A popcorn maker (also called a popcorn popper) is a machine used to pop popcorn. Since ancient times popcorn has been a popular snack food, produced through the explosive expansion of kernels of heated corn (maize). Commercial large-scale popcorn machines were invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century. Many types of small-scale home methods for popping corn also exist.
Commercial popcorn machines are commonly found in movie theaters and carnivals, producing popcorn in a pan of hot oil, which has approximately 45% of its calories derived from fat. Hot air popcorn poppers appeared for home use in the late 1970s, which produce popcorn with only 5% of its calories derived from fat. The majority of popcorn sold for home consumption is now packaged in a microwave popcorn bag for use in a microwave oven.
Famous quotes containing the words popcorn and/or maker:
“And though in tinsel chain and popcorn rope
My tree, a captive in your window bay,
Has lost its footing on my mountain slope
And lost the stars of heaven, may, oh, may
The symbol star it lifts against your ceiling
Help me accept its fate with Christmas feeling.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The crew was complete: it included a Boots—
A maker of Bonnets and Hoods—
A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes—
And a Broker, to value their goods.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)