I usually buy the cheap (for us) 2.79 CAD bag of 1kg popping corn. the 850g Orville Redenbacher is 5.79.
However, they were out of the cheap stuff so I was forced to get the ol’ Orville’s stuff. And I found it there were less kernels unpopped, the popcorn was fluffier and weirdly, it sounded louder too. (same stove, pot and everything)
So my question is why is there such a quality difference? Is there a difference in how it’s prepared before shipping? Anyone know?
Others have alread hit on the reason: likely fresher kernals plus a special corn breed that’s optimized for popcorn.
At our local farmer’s market (decent sized city) there’s a guy that sells about 15 different verities of corn for popping. The sheer number of breeds of things are truly eye watering. We have a home garden, and even when we’re growing “green beans” we can be growing one of like 75 different breeds of bean that all have their own characteristics. It’s actually kind of funny that grocery stores will market which kind of apple you’re buying but they won’t do so for things like “red grapes”, “yellow peaches”, or “sweet corn”.