Summer Corn!

When I think of summer time, I think beaches and BBQs.  And one of my favorite BBQ items is grilled corn.  Corn dripping with butter and a sprinkle of lemon pepper.  Yum!

This infographic, designed by Chris Rooney, a graphic artist out of San Francisco, dispels the mystery of corn below.  Ok, so maybe there’s not much mystery surrounding a product that has been around for thousands of years. 😉

I always wondered about pop corn….could any stalk of corn be turned into pop corn?  Well, it turns out that there is only one variety that can be turned into this crunchy snack.  The pop corn kernel we know and love contains a small amount of water in the starch area, and when heated to around 450°, the water turns to steam and creates pressure than explodes.  The casing gives way and turns the kernel inside out!

Corn can be used as a base for hundreds, if not thousands, of food staples—but it is also used in many non-edible products like glue and ethanol.

Although corn gets a bad wrap because of some products like high fructose corn syrup (and rightly so), it can also be a wonderful staple to your diet.  It’s full of vitamin C, folic acid, and is high in fiber.  It’s also been believed to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and heart disease.

You can read more below, as I run off to the farmer’s market to pick up a few ears of my own. 😉

Corn_infographic