aerylon:

burr-tree:

jainz:

graduate-healthy:

jainz:

graduate-healthy:

Made my own popcorn for the first time! Added cinnamon and salt and cooked with coconut oil. Amazed I didn’t burn it.

Ooh I actually just bought a bag of corn for this a couple of days ago but I haven’t tried it out yet, do you just heat the oil and toss the kernals around in it until they pop, then add goodness?

Okay:

1. Measure out your kernels, the bowl above is 30g.

2. Heat a teaspoon or two of oil in a pot, medium or large. Then put in two test kernels and when they turn into popcorn that’s when you put all the other kernels in.

3. PUT THEM IN REALLY FAST THEN COVER WITH THE LID. LID ESSENTIAL. Then once you start to hear them popping, just shake the pot every 5 seconds or so so all the kernels get a chance at life.

4. When you stop hearing popping after 3 seconds (like you would do in the microwave) turn the heat off. Your popcorn should be ready!

5. Add your goodness. I used cinnamon and salt but I’ve heard people add cheese or melted chocolate.

Nice, thank you!

Different kinds of oils affect the taste of the kernels too~ Olive oil gives it a good taste, vegetable oil is meh, but seriously. Try it out with different stuff. Popcorn is delicious when made in a pan.

Ok, I have to chime in here.  First of all, I feel old as fuck that there are people out there that have never made stove top popcorn before. Secondly, and most importantly, DO NOT DUMP THE UNPOPPED CORN INTO HOT OIL!!!! 

Seriously, please don’t do it!  I value you as a whole, unburnt, living human being.  And unless a scorched earth policy is your idea of cleaning house, dropping unpopped corn into hot oil is a very, very bad idea. 

Now that we have that out of the way, here’s how to make popcorn on your stove top without needing the fire department on speed dial.  

You’re gonna need the following:

1. A pot with a lid.  Any pot size in the 3-10 quart range with a well fitting lid will do.  Avoid using a frying pan.  They’re too shallow – those kernels get excited and need room to show off.
2. Popcorn kernels.  Any brand will do, no need to go fancy.  And no, you can not use the popcorn out of a bag of the microwave stuff.  Don’t even try it.
3. Oil.  This one is a little more complicated, but no less important.  The type of oil you use is actually very important, as different types of oils have different smoke points (also called the flash point), and pushing an oil past its limit can be very dangerous.  (For more info on smoke points click here.  And here’s a chart listing the smoke point of most cooking oils for easy reference.)  You’ll want to choose an oil that has a HIGH smoke point as you will be blasting those little kernels into popcorny goodness using the power of steam.  Choose an oil based off personal preference and what you plan on topping your kernels with as the oil WILL impart its flavor onto your popcorn.  AND I DON’T CARE HOW DESPERATE YOU ARE, NEVER, EVER, EVER COOK POPCORN WITH BUTTER, MARGARINE, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (CRISCO), OR SPRAY OILS (PAM, ETC)!!!  Not only will it taste nasty as sin, but you will be more likely to blow up your kitchen!  Trust your internetmom – just say no!

Go over to your stove, grab your pot of choice, and your oil. 

Take the oil and slowly pour a small circle of oil in the bottom – about 1 to 2 inches across (3 inches if you’re using the 10qt pot).  Really, that’s all you’ll need – any more and your popcorn will either burn to the bottom of the pot, or, if you’re lucky, come out soggy, greasy nightmare noms. 

This next part is important:  SWIRL the pot so that the bottom receives an even coating of oil.  You don’t need to get any up the sides of the pot – you’re not looking to keep food from sticking to the pot.  You’re just giving the kernels a nice place to get all fired up!

Ok, now that the pot is all nice and oiled, its time to add the star of the show – the popcorn kernels.  I’m a bit loosey-goosey when it comes to this part, and just freestyle add the corn.  I take a small handful of kernels, and add them in a spiraling / circling motion until they cover the bottom of the pot like wall-to-wall carpeting a single layer deep.  You don’t want them any more than a single layer deep, or you will run out of space in the pot, and wind up with a mass of unpopped kernels at the bottom of your bowl.  Not good eats.

Put the lid on your pot, and place on a burner set to medium heat – gas or electric, it doesn’t matter.  Just keep in mind that a gas stove will heat the oil faster, which in turn pops the kernels faster.  As noted previously, you will need to “shake” the pot once the popping gets going – DO NOT REMOVE IT FROM THE BURNER!  You don’t want to remove the heat, just move the contents around to help them cook evenly.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD YOU REMOVE THE LID FROM THE POT UNTIL THE POPPING DIES DOWN TO ALMOST NOTHING!!!  Again, your internetmom wants you to be safe! 

Once the popping has slowed down to a few random pops, turn the stove off, carefully remove the lid pointing the pot away from you – random pops may still happen and the kernels WILL be hot.  Pour your fresh, hot, popcorn into a large bowl, top it as you like, and share with friends as you binge and marathon all nite long!

If all of that sounds like too much work, get a plain brown paper lunch bag (no wax paper!), pour 1/3 cup of unpopped kernels AND NOTHING ELSE in the bag.  FOLD the top of the bag over 3 times and microwave for 2 ½ – 3 minutes – stop once the popping has subsided.  DO NOT STAPLE, TAPE, OR CLIP THE BAG!!  Metal of any kind is bad for your microwave, mmmkay?!?!  (8 year old me learned this the hard way….)  Pour in a bowl, add topping of choice, and enjoy!

I’ve made popcorn on the stove since I was 8 and saw my grandpa doing it and thought it was awesome 🙂 (Parental supervision at that age of course.)  Those are awesome instructions.  If you can find it, cast aluminum is my favorite kind of pan to cook popcorn in.  And yes, don’t add the kernels to hot oil.  I saw that once as being “better” and tried it to see if it was better and 1) It isn’t, there is no noticeable difference in popping quantity or quality, and 2) If one of your testers doesn’t pop and you open that lid, shooting kernel of death.  Though I did have a really cool set of scars the shape of popcorn kernels as it literally skipped up the length of my arm (picture a rock going over water, and that was the kernel going up my arm). The scars faded though 😦 (Note: I don’t recommend trying to get such scars, I was just really proud of my popcorn war wounds because popcorn has been such an important part of my life XD). 

My favorite oils, for taste, are corn, vegetable (soy), and peanut, in that order.  My favorite seasoning is light sprinkles of Lawrey’s seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  I also really like salt and cumin powder. Imagination is totally the limit with popcorn. 

I also really prefer white popcorn to yellow popcorn.  There are four kinds, white, red, blue, and yellow, and two kernel shapes, pearl and rice (and two popped shapes, butterfly and mushroom, but buying small matches for personal use you probably will not run into mushroom, that’s mostly commercial use).  The kernel shape doesn’t really affect the final popcorn, but the colors taste different.  I highly recommend experimenting to see which ones you like 🙂 Blue is a bit sweeter, for example!

So yeah, random amateur popcorn connoisseur’s unasked-for thoughts!