Corn is the closest to this. The Kernels Tops are wrinkly like sweet corn but the Kernel Bottoms are Starchy like Cancha Corn making it very interesting. According to @Joseph_Lofthouse Landrace Gardening Book, Dry Sweet Corn Kernels puff up but don’t pop. That means every other variety of corn (Zea mays) will puff up when fully dry.
I think the puffy “popcorn” effect all comes down to physics. The ideal popcorn is very symmetrical in shape and has an evenly dense hull. This allows a much higher gas pressure (i.e. Potential Energy) to build up inside before the hull finally ruptures, releasing all that energy in a sudden outward explosion. Like a bomb. Other kernel shapes and irregularly thick hulls result in much earlier cracking, so the total energy released is much less, and the kernel doesnt change shape much.
You got it! Altho I like the Cornnut puff more, I get a lot more mass per pop! However I really enjoy the Mushroom Popcorn shape over the butterfly type, mushroom is way much more chewier. The Cornnuts have that delicious Crunch!
Yup, that’s what makes popcorn varities pop well, it’s their size.
First time I heard about popping flour corn was from Carol Deppe. She refers to it as “parching corn”. I planted “Mandan Parching Lavender” and “Mandan Speckled” last year, but kept almost all seeds for replanting this year. So I cannot say much about taste.
The terms we use to differentiate are typically observed characteristics and intended preparation. Like flour corn is floury, but it can be a good patching corn, or dent corn is dented but it can be parched or eaten “green” like sweet corn. I dont get hung up on the terminology, I just know most corn is the same, just some are better for some preparations than others.
My preference? Im a sl*t for cornbread and wheat doesn’t do awesome here, so I grow as floury a corn as i can, and sweet ones too because who doesn’t like a side of corn
Well I suppose it comes down to the ratio of corn types in the mix initially for what they eventually end up best for. 8 popcorn varieties and 3 flours wil probably make a decently puffy parched corn and etc. But yeah they can all make what would ultimately be a corn that can be parched. And since teosinte was likely first cultivated for this purpose, you’d have a diverse and vigorous parching corn grex.
I wonder if the GTS seed mixes with also do something like this.
So far we’ve had Grain/flour corn vs Sweet Corn Mix.
We did have a popcorn mix last year.
I’m also wondering which would make a good baby corn? All of them? or those that branch out & make lots of ears? I’m thinking Teosinte is exactly the type meant for baby corn.
This is so much fun!
