Corn into Popcorn?

[Sunny & the 5 egg layers]

When you grow corn, is there anything special that you must do to prepare it in order to make it into popcorn?
Thank you in advance.

 

[curly_kate]

You need to buy corn seed that is specifically for popcorn. I grew strawberry popcorn, and the kernels are a LOT smaller & drier than regular corn. But maybe there's a way to dry out corn for popcorn that someone else can fill us in on. (seemed appropriate! )

 

[hoodat]

When you grow corn, is there anything special that you must do to prepare it in order to make it into popcorn?
Thank you in advance.

Popcorn is a flint corn with a very hard shell. That's what makes it pop. The moisture turns to steam and because of the hard shell it can't evaporate so when the pressure gets high enough the shell bursts and the corn literally explodes. You can't pop field corn because the shell isn't hard enough to hold the steam in. You just end up with parched corn.
Drying popcorn can be tricky. There has to be enough moisture in the kernel to make steam but if there is too much the shell isn't hard enough to contain the steam. Popcorn that is either too moist or too dry will not pop well. You end up with a lot of "old maids" Kernels that didn't pop.
Few people realize it but Orville Redenbacher was a very tallented corn hybridizer. He devoted a lot of his life to developing the perfect popcorn and came up with several hybrids that are exclusive to the company.