I got back from a raw group meeting and it was pretty much all newbies and me. At first I was going to speak but I just ended up doing a short intro on how I became raw, etc.

Anyhow, I guess they all thought I was the 'expert' there since I've been at this for several years and one of the ladies there who seemed to be well versed in general nutrition asked me if popcorn is raw. When I told her no, she proceded to tell me that just the little drop of water inside gets heated and that's it. When I told her it burned the tongue there was still disagreement.

So it went back and forth until I finally said "look, if you want to eat it, and feel it's fine in your diet, then by all means go ahead"...what else was I to say?

To me, the point is, IT'S NOT RAW. Whether someone wants to include it in their diet is their own decision, but I hate to see the other women there who don't know any better thinking that popcorn is raw and eating it just because a woman with a nutrional background says so.

If anyone has any info to pass on to me I can send it to the woman. It seems that she was absoultely convinced that popcorn is raw. I guess I need some kind of "expert's" opinion here besides my own short of telling her that I would gladly join her in harvesting from the next popcorn tree she runs into.

Well, isn't there some "rule" in raw cooking about the temperature to which you're allowed to cook food and stilll label it raw?

For the water to turn to steam and cause the popcorn to pop it has to boil, I don't see how it could possibly be raw (And I clicked on this thread because I was wondering how in the hell one could make raw popcorn, lol).

WOW. That's incredible. :eek: Of COURSE it's not raw! The boiling point for water (required to make the kernel burst) EXCEEDS the generally accepted range for "raw" fods of 108-115 degrees! Best of luck with that group of people :rolleyes:

I am not a raw food bod, but even I can see it can't be 'raw'!!.

You would break your teeth trying to eat that raw!.lol..

WOW. That's incredible. :eek: Of COURSE it's not raw! The boiling point for water (required to make the kernel burst) EXCEEDS the generally accepted range for "raw" fods of 108-115 degrees! Best of luck with that group of people :rolleyes:

To be fair it was only one person insisting that it was raw, but another said "Well, Carol Alt eats it" and the others just kind of sat there listening.

Ya, I guess I felt like that little head-banger guy. Can I post him? LOL :wall:

Of course it's not raw. That's just nuts. "look, if you want to eat it, and feel it's fine in your diet, then by all means go ahead". I'd tend to just leave it at that. If she can't see that cooking something at high temperatures does not equate with raw then I wouldn't really worry about her. Sounds like she just wants to eat popcorn and is making excuses to eat it.

WOW. That's incredible. :eek: Of COURSE it's not raw! The boiling point for water (required to make the kernel burst) EXCEEDS the generally accepted range for "raw" fods of 108-115 degrees! Best of luck with that group of people :rolleyes:
Mind you, the boiling point changes with pressure, but I agree that popcorn isn't close to being "raw" by the usual definition.

I made raw potato chips once -- they didn't turn out very well. The raw zucchini/cucumber/turnip/yellow squash chips turn out great, though.

You might be able to make raw popcorn, although it's probably a lot more trouble than it's worth. I suppose if you heated the popcorn to 115 degrees F and lowered the pressure enough, it could work, but I'm no scientician. According to Clapeyron's Equation (http://www.nlreg.com/boil.htm), water should boil at 115 degrees F around 6.48 PSI which is around .441 atmospheres or 44.1% of standard atmospheric pressure. For 108 degrees it's 6.05 PSI or .412 atms. Of course, I don't think your lady friend would be able to achieve this with the Hoover in her closet. A standard issue vacuum can achieve around .803 atms according to here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_cleaner#Vacuum_cleaner_specifications).

I would love to try this out but I don't have the neccesary suction. Plus, there is no way to tell what the texture of the popcorn would be like or if it would even pop. Although if it did, chances are the popcorn volume would be huge as shown in this similar study (http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2005/Projects/S1506.pdf).
HTH,
~Wonder :tame:

I recommend a strong slap across the face. Keep your hand relaxed and open and put your whole body into the slap so that you almost knock them down. This is just my opinion.

I recommend a strong slap across the face. Keep your hand relaxed and open and put your whole body into the slap so that you almost knock them down. This is just my opinion.
:lol: SamuelWilson, I do believe this is the FUNNIEST thing you've ever said :D

Thanks for all the responses and reality checks. For a moment I even started thinking "does she have a point" maybe because I was just trying not to be argumentative. I just couldn't make sense of what she was saying, and felt like it was such an obvious thing yet I was the only one there who was saying it's not raw. Later, though, my raw friend who couldn't make the meeting was sorry she wasn't there to give her 2 cents.

It may have made things a little more interesting if you were there Samuel!

A popcorn kernel couldn't pop without heat! That's ridiculous to suggest that popcorn is raw! Popcorn poppers get so hot, there's no way it could be raw. I think this woman needs to have a reality check. She's probably just crushed that her popcorn isn't raw and now she feels guilty about eating it.

raw food is supposed to be food in its raw natural state.
popcorn certainly doesn't qualify!!!!!!!!!!!

whether she's right or not about it being heated low enough (which I very much doubt) it certainly is not raw corn.

raw food is supposed to be food in its raw natural state.
popcorn certainly doesn't qualify!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm feeling ornery enough today to wonder where I can buy a smoothie tree.

thats different. thats raw natural food chopped up. not chemically altered. popcorn is not raw corn

I'm feeling ornery enough today to wonder where I can buy a smoothie tree.

I've heard of some folks picking a mango off a tree and massaging it into a puree inside the skin, then poking a small hole and sipping out the smoothie, so there ya go.

I've heard of some folks picking a mango off a tree and massaging it into a puree inside the skin, then poking a small hole and sipping out the smoothie, so there ya go.

I love doing that with plums!! Mmm.....