Popcorn question.

[cathy63]

If you know you have fresh popcorn kernels and you're still getting a lot of old maids in your microwaved popcorn, try setting the bowl or bag on top of something else so the kernels are just a little closer to the center of the oven. An overturned glass pie plate works.

 

[cathy63]

We keep our home at 78*, melting point of coconut oil is 76*. In the morning when the doors are open, it's solid, in that afternoon when the doors get shut and the air conditioner keeps it at 78*, it's liquid.


I bought a jar for use in my Keto diet, but I don't care for the taste, I may try it with popcorn and have my wife use it for other cooking uses.

Sounds like you might have gotten virgin coconut oil. Refined coconut oil has no flavor at all.

 

[Rianne]

Great thread, thx Time2. We have an air popper, very tough popcorn and no fun to eat. I'm giving the Nordic Ware popper a try. Great reviews from here and Amazon. Finally, my search is over. It's impossible to find a low salt microwave popcorn. Plus, I tend to have a stomach upset later in the evening from microwave popcorn. Will also try coconut oil, I use it for my skin...why not popcorn?
Edit: Just saw Ace Hardward has a white Nordic popcorn maker for $11.99. Amazon is charging ~$20 for a red one. Same bowl, different price and white!

 

[LOL!]

I do have sweet tooth, so for less "healthy" occasions I want to add chocolate or some coating to make it taste "sweet and salty". I have not found a good chocolate to add - I want one that solidifies on the kernels and not stay sticky, and the only way I can do that is to bake the kernels in an oven with the current chocolate popcorn "drizzles" on the market. And I am still working on a decent "sweet" coating.

I wonder if spritzing with something sweet such as soda pop and then sprinkling on cocoa powder would do the trick for you? It won't be as sweet as 100% Cracker Jacks though.

Or my in-laws make popcorn and then add some caramel-coated corn. The ratio of regular popcorn to caramel corn sets the sweetness level. One only needs to have one or two caramel-coated pieces per mouthful to satisfy a sweet tooth. You could add some chocolate-covered popcorn, too.

 

[Red Badger]

Pop (in microwave) in an ordinary brown paper bag! From the back of Bob's Red Mill Yellow Popcorn bag:

Place 1/4 cup popcorn kernels in a small paper bag. Pop on 100% power for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes until most of the kernels have popped, or until there are 3 seconds between pops.

+1. I like to season mine with pepper occasionally. No one steals that from me....

 

[Time2]

I made some popcorn tonight, I used coconut oil and a screen over the pan
instead of a lid. It was much better, most of the the popped kernels were crisp with only a few chewy. Next batch I'll keep it in the hot pan a little longer to see if that helps.

 

[swakyaby]

I’ve tried various methods—microwave poppers, air popper, Westbend stir-crazy electric popper, pot on the stove, and the Whirley Pop stovetop popper—and I favor the Whirley Pop. Initially, I used to use Orville Redenbacher popcorn and popcorn oil, and Flavacol popcorn salt. But I found it was just as tasty and more convenient to use popcorn packets by Great Northern or Paramount.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I just buy the bags of popcorn from Trader Joes. It's one of the items I hoard.

 

[RobbieB]

Traders cheese corn is really good! Not to mention you don't even need to cook it.

 

[Rianne]

Edit: Just saw Ace Hardward has a white Nordic popcorn maker for $11.99. Amazon is charging ~$20 for a red one. Same bowl, different price and white!

Found Nordic popcorn bowl at Walmart yesterday, $5. Made the popcorn. I have to say as good as movie popcorn (in the theater) as far as tenderness. I did not need any salt or butter. No more Kettle potato chips + all that salt and calories.

 

[always_learning]

Another vote for the microwave bowl.

I just use the regular Orville Redenbacher kernels, a gentle coating of light olive oil, and nuke it. There is a slight trial and error needed to get the timing right, though. I tossed my air popper after a few months of this method.

I bought the special popcorn salt (super fine) and some white cheddar seasoning. Delish! I'm a buttered popcorn lover and I don't miss the butter.

I never thought of using coconut oil, so I'll have to try that. Yum!

 

[eytonxav]

I just buy the bags of popcorn from Trader Joes. It's one of the items I hoard.

I also like the taste of their popcorn, but like most brands of bagged popcorn you can get many under-popped kernels.

 

[rodi]

For us - we're old school.

If it's for the family - it's a big pot with a lid on the stove.... giving it a shake every so often to prevent burning. Slight learning curve but as low tech as you get. We use canola oil. If it's a solo batch - it's the paperbag in the microwave.... with a pat of butter in with the kernals. Makes the bag a bit greasy but imparts great butter flavor.

We use orville redenbacher kernels that we got in a giant tub from costco about 3 years ago. We go through a tub every 3-4 years.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I also like the taste of their popcorn, but like most brands of bagged popcorn you can get many under-popped kernels.

I find very few unpopped kernels in the cheddar cheese Trader Joe bags. I give those to my Yorkshire terriers.

The only brand that can beat TJ's is one from Sprouts called Late July. Try it. I stake my ER.org credibility on it.

 

[pb4uski]

.... I stake my ER.org credibility on it.

Well, that's a huge wager there.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Well, that's a huge wager there.

I placed $4000 in baseball bets last year. I like big bets.

I know everyone wants to hear. $1700 on the Cards to win the division, $1700 on the Nat's to win the division, and $600 on the Yankee's to win their division. Made $2000 profit.

 

[HI Bill]

Whatever you all do, I'd stay away from pre-packaged microwave popcorn. The bags are coated with PFAS chemicals that aren't good for your (similar to what's in Teflon). We use a hot air popper, and the quality and freshness of the popcorn seems to make the most difference!

 

[Bamaman]

We have it all. Microwave, skillet and air popper.

Whatever, we like to put salted butter on it.

And sometimes we use a yellow popcorn oil when we pop the corn in grease. It does wonders for shredded hash browns with onions--smothered and scattered as the Waffle House calls'em.

 

[RobbieB]

I've heard (haven't tried it yet) that popcorn popped in bacon fat (saved after cooking the bacon) is magnificent.

One of these days...

 

[MRG]

I've heard (haven't tried it yet) that popcorn popped in bacon fat (saved after cooking the bacon) is magnificent.

One of these days...

I have a childhood memory of eating popcorn at my Aunts their popcorn was special. My DM told me that was her secret, bacon fat. Mom said in WWII fat was rationed and everyone saved their bacon fat; her sister never quit

 

[Katsmeow]

I have a Dash hot air popper. It works fine. If you tilt it back slightly while popping you don't have unpopped kernels shooting out.

Anyway, when done I usually spray it with one of the oil sprays (lightly), and sprinkle a light amount of popcorn salt. This sticks better than the usual salt and I only have to use a little.

I like cinnamon sugar so I mix up a little cinnamon sugar (1 part cinnamon to 4 parts sugar -- for 6 cups or so of popcorn I use about 1 tsp of sugar) and sprinkle that on their. This ends up being very low calorie over all and tastes great.

Occasionally for an indulgence I melt 1 T. of Land o Lakes cinnamon sugar butter and put over the popcorn.

 

[pb4uski]

I've heard (haven't tried it yet) that popcorn popped in bacon fat (saved after cooking the bacon) is magnificent.

One of these days...

I'll have to give that a try. I love popcorn. And bacon... what can I say!

 

[eytonxav]

I find very few unpopped kernels in the cheddar cheese Trader Joe bags. I give those to my Yorkshire terriers.

The only brand that can beat TJ's is one from Sprouts called Late July. Try it. I stake my ER.org credibility on it.

I'll give it a try, but remember, credibility on here can be fleeting.

 

[pacergal]

I've heard (haven't tried it yet) that popcorn popped in bacon fat (saved after cooking the bacon) is magnificent.

One of these days...

OMG! I had forgotten about this. Its how we fixed popcorn as a kid! Mom had a bacon fat jar in the fridge.

 

[24601NoMore]

Huge popcorn connoisseurs here. WhirleyPop is the only way to go in our opinion. 2 TBSP Peanut (or other oil..we prefer Peanut's higher temp profile) and 1/2 cup corn. Makes 2 good healthy servings - one for each of us.

If you're not familiar with the WP - it's basically the same mixing action as a theater popcorn machine. There's a metal arm connected to a spinner that you turn with a handle. That mixes the kernels round and round in the pan..and whatever speed you turn the handle. Keeps things moving, which appears to be a main thing needed for awesome popcorn.

We have a gas stove, though I assume electric would work equally well.

We generally dislike Orville (too chewy, too many husks) and found the Whole Foods bulk, multi-colored popcorn (super cheap) to be our favorite. Problem is, we don't go into ANY stores during CV-19 and you can't order it online. So, we pay a LOT more per lb to buy from the WhirleyPop company (aka WabashValleyFarms) for "gourmet" popcorn..and it's really, really good. Maybe not worth the cost of the corn + shipping, but I'd rather it that than Orville or Jolly Time any day of the week.

They have a huge variety of large kernels, small kernels, hulless kernels and more. Worth checking out at popcornpopper.com..

ETA - check out their "Theater Seasoning" which appears to be mostly butter + salt in dried, sprinkable form. 1/4 tsp per 1/2 cup of corn is plenty, though I usually sprinkle a bit more on. No need for butter..