Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Popcorn Aroma

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Posted by Jay Glaus (Member # 6011) on 05-21-2018, 07:19 AM:

I don't know if anyone else is experiencing this, but being a drive in, years ago when we used to pop popcorn, the aroma was so strong with our exhausts you could smell it all the way in the back of the field at the box office. And walking in the concession the smell of popcorn would hit you. Over the recent years it seems like our popcorn has lost its aroma.

We haven't really changed what we have used, I buy from CCSI so I get the Louana Coconut popping oil, I use Weaver Gold popcorn seed, and Flavacol popcorn salt. It seems like none of my poppers put off any kind of aroma like they used to, and I can't understand why.

Aside from no smell the popcorn tastes good, and that's not just me talking. I offer free refills on my 170oz large tubs, and get quite a few of them in at intermission for refills, so they must be liking it. I just wish the smell was back to entice everyone in the field to come get some.

Anyone else have this happen or have any tips?

Thanks,

Jay

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 05-21-2018, 08:26 AM:

After 40+ years in this business, I can no longer smell popcorn. I remember years ago being told I smell like popcorn after a long day of kids shows. People still come to the boxoffice and say they can smell the popcorn from outside. I can't smell a thing. You may have finally acclimated.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-21-2018, 03:01 PM:

I agree with Martin, you probably have become "deaf" for the smell of popcorn.

People will get used to most types of odors and eventually won't smell it anymore. While some smells you can miss, it can also happen to the smells you want to remember.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-21-2018, 06:28 PM:

I love the smell of cooking popcorn, but I hate the smell of finished popcorn when it's got the topping on it. I have no idea why that is because I like the smell of the buttery stuff by itself. (Odell's SupurKist 2)

I notice the aroma every time I walk in and I'm super-tuned in to the smell of when the concession people leave the kettle heat on too long. My wife thinks I have a 6th sense about that.

We use Odell's coconut oil with a little Flavacol in it to pop with.

There was a girl who worked here in the '80s who recently came back for her first visit since she left town, and upon walking in the front door she instantly said, "Oh the popcorn smells the same as ever!" with a giant smile.

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 05-22-2018, 08:54 AM:

The new poppers like Gold Medal have enclosed systems that filter the air inside the machine. That is so we don't have to have an outside vent for the fumes, mostly steam. (Health department regulation)

The only time the smell and steam escape is when the doors are open to fill containers.

The machine is micro-controlled and it tells the operator when to fill the kettle and when to empty it. Unfortunately, if it is not returned to the proper position, the agitator does not move and the batch burns in place. Mike knows that smell only too well!

I remember when I worked in the booth and you could see the cloud of smoke from the popper rising above the balcony railing and into the projector light beam. Then I called the concession stand and reminded them to activate the exhaust system.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-22-2018, 02:36 PM:

Also, have you changed your oil to popcorn delivery ratios?

NOW, if you really want to "stink" up the lobby and the field, go to the Gold Medal site, do a search on popcorn flavorings, and find Caramel Corn flavoring.

You replace your seasoning salt with this stuff, and you're popcorn sales will quadruple with caramel corn flavored popcorn, for this stuff is a powered version of doing caramel corn the real way.

Just that you'll have a bit more work cleaning out the kettle since you're cooking sugar, but the sales will make you forget this.

-Monte

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 05-30-2018, 10:01 AM:

The smell inside a large Fox West Theatre or Golden State United CA Theatre in the 1950's and early 60's had a combo smell of popcorn, cigarettes and hot dogs. This musty smell you won't find today. Strange that most large Fox West Theatres did not pop their popcorn but it was done in LA CA and sent up by trucks to warm up in large brown bags. You could still smell it all over the theatre as it got warm in the bin and outside the boxoffice area. I will always remember this great movie theatre smell. They never opened up the exit doors at night most of the time and the odor just stayed inside.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-20-2018, 08:40 PM:

I always thought there should be a spray can of 'popcorn smell.'

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-20-2018, 09:31 PM:

I'm sure Disney has one. They have a chocolate-chip cookies smell that they spray over Main Street, I know that.

Posted by Alexandre Pereira (Member # 9295) on 06-20-2018, 11:45 PM:

beta carotene - just do what I do - buy canola oil and pour bulk paprika into the mix. Better than vegetol and much cheaper. Buttery popcorn smell throughout the lobby!

Spices, paprika
Beta Carotene: 19158mcg

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-27-2018, 10:58 AM:

I have always thought it would be a good idea to run a 2" - 3" exhaust vent from directly over the popper to the somewhere in the ceiling of the lobby and just flood the lobby with the aroma of freshly cooked popcorn. It would probably be great until one of the concessions kids forgets to dump the kettle and burns a batch. Not much of a worse smell than burnt popcorn.

Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 06-27-2018, 11:04 AM:

The local GCC Hillsdale Cinema used to use the spray can of "popcorn smell" prior to people arriving for showtime.

Mike

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-27-2018, 01:25 PM:

In the sixties, my boss had a spray can of popcorn aroma that he sprayed right into the air vent in between shows. I have been looking for that stuff ever since and haven't been able to find it. Once when I caught him doing that, I asked him why and he explained it increased concessions sales exponentially. I as skeptical. He said, watch this. It was in the middle of a show and he used the spray. About 5 minutes after, people came out of the theatre all wanting to buy popcorn. It certainly convinced me. I was looking for that product ever since to no avail. No question it works, and probably cleaner than trying to blow popcorn cooking oil exhaust into the theatre.

We spoke about this is another thread and someone here posted that there is a company that manufactures aromas -- AromaTech They are our of Canada and have all sorts of exotic scents (oven fresh bread, for example and chocolate chip cookies) and they do have popcorn, but they are outrageously expensive -- a .05 oz costs $20. Much easier to just get a way to fan the rising scent from the cooker into the theatre. Plus, the scents only approxiomate those enticing names...in some cases they don't come nearly as close as I would like (I did by a few out of curiosity).

I too and disappointed that I no longer can smell the popcorn as intensely as I used to. I don't think that is as much "scent blindness" as it may be old age...you know, when EVERYTHING doesn't work as well as it used to. "scent blindness" usually happens when you encounter an odor and you are in its presence for a long period of time, you then become insensitive to it; thing is, now I find even when I am cooking the popcorn, I don't find the smell as dominant as when I was younger.

There is another company I found that makes scents which are quite powerful and not nearly as expensive as the above -- Scent Bomb Products by Careco LLC. They are very powerful and retail for $5 for 1 fl oz.
Only problem is, they don't have a popcorn scent....so far. I spoke to someone there and from what she said, I think if they saw a large enough market for it, they would be interested in making a popcorn scent available.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 07-03-2018, 06:23 PM:

Ya a person overtime, no matter what the stuff is, will get use to its smell. I have a friend who puts in wood floors and works with wood and he says he can't smell the wood barely anymore. When I worked in the oilfield we were always around the smell of H2S gas (hydrogen sulfide, smells like rotten egg). After awhile you get use to it. We wore meters as to be alerted to extra high levels which are deadly.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-03-2018, 07:25 PM:

When I worked for National Amusements, they only popped popcorn once a week, Thursday nights. They did indeed have some kind of spray they used in the lobby over the weekends. I was not a fan of this.

Ironically, over the years, I've done a lot of popcorn taste tests with customers and found they prefer the day old or two day old popcorn to the freshly popped stuff.

As far as the smell, I've become immune to it also. People tell me all the time that I smell like popcorn, but I can't smell it.

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 07-09-2018, 10:22 AM:

quote: Dennis Benjamin
Ironically, over the years, I've done a lot of popcorn taste tests with customers and found they prefer the day old or two day old popcorn to the freshly popped stuff.

I tried to explain that to a lady a couple of weeks ago, and she wouldn't have it. Her popcorn "MUST be caught mid-air as it's falling from the kettle." I handed it to her and she said, "Even when it's popped right in from of me, it's still stale and chewy!" I told her "It's still wet, of course it's going to be "chewy. In the bottom of the machine there is a forced hot air blower that dries out the popcorn", but hers (served the way she demanded) didn't get the chance to dry out. She couldn't be bothered with facts, we just serve stale chewy popcorn. [fu]

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 07-09-2018, 05:15 PM:

Dumb lady assumed she knew what she was talking about lol. When I have guests over for movie night I pop the popcorn hours before they arrive and put it in the oven on warm until its movie time. Otherwise its chewy as said. I need to get a popper at home that has a proper warming tray. Mine just has a heat lamp.