Curious about using popped popcorn

[zed255]

I have been reading about corn and its varied difficulties, mainly centering around gelatinizing the starches. There were a few older hits on using popped popcorn without a whole lot of follow-up. Since the popping or torrefaction of the kernel quite effectively pre-gelatinizes the starches it should make mashing very easy. I'd expect the popped popcorn to basically just dissolve into the strike water almost instantly, ready for mashing in your malts or using enzymes right away.

Main caveats I see are the cost of popping corn, which for a large mash would be not insignificant, and the time required initial popping of the kernels.

Advantages I see would be easy mashing, shorter mashing times, perhaps better or more complete conversion, lower likelihood of an infection due to the kernels being well cleaned and the popping process reaches sanitization temperatures, no grinding, etc.

Can anyone speak to the efficacy of using popped popping corn in a modest size mash, say up to 10 US gallons or so? I'd like to try doing a bourbon style whiskey but the challenges with corn have been putting me off.

[still_stirrin]

Indeed, popping does gelatinize the starch. Keep in mind that you’ll need a lot (pound for pound) and it does form a “slush” when mashed. Enzymes still needed to covert the starch to fermentable sugars.
ss

[Beerswimmer]

Don't forget the oil needed for popping.

[Chauncey]

Don't forget the oil needed for popping.

You can air pop it with one of those machines. Thatd be a one time purchase.

[Desvio]

Only thing I would be worried about when it comes to distilling fermented popcorn is the toast on the outer skin (pericarp) of the kernel coming across.

[zed255]

We have at least two hot air poppers laying around but I doubt popping in oil would be a problem, especially if using corn oil. I don't know how much of a toast the kernel really gets. Sure the air / oil is quite hot but the exposure time is short. I can't say popcorn tastes toasted / burnt to me unless something goes wrong.

I may just have to give it a try. Got to finish my current AG and gumballhead then a batch of rum before I get to it.

[jonnys_spirit]

Popping 50# of corn is going to be an undertaking much different than grinding and mashing the same.

Cheers!
-jonny

[Corn Crib]

Popping corn for a batch of shine seems a waste of time. I would grind up the kernels to nearly flour and go traditional with enzymes or malt.

Popcorn isn't GMO, so no glyphosate is involved, BONUS!

[zed255]

The idea centres around not grinding the corn at all. Remember too, I could go about popping a few batches at a time and just store it in trash bags until ready to mash. No need to keep it fresh like one would want for snacking. Also, I was suggesting modest sized batches not processing 50+ pounds at a crack.

I thought it might be an entry point into using corn without investing in dedicated hardware. May just give it a go to see how tough it is to pop a few pounds.

[Beerswimmer]

Yeah man, give it a try!

[Chauncey]

Popping 50# of corn is going to be an undertaking much different than grinding and mashing the same.

Cheers!
-jonny

Ima be honest, to save money i buy alot of butter at once from restaurant depot and if i popped all that id end up watching alot of Netflix with a big metal bowl of butter popcorn and id have like 40 lbs actually mashed instead of 50 lmfao

[Chauncey]

Or lets be clear id gain the weight of 20 sticks of butter.

[jonnys_spirit]

A dollop of butter helps with puking so there’s that lol.

-jonny

[Chauncey]

I normally use peanut oil or corn oil. Just like making pasta it doest take much and killing the heat on a foam up tends to keep it in control. But yeah now i want butter popcorn thanks guys

[PoppaW]

I used the popcorn. My brother in law loves it but I don’t. Some of the toasted hull flavor came through which he likes. I thought it was good and sweet at 50%abv and he likes it at 35% as the popcorn really pops at that abv. If I do popcorn again it will be in an air popper. Try to loose the toasted corn flavor. Overall its pretty good but not my thing.

[Thebigbrewbowski]

I normally use peanut oil or corn oil. Just like making pasta it doest take much and killing the heat on a foam up tends to keep it in control. But yeah now i want butter popcorn thanks guys

no way man, dont oil your pasta water! the sauce sticks better if you dont oil it lol off topic I know but... pasta lives matter too!