# if you ate an uncooked popcorn kernel, would it pop inside you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385 "2011-12-16T05:38:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cookie\_eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@cookie\_eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookie_eater)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/1 "2011-12-16T05:38:36Z")
I’m not saying this is safe, or that I would ever want to try it… _cough_ _cough_ but if you were to eat an uncooked popcorn kernel, would it pop inside you? Also if you feed a pigeon or a chicken uncooked popcorn kernels and baked it, would you have a chicken with popcorn inside? 😮 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/2 "2011-12-16T05:43:24Z")
no you aren’t hot enough. yes if quick. because you aren’t hot enough then you should pay attention to. ‘knee high by the 4th of July’. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/3 "2011-12-16T05:43:41Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/4 "2011-12-16T05:47:48Z")
Popcorn kernels require at least 180°C to pop. Human body temperature is about 37. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/5 "2011-12-16T07:04:05Z")
> [@cookie\_eater](#): > > Also if you feed a pigeon or a chicken uncooked popcorn kernels and baked it, would you have a chicken with popcorn inside? 😮 Popcorn in meat will not pop. A friend experimented with popcorn meatloaf a few times, and she never got even one piece to pop. I feel for her poor family. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/6 "2011-12-16T07:23:08Z")
If you find a microwave big enough and climb inside\*, then yes. \*Not recommended for trying at home. May cause adverse side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Janetda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@Janetda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janetda)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/7 "2011-12-16T07:40:11Z")
Only if you follow it with a chaser of boiling oil. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/8 "2011-12-16T08:32:25Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > If you find a microwave big enough and climb inside\*, then yes. > > \*Not recommended for trying at home. May cause adverse side effects. Side effects such has first boiling away all moisture in the body. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/9 "2011-12-16T11:23:31Z")
Popcorn pops because moisture inside the kernel turns to steam and the pressure builds up inside until it bursts. As others have said, you’re probably not hot enough for that! ---
**Author:** ![Corresponder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Corresponder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corresponder)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/10 "2011-12-16T12:25:19Z")
I know for a fact that if you feed a pigeon uncooked popcorn kernels and bake it, you won’t end up with a chicken with popcorn inside. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/11 "2011-12-16T13:16:57Z")
Useful pedantry: The hard yellow kernels that grow on ears on stalks in fields which, when heated in oil to ~180 C puff out into the white morsels we love to consume with butter, is **popping corn**. The popped kernels, not surprisingly, are **popped corn**. The term _popcorn_ can refer to either but traditionally meant popped, not popping corn, though today it seems to be used indiscriminately for both. While nearly any variety of corn can be made to pop, the commercially sold popping corn is _zea mays v. averta_, a variety of _flint corn_. (Nearly all non-popped kernel corn eaten by humans is one of a few varieties of _sweet corn_; Animal feed, corn meal, corn starch, corn syrup, etc., are generally produced from one of a substantial number of varieties of _field corn_, which often grows larger plants and/or more abundant yields, but at a cost in flavor. The final group of varietis is, as noted above, _flint corn_, so called for its kernels’ tough outer shell. The three principal uses of flint corn are for popping corn, for the multicolored harvest-festival “Indian corn”, and for general corn uses (noted above) in cooler climates, as it resists killing frosts better than the other “dent corns.” ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/12 "2011-12-16T13:48:17Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > A friend experimented with popcorn meatloaf a few times, and she never got even one piece to pop. I feel for her poor family. Minimum cooking temperature for meatloaf, according to the USDA: 160°F. Temperature at which popcorn pops: 350°F. There’s obviously something of a disconnect there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/13 "2011-12-16T14:44:13Z")
> [@Corresponder](#): > > I know for a fact that if you feed a pigeon uncooked popcorn kernels and bake it, you won’t end up with a chicken with popcorn inside. How about if one makes a popturduckeon? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/14 "2011-12-16T15:04:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > How about if one makes a popturduckeon? Is weasel edible? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/15 "2011-12-16T15:15:26Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Temperature at which popcorn pops: 350°F. How is it able to pop in a microwave oven, then? I thought microwaves don’t heat food past the boiling point of water. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/16 "2011-12-16T15:23:37Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > How is it able to pop in a microwave oven, then? I thought microwaves don’t heat food past the boiling point of water. Any heat source will not heat water past the boiling point of water until all the water becomes steam. That has nothing to do with microwaves, it’s just how boiling works. Microwave popcorn is coated in oil which has a much much higher boiling temperature, so it gets hot enough to pop the kernels. ---
**Author:** ![cookie\_eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@cookie\_eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookie_eater)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/17 "2011-12-16T15:48:10Z")
What about if you fed a chicken uncooked rice? Does that have a higher or less boiling temperature? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/18 "2011-12-16T15:51:24Z")
> [@cookie\_eater](#): > > What about if you fed a chicken uncooked rice? Does that have a higher or less boiling temperature? If you feed a chicken uncooked rice it will not go hungry. ---
**Author:** ![cookie\_eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@cookie\_eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookie_eater)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/19 "2011-12-16T16:01:23Z")
In other words, if you fed a chicken rice, will it cook with the chicken if you bake it? ---
**Author:** ![cookie\_eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@cookie\_eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookie_eater)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385/20 "2011-12-16T16:02:30Z")
yes, i guess that’s true also. -.- [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-ate-an-uncooked-popcorn-kernel-would-it-pop-inside-you/606385.md?page=2)