Popcorn and Brand free essay sample

Research Paper In this scientific experiment and in my research through five different brands being tested that Act II of stovetop popcorn kernels is the best brand based on its popped volume and taste. I chose this experiment because even though it is not the healthiest of snacks out there it is one of my favorites and I eat it almost everyday so I might as well get to know it a little better and do an experiment with it. I am very interested in which brands have a better quality of kernels and the many different tastes that come with them too. Cooking popcorn in the microwave isn’t as much fun as it is on the stove too, I enjoy when it pops out of the pot and I always try to time it right to see when they start popping and it is also helpful to know which brands pop faster and how and why they do based on their color, or size, or the temperature they are ready to pop at. There are some questions I have asked myself in order to put together this whole experiment and my hypothesis. How does the color of some popcorns affect how long it takes them to cook or be popped and why the different colors affect them? Which brand could possibly be cooked the fastest and taste the best based on the same exact ingredients added to every different brand and cooked the same way? Which brand perhaps could be the healthiest one to eat rather then the worst one for you with the same ingredients added? Which brand gets the most kernels popped out of the batch cooked at the same exact time and temperature used in all experiments? Which brand of popcorn based of all variables of the brands comes out the best cooked due to the same procedures in each? The brand that I think is the best brand based on its taste and volume is Act II brand without the comparison to the other brands based on the same experiment done to each. Each test subject will be done with the same amount of time and ingredients added to each procedure. The five brands of popcorn I will be using in this experiment are Pop secret(butter), Act II, Orville, Newman’s Own, and Jiffy Pop. The ingredients that will be used in this experiment are 3 tablespoons of canola oil, 1/3 cup of kernels, 1 3-quart pot with a lid, 2 tablespoons of butter that’s melted, and 2 teaspoons of salt. All of these will be added to each one of the popcorns specifically according to how the directions I followed and are all done the exact way. The ways all of these popcorns are cooked are followed by this specific order of directions I used for them all. First you preheat the 3 tablespoons of oil in the pot on a medium temperature and add 3 kernels in and then cover the pan. When the three pop add the rest of the 1/3 popcorn, also add the 2 teaspoons of salt into the pot and cover it and remove it from the heat and count to 30. This method heats the oil to the right temperature then when you count to 30 it brings the kernels to a near popping temperature but they cannot fully pop yet because they need more heat. After the 30 seconds put the pot back on the heat and keep the lid a little ajar to keep the steam out and they should all be popping at about the same time, while popping add the 2 tablespoons of butter and shake gently to get it to mix around. Once popping slows to about 6 seconds between pops take off lid and dump the popcorn into a bowl and then count the kernels, taste the popcorn, and test the volume. To do this scientific experiment I had a total of 10 tasters who do not eat kernels and 5 popcorn products used. Each of the tasters tasted each type of popcorn that was cooked equally, with equal additives. The very first popcorn I started with and made was the Pop secret (butter) popcorn. 3 out of 10 people preferred this popcorn because of the way it tastes and how it came out. One of my tasters said â€Å"it has a great popcorn flavor taste and was crunchy, but soft at the same time and it came out wider after popped than the other brands of popcorn. † The two others preferred this brand because of the buttery taste which it was already butter flavored but when we cooked this we also added butter giving it an enhanced butter taste which of course makes it taste way better. Out of the 1/3 of the cup of kernels added to be popped only 3 kernels were counted not popped in the bowl, and the rest were all popped corn. This brand when popped also has a yellowish color to its popcorn. Most of the kernels popped in this brand and that’s a good outcome if you are trying to make popcorn, you’ll get more out of what you put in and people usually do not like the kernels and wind up throwing them out anyway. The second brand of popcorn I used in this experiment was the brand Act II popcorn. 3 out of 10 people preferred this brand because of a lot of different reasons. My testers said, †this popcorn has great taste when cooked and it tastes perfect with the additive amount of butter we used because it’s not to much or to little considering it already has a hint of butter flavor. â€Å"We also love the color it came out as, how thick it came out popped as with a greater volume of size. † This brand when pops comes out thicker and bigger popped corn, and is crunchy but soft at the same time. It has a hint of yellowish look to it that gives it that buttery look therefore it will definitely taste good and looks good. After pouring this batch of popcorn into the bowl we counted only 4 kernels that were not popped, which means most of these kernels popped and hardly any of it will not go to waste do to my testers who don’t eat kernels. The third brand of popcorn used in my experiment was Orville popcorn. Only 2 out of 10 people preferred this brand of popcorn. My two testers gave about the same explination as to why they liked this brand better and they said tester said â€Å"it is a slightly sweet tasting popcorn and they like the texture of it because it is more thinner then the other 4 brands. † It is a more natural popcorn flavor and kernel so when popped these popcorn comes out a white color rather then a yellowish but it has more of a duller flavor besides the tiny bit of sweet in it. After we had cooked this brand of popcorn and poured it in the bowl we found that 11 kernels did not pop out of the 1/3-cup of kernels added. The other tasters did not enjoy this popcorn as much as the other two yellowish looking popcorns because of the taste and how many kernels were left over after cooked. The fourth brand used in my experiment was Newman’s Own popcorn. Only 1 out of 10 of my testers preferred this brand for a couple of specific reasons. My tester said, â€Å" I prefer my popcorn a more whiter less buttery popcorn, not to crunchy but more soft and thinner. † This popcorn came out a lot more white colored than the rest of the 4 other brands and it did not absorb much of the butter added when it was being made. After it was cooked and poured into the bowl there was 15 kernels counted that weren’t popped out of the 1/3 cup of kernels added. Many were left not popped and this brand of popcorn definitely didn’t have a sweet taste or buttery taste at all to it, mostly bland flavored. The fifth and final brand of popcorn used in my experiment was Jiffypop popcorn. Out of the 10 people that tested this only 1 enjoyed it rather then the other 4 brands. My tester said â€Å" it had a sweet taste, it was more thin and at the same time soft with crunch and it is better with more ingredients added to it rather then just plain. † This popcorn after being popped came out to be a more white looking color and absorbed most of the butter added during the cooking process which gave it better taste. Out of the 1/3 cup of kernels added only 7 kernels were not popped in this batch, which was less than the other two white popcorns but still higher then the ones that came out to be a yellow color. This brand only had one vote from my testers only because of the additives used during the cooking process I think, because if it wasn’t for that I think it would have been just dull and bland with not a good taste at all, so normal this would have been the least popular popcorn made. For this experiment on my 5 different brands of popcorn I used the same exact ingredients and cooked the popcorn the same time, as the 10 testers that tested each of popcorn and were the same people. I thought that before doing this experiment that there would be a much more different outcome then there was but the outcome is still related to my hypothesis greatly. One of the major outcomes of this experiment was I thought that Act II popcorn brand was the best and it turns out that the brand Popsecret had a tie with my favorite brand which I thought would be preferred without a doubt. I thought that the more yellowish looking popcorns would take the most preferred title and they did because they look more buttery and taste better due to that of how they actually taste when a yellowish flavor and by the way they look you just know a piece of yellow popcorn is going to taste better than a white one according to how your brain works and your body. I thought that the three whitish looking popcorns that were actually the 3 most least preferred were not going to be liked as much and they weren’t. The other 3 brands that were white such as Orville, Newman’s Own, and Jiffy Pop, didn’t have as much flavor than the other two and had the most kernels left over after placed in a bowl. These three came out with less pop and were more thinner and softer then the two favorite. A good side about these three white colored popcorns though is they had a little more of a sweet tasting flavor rather then buttery, which would be loved by people who enjoyed a sweeter taste. My hypothesis is confirmed because out of the 5 brands Act II had 3 out of 10 votes, it was in a tie with Popsecret popcorn with the most preferred but Act II popcorn also had the most compliments due to its taste, size, color, and its volume. It had a low kernel count leftover after it was done cooking and was overall the best popcorn. I confirmed my hypothesis and it is a true outcome because of the experimentation information that was recorded and told to me. My hypothesis was accurate because I believed that Act II brand popcorn was the best because its my favorite and I always eat it and after being tested by other people and preferred by them too based of its size, flavor, volume, and color I can say that I was accurate to my hypothesis through experimentation rather then just what I think is good. In my research it was very beneficial in a lot of different ways for my testers and me. I got to taste other brands of popcorn and so did my testers that we did not have before. It was a lot of fun for me and everyone I did this experiment with. My favorite brand of popcorn was most preferred from other people too. My research helped me have a better understanding in 5 different brands of popcorn and the quality of the brands. I usually eat popcorn that has to be microwaved and that is way worse for you do to the radiation and unnatural cooking but I got to use the stove and learn how to cook popcorn on it good. My experiment wasn’t unbeneficial in anyway I thought everything about it I learned a lot from and so did others. With this experiment I conducted I was definitely able to find sufficient research on it. The research that I made a list of and how I recorded everything that happened during each experiment widened my focus with the topic. Everything that I had recorded helped me understand each brand better from either cooking it or taking information down by asking my testers what they think about that certain type of popcorn. All of the qualities of each popcorn brand were recorded and each was specifically described, such as their own volume, size, taste, texture and their color. I think all of this information broadens my regard for this topic because it gives me and other people a better understanding of each of these 5 brands of these popcorns qualities. My research also helps because it shows how many kernels were popped in the different brands and gives us a good idea of how many people would like the certain brands, the more popular brands, and most purchased. The available research that I had taken down and recorded was not insuffient and was very helpful to me quality wise and quantity. I got all I needed to know out of this experiment from the 5 brands of popcorn I used and the 10 testers that helped me do this experiment. It was a successful experiment and the method I used was a success also, and It helped me come to a good and correct conclusion with my hypothesis. During this experiment I relied on fewer than three primary resources, which was my brands of popcorn and my testers, so I had two primary resources available. There were both resulting advantages and disadvantages in this experiment. Some advantages in my research were I got to find out the best tasting popcorns and the most preferred according to myself and others who tested the different brands out. Another positive is I recorded the kernels popped so I can see what batch ill get the most popped popcorn out of when it is cooked. What is also recorded is the taste, texture, the way it crunches, and the sweetness of the different brands of popcorn. There were also some disadvantages with this experiment as well. One of those disadvantages could be that maybe one of the testers had a specifically favorite brand and only chose that one because it’s the one that they would most prefer because everyone has different taste and likes different things, so it may not be fully accurate. Another downside of this experiment could be that maybe if I cooked the different brands for a little longer all of the kernels could have been popped but I used the same exact method for each to make the experiment equal. More advantages to this experiment then there were disadvantages and my research recorded helped a lot.