| In paid collaboration with Chase |
Ok, I know we're doing that thing where we give you a little info, but don't tell you everything...the good news is your heads in the right direction, some would say you're getting warmer.
Let's gather the facts that you have-
1. Pipcorn is going to Death Valley (the hottest place on Earth).
2. The whole team is going all the way out there.
3. This adventure is BIG, like a star in the center of the solar system big.
So what's my point? We had this idea, to pop popcorn, yes, we know what you're thinking, "what's the big deal? You pop thousands of bags a day!" But this is a little different... we wanted to use the sun, and ONLY the sun to pop the popcorn. You know when you were a kid and you swore that you would be able to fry an egg on the hot summer concrete- well, I guess we never grew up because we still want to do that.
Once we decided on the idea, we needed to decide where we would do this. Stay in NYC? Not hot enough. Go to a beach? Not dangerous enough. Then it hit us! If we are trying to pop the smallest kernel, we need to go to the hottest place, so begins our travel to Death Valley.
Step 1: The idea? Check
Step 2: Where? Check
Step 3: How? Not yet checked...
We have a few options when popping outside in Death Valley, old school style, make a fire and pop on the campfire- sounds dangerous and doesn't really use the sun, OUT. Solar facility, uses the sun, but it's air-conditioned and well, we wanted to be a little more hands on (we are Pipcorn after all) so that was OUT. A solar cooker uses the sun, one with the elements and cooks 5 times faster than charcoal... ladies and gentleman, we had our winner.
A solar cooker uses reflective mirrors to capture the sun's rays and focus them into one spot on the pot and this is where the magic begins. We tested it in NYC on a winter day and let's just say we had to take our jackets off. What's going to happen when it's 134 degrees and the solar cooker instantly reaches 550 degrees fahrenheit, well, were about to find out.
