The Popcorn Test
Which brand of popcorn pops the most kernels?
Answering this question is pretty easy. We just take the number of un-popped kernels and divide that by our popped kernel weight, and we see who's more efficient:
Brand
|
Newman's Own
|
Pop Secret
|
Jolly Time
|
Best Choice
|
Act II
|
Orville Redenbacker
|
Un-popped Kernels (grams) |
3 |
7 |
14 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
Popped Kernels (grams) |
86 |
78 |
67 |
58 |
69 |
63 |
Percentage of Kernels Popped |
97% |
91% |
79% |
88% |
91% |
89% |
The runaway winner here is Newman's Own with a 97% pop-rate. Jolly Time brings up the rear with a 79% pop rate. So, if I pay for 100 kernels from Newman's Own, 97 of them will pop, but if I pay for 100 kernels from Jolly Time, only 79% of them will pop.
Keep in mind that this is all within the SAME amount of cook time. If I wanted to burn my popcorn to a crisp, I could let it go and get just about any brand to pop 100% of the kernels, but it wouldn't taste very good, and that's the whole point. So, these are the percentages of kernels these brands can pop while leaving the already-popped kernels tasty.
Oh and this is hardly the end of the story. Keep in mind, you'll pay $1.13/bag if you buy Newman's Own, but only $0.73/bag if you buy Jolly Time. That high pop-rate costs money. And that's not to even mention the taste test...