# How do you eat popcorn? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474 "2005-01-24T21:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/1 "2005-01-24T21:40:17Z")
I start out like a human being: one or two pieces at a time. But almost immediately I’m stuffing fistfulls into my mouth…one at a time, of course. I have no idea why, and it makes a hell of a mess. What do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/2 "2005-01-24T21:46:51Z")
I grab a handful and pick them up one at a time with my tongue. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/3 "2005-01-24T21:54:11Z")
Same as you. If I’m in the theatre and have one of those giganto buckets, it’s almost all I can handle not to just shove my head in it like a trough. Okay, not quite, but it’s about as dignified as the shoveling by the handful method I typically employ. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/4 "2005-01-24T22:18:12Z")
Just to throw the curve off: Not at all. I can’t stand the stuff. I think it’s hideous. I like regular cooked corn, but popcorn (and especially the smell of it), makes me sick. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/5 "2005-01-24T22:24:32Z")
At Work: Stuff bag in microwave. Sort out as much burnt as I can and stuff handfuls into face as fast as possible stopping to sort out the burnts and unpopped occasionally. At Home: wait for man to make popcorn and sit on couch delicately eating one piece at a time from his bowl. Favorite way: Make caramel corn from popcorn, wait to cool slightly and stuff handfuls in mouth as fast a possible. At this point you may as well tie a ziplock around my head as my own personal nosebag. mmmmmm! ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/6 "2005-01-24T22:35:31Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I grab a handful and pick them up one at a time with my tongue. I don’t know why. I thought I was the only one. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/7 "2005-01-24T22:38:25Z")
I shovel it in as fast as possible. Which is why I don’t eat it. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/8 "2005-01-24T22:43:20Z")
At work: one or two pieces at a time. At home: In milk… with a spoon. Why yes, I am weird. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/9 "2005-01-24T22:43:26Z")
While just hanging out, watching a movie, etc: By the fistful, like an absolute slob. If I’m at the theater, I’m one of those gross folks who stands up amidst a shower of ‘missed’ bits. However, popcorn is also a marvelous late-night study snack. While studying, it can easily take me a good hour to get through one bag of microwave popcorn - a handful here, a couple pieces there. Sit staring at the wall for twenty minutes, trying to figure something out, consume it piece-by-piece (the popcorn. Well, often, whatever perplexing homework is also consumed piece-by-piece.) ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/10 "2005-01-24T22:43:45Z")
I’m with the OP and others. I start with one or two then apparently decide “to hell with it” and dive right in. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/11 "2005-01-24T23:12:20Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I grab a handful and pick them up one at a time with my tongue. I don’t know why. Moi también. Ha HA! I’m slaughtering grammar in two separate languages! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/12 "2005-01-24T23:13:41Z")
I do a combo of two or three at a time and the “pick it up with my tongue” method. My husband grabs a huge handful and muches it all at once, starting from the wrist end of his hand and snarfing it up to his fingertips, grunting and blowing all the way. It’s absolutely disgusting. He does the same thing with dry cereal eaten as a snack. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those things I thought was adorable when we were dating that’s going to make me postitively lose it and stab him to death with a toothbrush in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/13 "2005-01-24T23:29:40Z")
First, add Brach’s chocolate covered raisins. Second, then eat in small clusters of crispy, chocolate, chewy goodness. The salt and sweet and chocolate together is a powerful combination. We like to refer to the chocolate raisins as “the secret ingredient”. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/14 "2005-01-24T23:35:13Z")
I get a spoon, a container of cream cheese, and a container of potted meat. I spoon up some of each, dip the spoon into the popcorn and pop it into my mouth until I run out of popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/15 "2005-01-24T23:41:08Z")
lee, do you own a defibrulator? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/16 "2005-01-24T23:48:01Z")
> [@lee](#): > > I get a spoon, a container of cream cheese, and a container of potted meat. I spoon up some of each, dip the spoon into the popcorn and pop it into my mouth until I run out of popcorn. :eek: :shudder: No offense, but that sounds truly awful. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/17 "2005-01-25T00:04:51Z")
I eat a few pieces at a time. My favorite way…lots of melted butter, some salt, and loads of grated Parmesan cheese. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/18 "2005-01-25T00:09:38Z")
I pick up two or three pieces each time and put them into my mounth one by one. I sometimes get annoyed by my brother and dad who grab whole fistfuls at a time. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/19 "2005-01-25T00:10:23Z")
That’s so odd that this thread was started today, I just saw a website this morning about a [popcorn fork](http://www.popcornfork.com/) and was wondering why anyone would want one… I usually eat popcorn by grabbing a handful and then eating out of my “handbowl” with my other hand. And then picking up the strays off of my shirt too. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474/20 "2005-01-25T01:42:42Z")
1. Pop popcorn 2. Pour about 2" of popcorn into bowl 3. Add 10-12 Hot Tamales (the candy) 4. Add another 2" layer of popcorn 5. Repeat Hot Tamale layer 6. Repeat process as desired The Hot Tamales get soft and buttery and are the perfect offset to the salty tone of the popcorn. A woman who saw me doing this in a movie theatre asked me if I was Australian (I’m not.) Is this an Aussie thing or was she just trying to make conversation? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-eat-popcorn/286474.md?page=2)