Microwave Popcorn: Which Brand Returns the Highest Yield?

Project Design Plan

Microwave popcorn is popular snack food to enjoy while watching your favorite shows or movies. Many snack food companies advertise that their brand of microwave popcorn pops the best.

Problem Statement:

Most people want to get the most for their money. I am going to prepare four different brands of microwave popcorn, exactly according to the manufacturer’s instructions, to see which returns the highest yield of popped kernels.

Literature Review

After researching the topic via the internet, I came across several experiments similar to my own. One experiment by Sean Boyd (2007), popped three bags of five different brands of microwave popcorn. He used the following brands: Aldi, Act II, Orville Redenbacher, Jolly Time, and Pop Secret. His hypothesis, that the most expensive of the group, Orville Redenbacher, would have the least un-popped kernels, was proven wrong by his experiment.

Another experiment by Krish Dhungana, (2016) tested three different brands of popcorn, Pop Secret, Act II and Orville Redenbacher. His hypothesis was that Pop Secret would have the fewest un-popped kernels. His hypothesis was based on his research that the Pop Secret brand had the highest moisture content in its kernels. The higher the moisture content the more likely more kernels would pop. His hypothesis was proven wrong in that Orville Redenbacher had the highest average of popped kernels.

My experiment will focus on the highest yield, by weight, of popped kernels.

Experimental Design Steps

Three bags of each brand of popcorn will be prepared.

Prior to each bag being cooked, 8 ounces of room temperature water in a glass drinking glass will be heated in the microwave, on high power, to ensure consistent starting temperature.

Each bag of popcorn will be weighed prior to preparation.

Each bag of popcorn will be prepared according to the manufacturer’s directions. In the event the directions call for a range of times, the mid-range of times will be used.

The scale used in this experiment has a “tare/zero” feature that allows for measuring the contents of the vessel only, not the vessel itself.

After each weight measurement, the vessel used for containment will be thoroughly wiped clean to ensure there are no leftover contents.

Reasoning

Each manufacturer has their own set of directions for their products. Following the directions should give a consistent result across the products samples. Heating the microwave with the glass of water should make for a consistent starting condition. By making the starting temperature consistent there should be no loss of time in heating the test environment. Allowing the bag to stand for 30 seconds prior to taking measurements should allow the residual heat to complete the cooking process.

Sequence of Events

The net yield of popcorn is determined by the following steps:

1. Heat 8 oz. room temperature water in microwave for 1 minute.

2. Remove product from plastic packaging

3. Place bag of uncooked popcorn in microwave

4. Cook popcorn according to directions

5. After recommended cooking time, remove bag from microwave

6. Let stand 30 seconds to allow for any residual cooking to complete

7. Empty contents completely onto a baking sheet

8. Separate popped kernels from un-popped kernels

9. Place popped kernels in the bowl on the scale

10. Record the weight of the cooked kernels

11. Remove cooked popcorn

12. Wipe out bowl to remove any leftover contents

13. Count the un-popped kernels, record

14. Weigh the un-popped kernels, record

15. Remove un-popped kernels from the bowl

16. Wipe out bowl to remove any leftover contents

17. Weigh refuse, record

18. Wipe out bowl to remove any leftover contents

19. Eat or save popped kernels

Repeat steps 1-19 for each bag of popcorn.

Directions from each package below:

Tools, Technologies, and Measurement Units

Popcorn

3 bags Act II

3 bags Pop Secret

3 bags Orville Redenbacher

3 bags Pop Weaver

Microwave-1,000 watt output

Kitchen Scale

Bowl

Baking Sheet

Slotted Spatula

Chop Stick

Glass Drinking Glass

Water Pitcher

Water

Variables

Independent Variable: The brand of microwave popcorn

Dependent Variable: The net weight, in ounces, of un-popped kernels and net weight, in ounces, of popped kernels

Controlled Variable: The manufacturer’s cooking time

Threat Reduction to internal validity

By heating a glass of water prior to cooking the popcorn this will ensure that each bag is popped at a relatively equal starting temperature for the microwave. Using the same microwave, glass and water from a room temperature pitcher controls for the starting temperature of the microwave. Using the same scale, bowl and wiping out the bowl between each measure controls for the weight of each item. Measuring