What makes popcorn an enjoyable snack is its availability in several types. Popcorn is available in different shapes, textures, and flavors for you to enjoy.
The known types of popcorn include white, mushroom-style, butterfly-style, ladyfinger, among others.
Popcorn is also available in various colors like yellow, blue, purple, or red, to mention but a few. In addition, if you play around with some recipes, you can make popcorn balls.
Let’s look at the types of popcorn there are available:
White Popcorn
White popcorn is a unique type as its kernels are smaller than ordinary popcorn seeds. People tend to assume white popcorn is the type used in the movie theater, but this type is different.
The white popcorn kernels have a sweeter taste instead of the pronounced salty, savory flavor we are used to eating.
You can pop the white popcorn in any popcorn-making machine though it requires minimal to no oil to cook.
In addition, this type of corn has a high fiber content making it a crunchy, healthy snack.
Butterfly-style Popcorn
Butterfly-style popcorn is a popular type well known for its butterfly shape when exposed to heat. These types of kernels form little wings and tend to use them to fly through the air while popping. It is fascinating to watch the butterfly-style popcorn in action as they develop their unique shapes.
You can enjoy this snack with some melted butter and some salt to taste. If you feel adventurous, you can try adding some garlic powder or cayenne pepper, or both to create perfect flavors.
Mushroom-style Popcorn
At Shumway Farm, we pride ourselves on the Mushroom-style popcorn, which forms an exceptional shape when popped.
This kernel type explodes into a ball when exposed to heat instead of the ordinary bunch of wings. To spice up the taste, you can add some butter or oil of your choice or some melted cheese.
The main advantage of purchasing mushroom-style popcorn is that it takes time before going stale and losing its crunchiness when exposed to air.
In addition, this type of popcorn can handle a wide variety of toppings allowing it to be a little crazy and experimental.
Ladyfinger Popcorn
Ladyfinger popcorn is the most tender type of popcorn kernel available in the market. This type of corn is small and has a thin hull making it the perfect choice for people who wear braces.
Some of the additional flavors you can play around with are cheddar cheese powder, buffalo wing seasoning mix, blue cheese powder, garlic powder, avocado powder, salt, pepper, and dried cilantro leaves.
In addition, these kernels also make an excellent topping for soups and baked products.
Red, Blue, Purple, and Yellow Popcorn
Yellow popcorn is the typical type readily available in stores and also in movie theaters. This type of popcorn is large and yellow.
It is also organic and affordable. Red popcorn pops up white despite its name, has a neutral taste, and is more crunchy than yellow or white popcorn.
Blue popcorn also pops white, it is crunchy but smaller than the rest, and finally, the purple popcorn is similar to the others but has the most flavor of the four types.
Hulless Popcorn
Hulless popcorn is not a type of popcorn per se. Instead, it’s a characteristic of popped popcorn.
The hull is the hard yellow part of the popcorn that gets stuck in your teeth after enjoying some popcorn, and some popcorn has more hulls than others.
If having the hulls stuck between your teeth irritates you, then you should try the hulless popcorn.
Hulless popcorn tends to produce fewer hulls when popped. This is because the thinner the popcorn kernels, the fewer the hulls you get.
Some of the hulless varieties include gourmet white, baby white, ladyfinger, midnight blue, vintage red, tender white, and gourmet red.
There are also bigger popcorns with fewer hulls like gourmet yellow and gourmet mushrooms.
Our Favorite Three
Here at Shumway Farms, we have three favorite styles that we choose to cultivate, each for their unique qualities and uses.
We prefer to grow the White Popcorn, Mushroom-Style Popcorn, and Butterfly-Style Popcorn. This way, we can provide a range of kernel styles to our customers.
If you are looking to create your own coated popcorns, such as caramel corn, you will need a sturdier popcorn kernel like that provided by the Mushroom.
If you are looking to offer your customers the traditional movie-theater experience, then we can provide you with excellent Butterfly-Style kernels.
If you are instead looking to create a healthier snack from popcorn, or use it in as a base in a larger recipe, then White popcorn kernels will be your best bet with their high fiber content.
Contact us today for all of your bulk popcorn kernel needs!