Popcorn. Lovely, buttery, crunchy, melt in your mouth, popcorn. I could eat it everyday. Sadly, my thighs might begin to hate me, should I feed “the baby” popcorn everyday. There is much to say and bicker over when it comes to the creation of the perfect popped kernel. Some things to think about:
What kind of kernel? White, yellow, blue, heritage, on the cob?
How should I heat it? In a pot with oil, in an air popper, in the *shudder* microwave?
What toppings are best? Butter, salt, truffle oil, nutritional yeast, grated cheeses, sugar, spices, herbs, oil, pepper, so many choices!
So here is my take. Popcorn is very personal. Some people are content to pop a bag of store bought microwave popcorn with hellish “flavourings” into the microwave and wait 3.5 minutes for heaven. I’m too scared of the dreaded “popcorn lung”. It may take a few hundred bags, but the sheer fact that it can happen has scared me away from ever buying it again. When camping, Jiffy Pop is a great alternative to the oil drenched popcorn in a pot trick. Quick and entertaining, the bag expands right before your eyes! You can flavour it however you like.
I used to make popcorn in a pot with lots of oil (a la Alton Brown), but I always had a distatse for the way the popcorn remains somewhat chewy. Maybe I wasn’t heating it hot enough, fast enough, but then my husband came along.
His method of air popping and his patented buttering technique have me smitten. This time of year, when the snow is falling (or not) and there is a chill outside, it’s nice to come home to your sweetheart (and or children) and snuggle up on the couch, throw on a DVD and make a big bowl of popcorn for everyone to share. One of my favourite things to do has to be curling up on the couch and watching my little boy’s eyes light up when the bowl makes it over to the living room. Eyes wide, hands plunging into the bowl, he is in toddler heaven! It’s a rare moment of quiet and I treasure every second of it. So let me share my husband’s perfected popcorn popping method. (Sorry all you pot poppers, but this is an air popping technique!)
Perfect Every Time Popcorn
You will need:
Air popper
1/4 cup Popcorn kernels
1/4 cup Butter
Salt
A large bowl
Napkins
1. Heat your air popper without anything in it, for about 2 minutes. This ensures the metal inside is warm and ready to go when you add the popcorn.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of butter until melted. In bottom of receptacle bowl, pour in a Tbsp or so and add a sprinkle of salt. This ensures that even the popcorn on the bottom gets a little flavour too.
3. Add kernels to heated air popper and allow kernels to pop completely. Do not unplug machine until all kernels have finished popping.
4. Using a teaspoon, sprinkle butter over popcorn as it pops. Add salt if desired and continue to do so until all kernels are popped. Toss bowl, add remaining butter and salt.
5. Enjoy with your favourite people!
I’m a “pot popper”, but I’m with you, you can’t beat fresh popcorn (definitely not microwaved) and the kids love it. Maybe I need to try ‘air popping’ – I might be missing something.
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mmm thanks for putting up my recipe Mrs! I sometimes do the pot-oil-pop method, but I just find it takes more time and has more cleanup. It took us a good couple weeks to find that air-popper. I was really surprised when we couldn’t just find one. Enjoy everyone! I am going to make this for us this evening.. shhhh.. Don’t tell Mrs
It will be our surprise!
Great timing! We have been on a popcorn kick lately =) I confess that we do have a bit of microwave popcorn but it just isn’t the same! Off to look for an air popper…
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Popcorn is an everlasting all time favourite! I enjoy Mr Guilty’s encouraging comments for you!
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Glad I could inspire you! Air poppers are super thrifty too! We got ours for $15.
The way we made popcorn when I was a kid 40 years ago is still the best way: with a basket shaker over the stove. You put the popcorn kernels into a wire mesh basket, slide the lid over, and gently shake while it’s heating. There’s no bulky machine to take out, plug in and store away, no oil, nothing – just delicious popcorn.
That does sound perfect!
Yum… I love popcorn. Looks perfect!
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I like your technique! I prefer air popped corn myself but only make it when Grumpy asks for corn with a movie. We use real butter (unsalted) and salt it to our own taste – and Grumpy always ask me to put “flux” on it. That is what he has dubbed my nutritional yeast flakes. LOL.
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Yum, I love my air popper, nothing beats in in my opinion!
I still have yet to convince my hubby to try the nutritional yeast. It’s so good though, tastes like Parmesan…;)
Air popping is the way to go, I must admit that I do use it as my dinner more often than I should, especially at this time of year. My favorite way is to melt some Earth Balance in a frying pan and add some hot sauce to the pan. Then top popcorn with the mixture & season with Lowry’s seasoning salt. MMMMMMmmmm!!
looks great
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Hey, I recently started reading this blog – thanks for the good work. I wanted to inform you that it’s not displaying properly on the BlackBerry Browser (I have a Pearl). Either way, I am now subscribed to the RSS feed on my home PC, so thanks again!
Some may enjoy the taste/texture of air popped popcorn but I must say that when using an air popper generally too much moisture is extracted from the kernel by the time it gets hot enough to pop resulting in many half popped and very chewy popcorn.
Popcorn is best made always using a “wet” popping method. Grape Seed oil is very light, has a high smoke point and will not interfere with the true flavor of the corn.
If you like an old-fashioned tasting theater popcorn, try making it with coconut oil. It tastes really good and it’s very nutritious. Coconut has amazing health benefits which many people has yet to realize.
For those who like some heat kick flavor for the popcorn, try putting little wasabi powder instead of Tabasco. It’s addictive.
Air-popped popcorn does bring back good childhood memories. I will be trying this technique soon.