Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

treehugger.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 112 posts

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#81

Post by ghayes »

sometimeshuman wrote: post #11
schwartzworld wrote: post #2

This is, as the kids say, cap. Popcorn works because the outer hull is strong enough to hold together until a critical mass of pressure builds inside to rupture it. At that point the starches, which have liquefied under pressure, explode and unliquify rather suddenly. White rice and pearled barley have their hulls removed. You can see in the picture that the barley has split, but not popped, and the rice just looks a…

Wether or not it is popped, is it ready to eat ? From a prepper perspective it would be great to have an alternative way to prepare rice without having to boil away water that might be in scarce supply. It's also attractive to cook rice in 2 minutes as opposed to waiting for a pot of water to boil. Edit: If no one replies, I'll try tonight and report back by tomorrow morning.

I tried this with quinoa today. It did not puff, but it tasted fully cooked with a nice carmelized flavor similar to popcorn. It worked really well on top of a salad. Here's my recipe:

- Heat one cast-iron or heavy bottomed pot under medium heat.

- Add 1/2 cup quinoa (work in batches for more)

- Stir consistently for 1-2 minutes, until quinoa turns medium-brown or smoke begins to appear

- Remove immediately from heat.

- Add 2 tsp oil. Mix in pinches of salt, garlic, onion powder, paprika.

- Let cool 3-4 minutes and serve.

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#82

Post by apnew »

gnufied wrote: post #69
apnew wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am assuming, you are talking about something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokO6XqJvAE . If so, it's not sand, it's salt.

I am pretty sure it used to be sand. Comments on same youtube video: > Sand is also used in a similar process, but only for roasting groundnuts/peanuts, which can be cleaned easily afterward.

Interesting, TIL.

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#83

Post by wahern »

foobarian wrote: post #78
engr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think safety may have something to do with it, it's pretty much a bomb

I've been contemplating using a pipe-bomb shaped vessel to cook things in super-heated water, which would require very high pressures. Imagine getting water to 400F and how golden brown and moist things would be that cook that way! It would be like deep frying food in water.

Looking at the temperature/pressure chart on the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_cooking) any plant or animal tissue, perhaps even bone, would maybe be reduced to a thin sludge long before reaching 400F.

The Wikipedia page mentions pressure ovens, though, which seem designed to achieve the effect you're looking for--fast cooking with browning (Maillard reaction). Personally, this is why I love the Kuhn Rikon fry pan pressure cooker. It has a tri-ply, dimpled bottom for excellent browning; then you can just deglaze, add remaining ingredients, and slap a lid on for pressure cooking. It only holds 2.5L, though, so in practice limited to dishes of about 8-10 servings at the very most (typically more like 4-8 servings).

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#84

Post by dtgriscom »

turnsout wrote: post #45
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #16

I think most Americans are familiar with Sugar / Honey Smacks. These are created by placing wheat in a high pressure vessel and cooking the grain under pressure before suddenly releasing the pressure. The result is that the grain becomes "puffed" by expanding in size. In Asia, there are street merchants who will throw grains into an iron vessel which is then closed and heated to create a similar pressure situation. W…

I wonder if you could do the same in an Instant Pot... I just tried the stovetop technique with wheat berries (hard white), and they just expanded very slightly. But unlike a raw wheat berry, they tasted okay!

Instant pot plus C3. It's a winner! (Well, once...)

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#85

Post by sometimeshuman »

sometimeshuman wrote: post #11
schwartzworld wrote: post #2

This is, as the kids say, cap. Popcorn works because the outer hull is strong enough to hold together until a critical mass of pressure builds inside to rupture it. At that point the starches, which have liquefied under pressure, explode and unliquify rather suddenly. White rice and pearled barley have their hulls removed. You can see in the picture that the barley has split, but not popped, and the rice just looks a…

Wether or not it is popped, is it ready to eat ? From a prepper perspective it would be great to have an alternative way to prepare rice without having to boil away water that might be in scarce supply. It's also attractive to cook rice in 2 minutes as opposed to waiting for a pot of water to boil. Edit: If no one replies, I'll try tonight and report back by tomorrow morning.

To follow-up: I heated a skillet until water sizzled when dripped on it, then added long grain basmati rice and kept it at medium high heat for 2m30s. The grains moved, crackled, and browned.

Since they didn't pop or puff the result doesn't provide much food volume and it's about as crunchy as crushed pecans. Given its neutral flavor, which is unsurprisingly like Rice Krispy cereal, it would function well as a topping but definitely not like the main carb portion of a meal. Probably won't make it again.

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#86

Post by wussboy »

mdani wrote: post #35
adlpz wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen rice done in videos by (I believe?) heating them under pressure and then releasing the pressure suddenly, causing max puffage . An example: https://youtu.be/ZyJoqS__7O0

Puffed rice is made differently in India. They use a hot pan and black sand with no pressure release. Example: https://youtu.be/36GKVfo5PUA

Great link. Watched the whole thing! Fascinating!

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#87

Post by mzs »

gumboza wrote: post #63

Well i just tried this with all the grains in my cupboard and it now smells like burned ass in here and it all tasted horrible.

Thank you for your experiment! You can definitely do it with buckwheat* at least, but not with the method described in this submission. You first need to boil the buckwheat in water and then air dry it. Then when it it is fully dried you add it to boiling oil in small amounts.

* https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=976365162779630

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#88

Post by More-nitors »

spathi_fwiffo wrote: post #53
Stratoscope wrote: post #38

Time to share my recipe for dry roasted pressure cooked brown rice. I make this using a stainless steel stovetop pressure cooker. I do not recommend aluminum. The ingredients are two cups brown rice (long or short grain as you wish), two cups of water or a little less (yes, the rice:water ratio is just 1:1), and half a teaspoon of salt or less. You can scale this up or down easily. Put the rice in the pressure cooker…

sounds a bit like a pilaf, but with less water for the final step. What is the final product like? normal rice or something else?

https://global.11st.co.kr/glb/products/307248392

maybe it's something like this?

btw you can put this in ramen

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#89

Post by dingsbumps »

sowbug wrote: post #76

Anyone know what happened to the snack called Half Pops? They were popcorn that the manufacturer had coaxed into all popping like the few at the bottom of a regular bowl of popcorn. They completely vanished around pandemic times, and now it's hard to find evidence the company even existed. I found a recipe and tried making them, but the error rate was so high and the risk of tooth damage so severe that I gave up.

Nuts.com sells a variety of these

Re: Cook whole grains like popcorn (2018)

#90

Post by pipeline_peak »

I’m surprised with all the health brands like Skinny Pop and Boom Chika Pop that we don’t see mass produced pop grains.

We all know corn isn’t the greatest food in the planet. Some argue it’s not real food for humans, more suited for livestock.

A lot of these grains are more dense in nutrients.

Post reply on HN