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Author Topic: Popcorn going stale? Jay Glaus Expert Film Handler Posts: 123 From: Pittsburgh, PA USA Registered: Dec 2010 posted 08-22-2018 03:32 AM                        Hi all, Recently I've noticed something about my popcorn... I always like to check the garbage cans in the field at the end of the night, gives me an idea of what they liked and what they didn't like. Also can see if theres a certain kind of food being brought in that I should consider adding to the menu. Recently though, I've noticed an alarming trend with my popcorn, in which I believe it is going stale. Here is why I believe it is going stale. On busy nights, I am popping it and handing it out as fast as I can scoop it into tubs. Generally on those kind of nights my refill percentage is high and I find very little thrown out or uneaten. However on slower nights where the popcorn sits in the warmer for a little before being bought, I notice a lower percentage on refills and more getting thrown out. Everyone has always raved about our popcorn, both staff and customers. I eat it quite frequently and it is way better than store bought or microwave popcorn. I think it's just like the popcorn I remember when I was just a little guy going to the movies. However, I believe it is going stale way faster than it should. Does anyone have any idea what would cause popcorn to go stale fast? Could my kettle not be heating properly, or my display case not be at the correct temperature? I checked my display case and it is between 170-175 degrees. It feels very warm. I have even tried different oils, thinking maybe that had something to do with it. The one I seemed to have the most luck and positive comments with is gold medal's Tasty Pop oil blend. And as for corn I use Gold Medal's maxi pop. And if it means anything My popper is a Gold Medal 32oz Pop O Gold popper. I never had any problem with popcorn going stale like this before. I used to pop it up a few hours before we opened (at the time our electrical service was kind of strained so once everything was on and we were cooking it really came close to overloading the main if I had to pop during peak time, problem is fixed now though I pop throughout the night) and whatever I had at the end of the night still tasted like it was just popped. Now you can tell the leftover popcorn just doesn't taste as fresh. I can't understand what would make this happened. I haven't changed anything in my popcorn recipe in forever, aside from trying different oils when I noticed this. Any idea what could be doing this? Any suggestions? I'm open to any ideas. Popcorn is part of the drive in experience. Thanks, Jay  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 08-22-2018 07:12 AM                     I don't know about your particular oil blend, but I've always had the best experience with those that were essentially 100% coconut oil. It's high on saturated fat, but most definitely tastes better than those generic vegetable oil mixes. In order to avoid your popcorn from getting stale, it's important to make sure the steam can freely escape from your popper. If the moisture from within the kernels should not condense back and mix with your popping corn. Also, the popper needs to be sufficiently hot and get there quickly. If it takes too long to get to the right temperature, you're overcooking the corn and it will end up being chewy. One trick I've been thought for popcorn that's not consumed immediately, but as stock is to let it cool down in a large open vat or box, sometimes even stirring it gently, so all the remaining moisture can evaporate. Only after it has cooled down to room temperature, you put it into the enclosed display heaters. Also make sure those are bone-dry. Popcorn you want to store longer should be immediately bagged in air-tight sealed bags after it has cooled down. Never put warm popcorn into sealed bags. Disclaimer: I'm just repeating what I've learned and worked well for me. There is no scientific proof to back anything of this up.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-22-2018 07:17 AM                        Could it be a humidity issue?  |  IP: Logged Dave Bird Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 777 From: Perth, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2000 posted 08-22-2018 09:15 AM                        Could be Scott, it's been more humid this year in our neck of the woods. We're not popping too much at a time, and only leaving a few bags each size in our self-serve warmer. We don't do refills here, however we replace a bag whenever requested and let people know that on humid nights, it gets "chewy" if they don't eat it reasonably soon.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 08-22-2018 09:57 AM                        Dave may be on to something there. You might look into whether your bin warmer really is working as it should. You need heat, but also enough dry air circulation around the corn to keep it crisp. In any case, I don't think the popcorn is going "stale", as the word might imply. For many years, exhibitors purchased popcorn "pre-popped". Companies, like Cretors, manufacture(d) industrial-scale poppers, facilitating production of popcorn into something like 5 pound bags. The theatre only had to empty those bags into standard merchandising warmers, rather than deal with the heat, exhaust and cleaning issues surrounding local production. In my area, a drive-in chain did this exclusively, and several indoor houses also bought their popcorn this way. The pre-pop producer was in Seattle and brought in coconut oil by railroad tanker; storing it in heated, underground tanks. In my community, the (then) General Cinemas outlet popped their corn in advance; filling and storing large bags from a dual-kettle popper on the floor above the concession stand. Some 25 years back, one of my drive-ins suffered a major failure in its gas-fired popper, and we popped corn for the place for some time... with not a single complaint. Properly warmed and handled, popcorn, like a nacho chip or taco shell, will hold much longer than you might care to think. On the other hand, you don't get the ambient smell and visual incentives that you do when watching "your" popcorn being freshly popped... and there is something to be said for that.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 08-22-2018 10:20 AM                     Stale popcorn is almost always popcorn that has absorbed too much water. It's not only a problem with popcorn, but nachos have the same problem. Salty popcorn and salty snacks in general tend to get "stale" in open air, as the salt attracts water. Salty popcorn gets stale sooner than sweetened popcorn. I guess the sugar also serves as a bit of a protective layer around it. Like already mentioned, you need to make sure your warmer is really dry and you're not circulating humid air through it or it will become pretty stale rather soon.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 08-22-2018 01:50 PM                        Have you sampled the popcorn in those situations yourself? I'm not saying sample the discarded popcorn, but rather try the popcorn by getting some served to you on those slow nights and compare to how it tastes on a busy night with a lot of popcorn turnover. Something else to consider is that perhaps the popcorn isn't stale, but rather isn't properly popped, so it's inedible. I was at a movie yesterday and got a "large" popcorn (served in a small tub, don't know the volume) and I would say that I had about 2.5 cups of popcorn at the end that wasn't edible. Almost like it was the bottom of the batch that should have ended up under the screen, but I don't think that they were scraping the bottom of the bin when they served it. Either half-popped, hard, or whatever, it went in the trash. The concession stand was swamped when I left the movie, so I didn't attempt to talk to a manager about it, but you might be able to tell by looking at the discarded popcorn if people are getting inedibles instead of decent popcorn. Kudos to you for noticing this and caring enough to investigate. If you get a reputation for poor quality concessions, that important revenue source is going to dwindle. If you have the ability to do an after-visit survey of your customers, you might be able to find out some valuable information as well. I didn't see a way for people to fill out a comment card on your web site, but that would be something that you could add and then advertise to your customers to get feedback from them.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-22-2018 04:23 PM                     Odell's Classic Blend is good stuff. Trick is: the hotter the kettle, the more the popcorn explodes and rids of that trapped in moisture the seeds contains. Get as close to 450 degrees as possible before seed and oil delivery.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-22-2018 04:35 PM                        Just a thought: Are your employees pushing the popcorn down in the warmers with the scoop? I've noticed that the handling of the popcorn is quite important. I've had employees that tend to use a scoop to push the popcorn down in the bag or bucket when serving it and also the warmer. It breaks the popcorn up and it less edible. This tends to happen more on the slow nights as the popcorn doesn't move out of the warmer fast enough.  |  IP: Logged Richard B. Perrine Film Handler Posts: 89 From: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-22-2018 04:57 PM                     I used yo pop 30 bags on a Friday to get us through the weekend. BTW I used Flavorcal seasoning. Gold metal popper. Creators had too many un-popped kernels. and I would always sift the small crumbs out of the bin. Nothing is worse than getting a tub with the bottom 1/4 of it being crumbs. we'd put pour the bags into the warmer....what I noticed is that it takes several hour of warming to dry the moisture out of corn that was popped the day before. My theory was that the corn when cold adsorbed moisture..so at least 2 hours warming to crisp it again.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-22-2018 06:29 PM                     Course, warmed up popcorn after sitting cold reminds me of re-heated french fries done in the microwave. Once moisture enters a food item that has already been cooked and then the food reheated to eliminate the moisture, that moisture has altered the taste of the product. Lot of cinemas will toss out the closing night's popcorn and always start fresh for the next day. Flavacol is great stuff to use as seasoning salt along with using a great Gold Medal popper. I've worked with Cretors for bunches of years and one really must know how to work with a Cretors, for one can make excellent popcorn out of a Cretor's popper. Trick is to have the oil to seed ratio between 3, up to 4 to 1. If you have a 44 oz kettle (which is sugar weight in a white sack), oil delivery is around 11oz of oil. Plus, don't try to cook every kernel, for that's impossible. Plus if you do, the rest of the batch is stirring in the kettle starting to burn and gets mixed in with the fresher popped stuff. I used to dump when there is about a second between kernel explosions.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-22-2018 06:32 PM                        We used to have a Manley popcorn machine but we switched to Cretors about 20 or so years ago. The manual for the Manley machine said to put the oil in the kettle, turn on the heat, and throw a few kernels in the oil. When those kernels pop, put the rest of the corn in. That way the oil is just the right temperature. They say if the oil is too hot, the corn pops too fast and doesn't taste as good; and if too cold, the corn pops too slow and is chewy. The Cretors manual on the other hand, probably due to "fire" concerns, tells you to put the popcorn and oil in first, THEN turn on the heat. So I don't know which procedure makes more sense, but we always make at least two batches a night so all but the first batch are closer to the "Manley way." We always leave the previous night's corn in the popper, except we "deep-clean" the machine each Wednesday so all the corn gets tossed that night. My daily ritual is, I stop by the theater after my lunch break, turn on the warmers and get myself a soda, so the corn is nice and hot and crispy by show time. I've actually had people tell me that our day-old popcorn tastes better than the new stuff, which I'm not sure how that is, but "the customer is always right?"  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-22-2018 06:40 PM                     I like starting up a kettle, get it to temp, add the seed and the oil goes in last. Seed takes away some of the kettle heat so the oil doesn't have a chance to flash. Seed and oil a cold kettle takes a lot longer for that first batch to come out.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-22-2018 08:58 PM                     If your popper has doors, leave them open just a crack during popping but shut them when done popping. If your popper has air filters, check to be sure that they are clean and aren't clogged with oil, etc. As to the way to pop, I learned to put the oil in first then turn on the kettle heat then drop in three kernels of corn and wait for them to pop before dumping in the salt and the rest of the corn.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 08-23-2018 03:49 AM                     quote: Mike Blakesley I've actually had people tell me that our day-old popcorn tastes better than the new stuff, which I'm not sure how that is, but "the customer is always right?" Some stuff just get's better with age. Maybe you should sell it as Robust Pop-Corn or Dry-Aged Pop-corn. Almost 20 years ago I used to work at a location where we centrally produced the popcorn for two "satellite" sites. We used the method of letting it dry and cool before bagging it. The stuff they got was barely a day old but still tasted great, even after being "reheated". I'd even say the stuff was quite a bit more crispy than when it came fresh out of the popper. I'm pretty sure the vast majority prefers crispy popcorn, compared to the pre-packaged chewy stuff you buy at the store. quote: Mike Blakesley They say if the oil is too hot, the corn pops too fast and doesn't taste as good; and if too cold, the corn pops too slow and is chewy. quote: Randy Stankey As to the way to pop, I learned to put the oil in first then turn on the kettle heat then drop in three kernels of corn and wait for them to pop before dumping in the salt and the rest of the corn. Well, the "old way" to do it is indeed the best, as you avoid overcooking the corn. But most modern kettles get to the "popping temperature" pretty fast, so overcooking is usually not a real problem. I guess why new poppers don't like you using the old way is not necessarily fire, but the chance of you getting burned by hot oil spattering around.  |  IP: Logged

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