beXnlog

Popcorn 24/7

I've always loved popcorn. It was such a treat when the teacher would lug in an air popper and pass out handfuls on brown paper towels once or twice a year. (Yeah, i'm that old for popcorn to make a school day totally awesome...)

In my teenage years i'd down an entire bag of Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn a few times a week. I really didn't mind the way it coated the back of my throat with a layer of undissolveable grease. It was salty tasty addictiveness. I even loved the complicated 2-part microwave caramel corn, the bright orange fake cheese sprinkles and the chewy bagged popcorn. (I did draw the line at the movie theater "butter." Even as a kid i knew that sure wasn't real butter! Maybe i would've pumped it on if they accurately called it "oily topping?")

During the last few years, we made a few batches of air popped popcorn in be's two ancient machines circa 1982. The popcorn was good but needed a lot of butter for the salt to stick, even the small-grained specialty popcorn salt. Occasionally i'd pop a bag of Newman's Own microwave popcorn which i found much more palatable than Orville Redenbacher's.

Then we discovered the large bags of popcorn at Nuts to You at O's housewarming party this past spring. We snagged a bag whenever we could, but found some bags to be spectacular while others not as crisp. They all beat microwave and air popped, though.

Suddenly, our popcorn epiphany hit in June. The Rices gave us a bag of real kettle corn - slightly sweet, slightly salty, super crispy fresh and possibly the most addictive food ever. It was nothing like the fake kettle corn i had tried from bags, all of which seemed more like Fiddle Faddle or light-caramel corn. Just before the kettle corn, i came across a bulk food aisle at a natural foods store and bought a tiny bag of popcorn kernels to try making regular popcorn on the stove.

Three nights ago we found a few directions online and i popped my first real, stovetop batch of popcorn. Not to be braggy, but shit was amazing! When compared to microwave, pre-bagged or air popped, it's just leaps ahead in terms of crispness, freshness and flavor. I made another batch last night and will probably pop a batch every night for the rest of my life. It's so delicious and i'm looking forward to trying different toppings (chile garlic popcorn! cinnamon popcorn! 5-spice popcorn!) and maybe even kettle corn, if that's even possible to make at home.

be's Stovetop Popcorn

1.5 T canola oil
1/3 c popcorn kernels
fine-grained salt
1 T melted butter (optional)

Pour the oil in a 3-4 quart pot. Dump in the popcorn, cover and heat over medium-high. Using oven mitts, pick up and shake the pot every 5 seconds or so. Within a few minutes (our first batch took <1 min) the kernels will start popping. Keep shaking and lifting the lid ajar until all the kernels are popped, about a minute or so. You'll hear the kernels stop popping. At this point, immediately take off the heat and dump into a large bowl. Sprinkle on the salt while stirring or shaking popcorn to ensure an even coating. (If you're using melted butter, add it also at this point.)

Tips:
1) Use the freshest popcorn kernels you can find. Older kernels will lose their water content and won't pop.
2) You really don't need the butter. The oil makes it possible for the salt to stick, plus butter will make the popcorn soggy and softer.
3) The oil and popcorn measurements are just estimates. I didn't measure either and all my batches have ended up great. Just note that a larger amount of popcorn equals a larger pot, more oil and more time to make.
4) 1/3 c kernels is enough for 2 jumbo servings or 3 regular bowls worth of popcorn. 1/4 c makes enough for 2 bowls worth.
5) I used a 3 quart steel pot on an electric stove on the "7" setting on the large burner. Cast iron will be too heavy to shake. A stock pot is probably too big.
6) After kernels have started to pop, you want to keep the lid mostly on so the popped corn doesn't escape, while allowing enough steam to escape so the fresh kernels don't absorb the moisture. (But even if you leave it on, it will still be so great!)

Next up, besides the flavor combos, are: popping corn over the charcoal grill, the great kettle corn stovetop experiments, and real caramel corn. This is going to be a great snack summer!

posted by beXn @ 10:03 PM