Popping popcorn in the microwave is fast, easy and puts on a show like Jiffy Pop! Here's the easiest and most entertaining way to pop your satisfying snack.
I store my knitting needles in a Pringles can. That pretty much sums up my love of the potato chip. I love them with all of my heart.
In fact, I like chips so much that I can no longer have chips in the house. I just can't. I cannot be trusted with a cupboard filled with salty, crispy goodness that fits neatly into a bowl and makes my mouth water just thinking about them. Because if I have chips in the house I eat the chips in the house. All of them.
I just put a reasonable amount into a small bowl, close up the bag and put it away in the cupboard. I do this over and over again until all the chips are gone which usually takes about half an hour.
So I've had to move on to another snack that I can eat while I'm pretending to watch a movie at night. I say pretending because what I'm usually doing is half listening to a movie while I work on my computer or creep people's Facebook pages. When someone makes a movie that's more interesting than some of the weirdos I know on Facebook, then I'll watch it.
Enter popcorn. My new snack of choice!
Which I don't really like.
I mean let's face it. There's no comparison between the crispy goodness of a potato chip and a styrofoamy mouthful of popcorn. Luckily I've found if you put even just a tablespoon of butter on popcorn it improves it immensely. And salt of course. Because salt is the spice of Gods.
I was buying bags of microwave popcorn and using those but I didn't really like the fake butter popcorn. I also bought prepopped bags of popcorn which were O.K., but still not great. Plus the bags of popcorn were expensive.
So on a whim I bought a bottle of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn and brought it home with me. Since we all like to live in a world where we do things the cutest, most Pinterest-worthy way possible I immediately pulled out a pot and some oil and tried to stove top pop my popcorn.
All I ended up with was a pot I had to scrub burnt oil from and 3 popped kernels. So that's how that went. And it went that way several times. There's apparently a bit of a trick to getting popcorn to stovetop pop. I tried all the tricks and I was never satisfied with the popcorn. Plus I had to stand there and shake the pan, which looks great in a Pinterest photo, but in real life I don't want to spend any more time on a crappy snack I'm not even going to enjoy because it isn't potato chips, than I have to.
I didn't have any paper bags in the house so I couldn't pop it in the microwave.
Or could I?
Yes. Yes I could. I have no idea how I came up with this but I might have invented the greatest way to pop popcorn ever. Especially if you have kids.
IT'S LIKE JIFFY POP YOU CAN WATCH!
Once the popcorn is done popping, I add a tablespoon of butter onto the plate on top, which is hot enough to melt the butter, then I just tip the melted butter into the popcorn. Add salt. And enjoy.
When I say "enjoy" I mean eat. Popcorn is eaten. Potato chips? Potato chips are enjoyed.
Have a favourite popcorn topping for me? Lemme know!
James Rowling
this was most useless website i have ever gone to!!!!!!!
Evelyn
We generally squirt a bunch of sriracha sauce into the butter and then toss it with the popcorn, adding some salt. Our snack of choice this year.
Karen Moysi
Try using Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. More minerals better for your health.
Diana
I bought a whirly pop, from a thrift store and i use coconut oil and let me tell you BEST POPCORN EVER! and i hardly have any unpopped kernels. You wont even miss the butter!
Katrock
ALDI sells the Whirley Pop in the fall every year. It's only about $15US. I finally landed one two years ago. Put a little oil in it put as much popcorn or lasts in it. Crank the handle, it starts popping and keeps going and you better have a big bowl ready! Microwave the butter and add the salt to the popcorn with it, Yum Yum Yum! For micrwave popcorn we go for the Pop Secret Homestyle. Tastes delicious!
Diane
I make popcorn on the stove on medium with a little vegetable oil. No shaking needed. Butter and truffle salt. Just follow the instructions on the label.
dee
Oops, messed that one up....so how about a post or two on the glories of your basement. Prosthetic legs, commercial corn poppers? Inquiring(nosey?) minds are so curious.
dee
Browned butter, lots of it. Maybe some parm reggiano, or finely grated old white cheddar. And Karen, have you ever considered doing a column or two on the treasures in your basement
Deb
Back in 2009, while looking for treasures in a thrift shop, I came across an "Atom Pop" from the 1950's (still in its original box with the cartoon drawings of 50's kids looking in wonder at the miracle of popped corn--at least I think that was what was on the box). It was $2.00, so what the heck. I've been using it to make popcorn ever since. A little oil of your choice, some popcorn (1/4 to 1/2 cup), low to medium heat, no shaking. You just have to get used to waiting until there are very few "pops" left....the inclination at first is to remove the pan from the heat too soon. I've use it on both gas and electric stoves. You can add butter if you want; I find the oil I use is fine for tasty popcorn. I've recently experimented with a version of "kettle corn" that is not too sweet...I add some sugar when I can hear the oil sizzling, but before popping begins. After the popcorn is done, I had some salt. A nice balance between sweet and salty.
You can still find the Atom Pop online. Still made in the USA, but a different company than the one who made mine back in 50's, but the same design. I bought one as a gift for friend because I think it is the best popcorn maker.
Nancy
I am so fortunate...I have a commercial popper, yes, like the theater! I use ONLY WHITE popcorn. Use 1/4 Orville Redenbachers oil to 3/4 grape seed oil and 1 teaspoon popcorn salt. I think this would work in Whirlygig and microwave.
Karen
The kind that's all encased in glass? Funny story. I have a commercial popper too, lol. I forgot all about it. It's in my basement. I got it as a promotional gift from an entertainment show when I was a host. It's HUGE. I haven't used it for years but I remember that you were supposed to put the popcorn in it and also some sort of fake butter stuff. I guess you could put real butter in the well as well, I'm not sure. ~ karen!
Dale
Want the long version of getting a nice, buttery warm bowl of popcorn?
Karen, the "do-it-yourself" in you will love this.
As a child growing up on a farm in Iowa, I would help Grandpa plow the rows in the garden to plant the popcorn seed in the spring. After a summer of weeding, hilling the rows, irrigating if needed, we would harvest the ears of popcorn to be stored in our basement. On a chilly winter evening watching one of the 3 (yes, 3) channels on our television, Dad would hand one of us kids an ear of popcorn to shell by hand. He then put those kernels with 2 tablespoons of lard (yes, lard) into a frying pan with a lid. As the first kernels started to pop he would shake it until they stopped popping and toss them into a large bowl. It took two batches for our family of 8. We loved every kernel especially knowing the work it took to get it to our mouth.
Manisha
My hubby is a popcorn aficionado. He only uses Orville Redenbacher. I've tried to buy him fancier stuff but ended up throwing it away after one try. I don't mess with his preferred popcorn any more. The lastest favorite topping is dill and parmesan cheese (and butter, of course) which I also like but I can't really eat popcorn. It gets stuck in my teeth and can be pretty painful. The dill and parmesan is really hard to resist! I hope you try it.
Ben
Oh honey, just fix yourself a big plate of buttery Brussel sprouts to snack on and an apple...
Just kidding, I saw your face contort into a YUCK face mess... LOL
Karen
It actually did, lol. ~ karen!
Bonnie
Lee Valley sells the Whirly Pop popper. I highly recommend it to everyone. Use a teaspoon of coconut oil and it tastes just like movie theater popcorn. Yum!
mayr
Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Udo's Choice 3-6-9 oil, Brewers yeast, and if yer feeling fancy-kelp powder.
TucsonPatty
I'm trying to fit into a two sizes too small vintage dress for Christmas and you are all making it soooo hard. I need to stop reading these comments, and wait until after
Christmas to reread and then try all the various goodness you had spawned, Karen. I want some popcorn soooo badly right now! I'm going to go to bed to try to forget about how hungry I am for it and what a craving I have for it. Cheers. Oh, yes, I'm a vegetarian but that popcorn pooped in bacon grease...sounds heavenly. I can't believe we never tried that on the farm with our bacon grease container on the back of the stove...we always popped in with the heavy pan shaking method, with a dollop of Crisco shortening. My mom and two sisters made a Crisco commercial in 1965 in our house in Western Kansas and indeed, I still use only Crisco. Now I use Crisco oil in my whirlypop.
TucsonPatty
Let's pop that popcorn in bacon grease...sorry about pooping it!
; )
Mindy
I'm a stovetop popper. It's so quick and easy. But the topping secret is......cheddar. It'll change your life. Just sprinkle some grated goodness on, nuke it for 47 seconds, and prepare for the heavens to open up. Also, nutritional yeast is delicious on popcorn. "Cheesy", without the grease.
Gretchen Sexton
Like it's just a PLATE on top?!?!
I never saw anything like it.
Ever!
Heather (mtl)
I stopped eating chips and put on 15 lbs cos I fell into the sugar bowl. Dangerous as it's really hard to drop sugar cravings. Never put on weight with chips, either but that may be in part cos I'd make myself walk to the depanneur for them. In a storm even. BTW, cold chips are the absolute best as the fat and crunch are more pronounced.
Oh, yes, this post is about popcorn. I don't like it. I keep trying to like popcorn, but it never turns out that way. I will try some of these here, though, especially the cooking with bacon fat one ;)
Erin
Wow. These comments may have converted me from a popcorn hater to a popcorn eater. (Bacon on popcorn??? Awesome.) Love is reserved for potato chips.