Savor the Flavor of Kansas Kettle Corn
Can you name the Kettle Corn Capital of Kansas? It’s Burlingame, thanks to Jerry Hill and his wife Benleng, who own Thrill’s Kettle Corn.
Creating delicious kettle corn began as a hobby for Jerry, and has turned into a business. And business is popping after they won first, second and third place at the 2016 Kansas State Fair! In 2012, Jerry began selling kettle corn at farmers markets. Now, Thrill’s Kettle Corn can be found all over the world in 78 stores, online, at events, fairs, car shows and even weddings.
Jerry takes great pride in his kettle corn. On order to find the perfect type of popcorn for his product, he began experimenting with different varieties of popcorn, such as Monster Mushroom Popcorn, Mushroom Popcorn and Butterfly Popcorn. He focuses on using high quality ingredients in order to produce high quality kettle corn.
Popping popcorn starts early in the morning at Thrill’s Kettle Corn – they typically pop from 6-11 a.m. During this time, they can make nearly 100 bags of kettle corn per hour, with the assistance of their part-time employees.
To create the kettle corn, they add the popcorn kernels, oil and sugar to their popcorn popper. After the kettle corn has popped, they wait until it cools off to bag the corn to avoid melting the plastic bags. As soon as the kettle corn has cooled, it’s immediately placed in the bags, sealed and delivered to stores.
“Often people call us and order kettle corn, then it is in the store that afternoon,” Jerry says.
Thrill’s Kettle Corn is famous for their award-winning kettle corn flavors — regular, caramel and cinnamon, which won first, second and third place in that respective order at the 2016 Kansas State Fair. If you’re looking for unique flavors of kettle corn, you can also try their seasonal blends, such as their Sweetheart special for Valentine’s Day, their Patriotic blend for the July 4th, or their Wildcat Power Corn creation. Jerry is a fan of all the blends he creates, but his favorite flavor remains the regular kettle corn.
When asked about the shelf life of the kettle corn, Jerry chuckled as he explained how long the kettle corn will last.
“The bags we use are moisture resistant, so it will last 90 days in the bag, or about 20 minutes after you open the bag because you will not be able to stop eating it.”
What started out as a hobby, is now a business Jerry loves. Creating a tasty, local treat and hearing from satisfied customers makes Jerry’s day. His goal is grow Thrill’s Kettle Corn so he can continue doing what he loves on an even larger scale.
This article has been edited for our website. Read the full, original article by Leah Clawson at Kansas Corn.
