Popcorn's Explosive Secret Revealed

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]Pour kernels into a hot pan, and one suddenly erupts with a sharp crack, launching itself several inches into the air like a tiny rocket.

[00:00:08]That pop is the sound of built-up pressure finally breaking free.

[00:00:13]Each kernel holds starch plus about 14% water sealed tight inside a rigid outer hull. At 180° C, the water flashes to steam, but the hull traps it until pressure climbs to around 135 lb per square inch, nine times normal atmosphere. When the hull finally fractures, the steam surges out, and the starch swells more than 30 times larger in a split second, much like foam exploding from a shaken soda bottle once opened.

[00:00:46]Now you see every fluffy piece as the inside of a seed turned out by its own miniature steam explosion.