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Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)
- Groxx 4y agoHuh. Does a normal air popper get hot enough for these? Seems like probably, since the pop is largely just due to internal pressure from heating the water? Air poppers are incredibly foolproof compared to pan popping.
- tinglymintyfrsh 4y agoIf one needs hotter air cooking, I suggest looking a coffee roaster.
- stevenwoo 4y agoI get a lot of unpopped kernels with an air popper but can regularly get a much higher percentage (often almost all) from pan popping but that could just be me using a cheap air popper.
- tbran 4y agoTry a different brand of popcorn! Jolly Time white popcorn pops has a nearly 100% pop rate for me. Some brands pop way less and some pop somewhat explosively.
- schwartzworld 4y agoThis is, as the kids say, cap. Popcorn works because the outer hull is strong enough to hold together until a critical mass of pressure builds inside to rupture it. At that point the starches, which have liquefied under pressure, explode and unliquify rather suddenly. White rice and pearled barley have their hulls removed. You can see in the picture that the barley has split, but not popped, and the rice just looks a little blistered. These will never pop like popcorn. It is possible to pop some other grains like popcorn, but none of the ones listed here, at least not using the methodology described. Puffed rice and wheat are done in machines that lower the air pressure to create the same conditions as popcorn.
- hejaodbsidndbd 4y ago
- adlpz 4y agoI've seen rice done in videos by (I believe?) heating them under pressure and then releasing the pressure suddenly, causing max puffage. An example: https://youtu.be/ZyJoqS__7O0 https://youtu.be/ZyJoqS__7O0
- pontifier 4y agoI've seen this device in videos before, I wonder why I never see them at like Farmers markets here in the US. They'd probably make a killing.
- engr 4y agoI think safety may have something to do with it, it's pretty much a bomb
- Ancapistani 4y agoI… don’t think that’s it. I’m tempted to find and buy one a pressurized popcorn popper like that, and set up at my local farmers’ market. It might be popular, or it might not - but it would definitely be fun.
- pontifier 4y agoYou inspired me... I went ahead and ordered one.
- Ancapistani 4y agoLet me know how it goes! I recognize your name, and I’m only a couple of hours north of you. I might drop down there sometime and check it out if you don’t mind.
- ketanmaheshwari 4y agoPuffed rice is almost a staple in many parts of India. Called murmure in Hindi. Poha is also a variant of puffed rice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poha_(rice) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poha_(rice)
- tomjakubowski 4y agoSee also Rice Krispies
- tinglymintyfrsh 4y agoCốm and poha flattened rice are a bit different from oven-roasted, high-moisture rice as a breakfast cereal.
- tomjakubowski 4y agoThey're varieties of puffed rice often eaten in milk
- noobalicious1 4y agoPuffed rice in green tea (genmaicha) is excellent after a meal.
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoI think most Americans are familiar with Sugar / Honey Smacks. These are created by placing wheat in a high pressure vessel and cooking the grain under pressure before suddenly releasing the pressure. The result is that the grain becomes "puffed" by expanding in size. In Asia, there are street merchants who will throw grains into an iron vessel which is then closed and heated to create a similar pressure situation. When they release the pressure, there is an audible boom and the results is puffed grains.
- jonahx 4y ago> In Asia, there are street merchants who will throw grains into an iron vessel which is then closed and heated to create a similar pressure situation. When they release the pressure, there is an audible boom and the results is puffed grains. Video time-stamped before the boom: https://youtu.be/ZyJoqS__7O0?t=158 https://youtu.be/ZyJoqS__7O0?t=158
- turnsout 4y agoI wonder if you could do the same in an Instant Pot... I just tried the stovetop technique with wheat berries (hard white), and they just expanded very slightly. But unlike a raw wheat berry, they tasted okay!
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoTo do the same thing on an instant pot, you'd have to remove the entire lid all at once. It's the explosive decompression which fluffs up the grains. For this reason, the asian merchants usually open the devices into a bag made of sturdy material.
- turnsout 4y agoGotcha—so probably not going to end up in the official Instant Pot cookbook. Ha
- dtgriscom 4y agoInstant pot plus C3. It's a winner! (Well, once...)
- jihadjihad 4y agoSlightly OT, but one lesson I learned a while ago is that whole grains lend themselves well to similar cooking techniques. For example, I had first learned that farro tastes best if you toast it in the pan before adding water/stock--similar to couscous or quinoa. What I didn't notice until later on is that you can do the same with oats! I now toast steel-cut oats in butter and then cook them like usual. Had never made the connection before that it's the same thing you do with farro, just a different grain.
- PebblesRox 4y agoYes! My favorite oatmeal recipe [0] works by toasting the oats and then steaming them. It's a great texture. [0] https://www.thefauxmartha.com/the-very-very-best-oatmeal/ https://www.thefauxmartha.com/the-very-very-best-oatmeal/
- PopAlongKid 4y agoAccording to that recipe, the rolled oats are boiled, not steamed. I'm also curious why frying in butter is referred to here as "toasting", which I think of as applying heat across an air gap to a dry ingredient. I often eat a 50/50 mix of cracked wheat (raw bulgur) and steel cut oats, which I simply bring to a boil and cook until all the water is absorbed. I'm curious how adding butter at the beginning ends up with any different flavor than just adding a pat of butter to the finished cereal (which then melts), or adding a tablespoon of cream.
- nullecksor 4y agoThe best way to eat whole grains is to roast them (like popcorn), along with some dry fruits ground them into grainy flour. You can try multiple combinations, (rice, wheat, millet, corn, lentils, with cashew/pistachio/wallnuts) Use that flour with milk/sugar or with literally with anything and you have your fancy breakfast!
- tinglymintyfrsh 4y agoAnd cook rice grown in arsenic-laden soil in a coffee maker or find rice grown somewhere else with "cleaner" soil.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Stratoscope 4y agoTime to share my recipe for dry roasted pressure cooked brown rice. I make this using a stainless steel stovetop pressure cooker. I do not recommend aluminum. The ingredients are two cups brown rice (long or short grain as you wish), two cups of water or a little less (yes, the rice:water ratio is just 1:1), and half a teaspoon of salt or less. You can scale this up or down easily. Put the rice in the pressure cooker without the lid. Turn the heat on. You can use high heat for the first minute or two, but then turn it down so the the rice does not burn. Every minute or so, pick up the pan and swirl the rice around so it heats and browns evenly. It will take about ten minutes to be nicely roasted. Now here is where this relates to the article and discussion. As the rice browns, a few of the grains will pop just like popcorn. You can leave them in the pan or pick them out for a crunchy snack! When the rice is nicely browned, add the salt and swirl it in, then slowly pour in the water and give it one more swirl. Put on the lid and let the pressure come up to high (the second ring on my Perfect pressure cooker). Turn the heat way down at this point to maintain the pressure, and keep an eye on it. Set a 20 minute timer and release the pressure when it is done. Use a steel spatula to gently mix the rice and scrape the crispy bits off the bottom of the pan. Enjoy!
- spathi_fwiffo 4y agosounds a bit like a pilaf, but with less water for the final step. What is the final product like? normal rice or something else?
- Stratoscope 4y agoIt comes out a lot like conventionally cooked brown rice, but with more of a toasty flavor from the roasting step.
- More-nitors 4y agohttps://global.11st.co.kr/glb/products/307248392 https://global.11st.co.kr/glb/products/307248392 maybe it's something like this? btw you can put this in ramen
- 4y ago
- tylershuster 4y agoThis is kind of interesting. I might try the rice. Kind of strange that the author didn't try sorghum, which I have tried and works pretty well. It's much smaller than corn, but it has a similar texture. I call it "spoon-pop" because you kind of have to eat it with a spoon.
- newhotelowner 4y agoSorghum (Jowar) popcorn is really good and healthy (Gluten free). Amaranth (Rajgira) popcorn is really good too but hard to make it home. It buns really fast after popping. If you don't wanna do it yourself, both are available at all the Indian grocery stores.
- klyrs 4y agoPopped amaranth is my favorite. It's incredibly tiny, and fun to imagine being a giant eating popcorn. I like to serve it alongside saucy fish, as kind of a "dry dip". Unlike the grains mentioned in the article, it actually pops -- it's fast and easy in a heavy bottomed pot, just like popcorn, but way faster because the grains are so small.
- GloriousKoji 4y agoWhat's the secret to this? I always end up a mix of popped, un-popped and burnt amaranth. I've tried a variety of different techniques and none of them seem to work well for me.
- klyrs 4y agoNever let the grains stop moving? And, it's delicate; burning is a definite risk. I do tend to make several small batches, about a third of a cup at a time. Come to think of it, I've never tried to make it in a microwave. Might be worth trying
- gs17 4y agoI tried similar with sorghum in the microwave and ended up horribly burning it. I think it's too delicate a process with non-popcorn/rice grains, keeping it moving would have averted disaster for me, but I can't do that easily with a microwave.
- drewzero1 4y agoI've done this with quinoa and it's pretty good if you can avoid burning it. The little popped grains look like adorable mini-popcorns. I've also had pumpkin seeds pop when toasting them in the oven. They don't get the 'popped' look but it's a good indicator that they're done.
- gnufied 4y agoThis reminds me of my childhood in India where my grandma and mom will "fry" everything whole and it used to be delicious. Little but chopped onion, cilantro and lemon makes it even yummier. I said fried for lack of better word but the way it gets done is - just stir and toss them with hot sand in a wide mouth clay pot. When it is done, just use a sieve to separate sand and the grain. It is pretty wholesome snack. Cooked wheat, corn, rice, chickpeas. U name it. EDIT - Here is a video of it https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8xW3gFxN34c https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8xW3gFxN34c
- JoeAltmaier 4y agoI read where that is the world's oldest cooking technique!
- gnufied 4y agoYeah I think sand is used to control the heat distribution, which is hard to do when you are cooking over fire from wood or something similar.
- apnew 4y agoI am assuming, you are talking about something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokO6XqJvAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokO6XqJvAE. If so, it's not sand, it's salt.
- gumboza 4y agoWell i just tried this with all the grains in my cupboard and it now smells like burned ass in here and it all tasted horrible.
- gerry_shaw 4y agoThanks for taking it for the team. It sounds interesting but I'm skeptical if alternative grains will beat popcorn.
- culi 4y agoyeah lets not forget popcorn has been specifically bred to pop like that for thousands of years. The best alt I've discovered by accident is sesame seeds. If you toast them (badly) they can pop and look exactly like tiny popcorn. I still believe sesame has potential to be bred to make better popcorn. Maybe a good task for the Experimental Farm Network
- mzs 4y agoThank you for your experiment! You can definitely do it with buckwheat* at least, but not with the method described in this submission. You first need to boil the buckwheat in water and then air dry it. Then when it it is fully dried you add it to boiling oil in small amounts. * https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=976365162779630 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=976365162779630
- gumboza 4y agoYeah I’ve ordered some with my shopping and will attempt this week :)
- sowbug 4y agoAnyone know what happened to the snack called Half Pops? They were popcorn that the manufacturer had coaxed into all popping like the few at the bottom of a regular bowl of popcorn. They completely vanished around pandemic times, and now it's hard to find evidence the company even existed. I found a recipe and tried making them, but the error rate was so high and the risk of tooth damage so severe that I gave up.
- dingsbumps 4y agoNuts.com sells a variety of these
- pipeline_peak 4y agoI’m surprised with all the health brands like Skinny Pop and Boom Chika Pop that we don’t see mass produced pop grains. We all know corn isn’t the greatest food in the planet. Some argue it’s not real food for humans, more suited for livestock. A lot of these grains are more dense in nutrients.