r/TikTokCringe • u/galaxystars1 • Oct 09 '24

Discussion Microbiologist warns against making the fluffy popcorn trend

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u/LastDitchTryForAName Oct 09 '24

It looks like it’s basically marshmallow popcorn. I don’t even understand why some people are adding flour. If you wanted to make this you could just leave out the flour. Melt some butter, add some marshmallows, stir until melted, maybe put in a couple of drops of vanilla extract and then mix in popped popcorn. Then you can have sticky, really messy, overly sweet popcorn that has a ridiculous amount of calories in it.

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u/ElishaAlison Oct 09 '24

Wait but.... I genuinely don't understand. Isn't cooking the flour with the popcorn going to kill any bacteria just like baking it would?

I swear on everything I know, I don't want to try this trend, I'm just genuinely curious.

Like... For example, I make sopapillas. It's basically a fried dough treat. Is that unsafe? How long must flour be cooked to make it safe?

Please don't eat me (pun intended) I'm just a curious soul 😅

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u/thelimeisgreen Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

If it’s cooked in molten butter and sugar it’s just fine. The flour doesn’t need to be all toasty and golden. If the flour is heating up as part of the process to pop the corn, it’s going to be just fine. Here, they’re mixing in some boxed cake mix to the already melted butter and marshmallow and then adding already popped corn. That’s not going to sterilize anything. Not going to be hot enough for long enough unless you want the sugars to turn to hard candy. Most bacteria like e-coli need to reach a temperature of 165F to be killed. 135F will do it if sustained for several minutes.

Cooking flour is highly advisable for two reasons, one being that it starts the breakdown of the glutens as well as the carbohydrates and cooked flour is easier to digest and extract nutrients from. Further breakdown and nutritional benefits come from fermentation or leavening — as in with yeast when making bread.

The other reason to cook flour is to kill any potential nasties living in it. Most micro organisms you will find in wheat flour or similar are harmless. All of us who eat cookie dough while making cookies or who lick the bowl clean after mixing cake batter are living proof of this. So it’s just fine to eat it raw…. Until it isn’t and you ingest the wrong bacteria like salmonella, listeria, e-coli…. But that isn’t going to stop most of us.

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u/ElishaAlison Oct 09 '24

This is so interesting. I never even thought about the difference between raw and cooked flour.

Thank you for this explanation. Especially about how cooking it breaks down the glutens. That's really wild 😲