I don't think there would be anything harmful if you tried, but it might just flat out not work. My understanding is that the kernels that end up not popping probably just aren't able to. There's a certain amount of moisture that needs to be inside the kernels in order for them to pop. If that moisture level isn't right then it won't go off. So the fact that they didn't already pop, probably means they can't.
this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
26 points (96.4% liked)
zerowaste
1312 readers
182 users here now
Discussing ways to reduce waste and build community!
Celebrate thrift as a virtue, talk about creative ways to make do, or show off how you reused something!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I do this all of the time. You are partially right. You have to keep a close eye on it and stop popping earlier, otherwise they burn.
I'm unsure if it's unsafe. The kernals are safe at room temperature, but once they've been heated, they could become unsafe?
Surprisingly, my food manager safety test did not cover this.
It did cover to never touch turtles then food.
My main concern would be the kernals might simply not want to pop, either from being stale or the previous heating process made the water inside escape but not explode the kernal, so there's no more left to make it explode now.
It is unsafe at room temp. Kernals and grains must always be cooked before eating. They are prone to deadly Bacillus bacteria strains.
It's not waste, it's compost.
Any leftover food stuff can be turned into useful fertilizer. Check you local community to find people who collect it.
Separate your trash and store it in an airtight container.
There is still waste involved into putting edible food in the compost. Growing, packaging, and transporting food all consume resources that go to waste if the food is not eaten.
Are unpopped popcorn kernels a significant source of uneaten food? Debatable.
Here's a trick I like.
Get a liter sized container. Any time you chop veggies put the unused bits in the container and freeze it. When it's full use that to make soup stock.
Yep, then the solids get strained out and composted, or if you have chickens they love it.
Uncooked grains and corn kernals are prone to several bacillus bacterial strains which can be fatal.
Cooking them makes them safe in almost all cases, as long as they reach the correct internal temperatures and stay hot for some time.
Even after cooking, if it tastes even a little wrong then toss it anyways.
...i eat uncooked oats (steel cut or rolled) occasionally, and they're a staple ingredient in muesli as well: is that a dicey practice?..
Rolled Oats, Cut Oats, and Instant Oats are all steam treated and dried (I think...) which should remove any chance of contamination, but if they stay unsealed for a long time or are in contact with moisture or oils then it would carry some risks.
Why would you even think this was unsafe? What's the concern? Are you talking about returning the unpopped kernels to storage and popping them later or do you mean right away?
Sometimes I get the time wrong on my microwave and wind up with a lot of unpopped kernels. So when I get to the bottom of the bowl and see how much extra there is, I put them back in. The only problem is you have to watch them carefully. They have a tendency to burn if you don't stop cooking right when your running out.
I should probably note that in not popping microwave popcorn, I'm popping regular popcorn in a special bowl in the microwave.
What is this bowl it sounds like I need one
Possibly one of those collapsible silicone popcorn popping bowls, I've also seen glass ones. I don't like rubbery ones because mine started breaking down into sticky goo after a while, but maybe there are better ones available.
I have some glass bowls I'm going to try it later 👀👀
It's called a Presto Powerpop by Orville Redenbocker. I've never posted a picture on Lemmy before. If you see it at the bottom of this post, you'll know I was successful.
Anyway, there are a couple of concerns. First, it's plastic so it may not be healthy. Second, you have to buy these little paper cards that fit in the bottom and are only good for a handful of pops before you have to replace them and ultimately buy more. Kind of like a printer with ink cartridges, you're buying into replacements. Unlike printer cartridges, though, they are not expensive. I just buy in bulk. Third, only the bowl is machine washable, the bottom black part is not, but it doesn't really need washing anyway.
If you're concerned about the plastic, I used to pop in a brown paper bag. Just put about a teaspoon of oil in the bottom, about a quarter of a cup of popcorn and salt. Fold the bag once and put a staple in it. Don't fold too much, air and steam need to escape. If you leave the staple out, a lot of times the popcorn overflows and comes out all over the microwave. No, a single staple will not destroy the world of you put it in a microwave.
Ok, let me try the pic:
It looks like it needs to be in the internet instead of my phone so here's an Amazon link:
That's pretty rad 🤔 your concerns are deal breaks for me though.
I'm interested in the paper bag way, but did you say you put a staple in there? I was under the impression that you shouldn't put metal in the microwave. You obviously know better than me if you're doing it, I just want to make sure before I burn my house down.
Yeah it's fine. I actually put two staples in, with a little gap between for the air and steam to come out. In a pinch you can leave the staples out but usually the pressure of the popcorn unrolls the bag and the popcorn comes out.
I'm actually an antenna engineer (radio frequency/microwave engineer) and I'm embarrassed to say I don't fully understand it. I've seen actual metal racks that come with microwave ovens.
Theoretically what would happen is currents would flow on the surface of the metal to what we call the skin depth. Since the power level is high, those currents would generate heat. If it's enough heat the metal could melt or even pop. When this happens it can cause a burn mark and mess up the finish of the interior.
The other effect would be that the microwaves will reflect off of the staple. Reflected waves shouldn't really do anything except cause the wave to bounce around in the microwave, which they already do. The inside of the oven is metal after all.
I think they say not to do it because thin metals can melt or burn. Thick metals might reflect the waves away from where you want them so your food doesn't cook. Otherwise I don't see the harm but maybe I'm missing something. I design antennas, not microwave ovens, but from experience I haven't ever had a problem with the staples.
You can upload images from your device or embed one from a url like so 
Thank you.
Posting a link works the same way, just leave out the "!".
If they became coal, toss them. If you collected them last week, toss them, because the oil will go bad. Otherwise should be safe, they are dry so they cannot grow fungus or bacteria.
Y'all don't eat those too? They're delicious and extra crunchy.
If you just did a batch and want to add the unpopped to a second batch, it is perfectly fine.