# I just LOOOOOVE microwave popcorn **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409 "2003-06-30T19:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/1 "2003-06-30T19:23:43Z")
- - - And it’s so easy to make, too! Just put the bag in the microwave, and hit the “popcorn” button… that is, if you have a “popcorn” button. Is popcorn universally popular, and do all microwaves have such a button? ~ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weak\_Force](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@The\_Weak\_Force](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weak_Force)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/2 "2003-06-30T19:27:55Z")
My microwave doesn’t. Then again, my microwave is older than I am (20+) 😃 > [@](#): > > I just LOOOOOVE microwave popcorn I hear ya. Ain’t nothin’ like it. Except movie theater popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/3 "2003-06-30T19:30:58Z")
You bastard. You’re just rubbing it in because I can’t have any :😁: I know that the video store I used to work at came equipped with a microwave manufactured specifically for our brand of microwave popcorn. For some reason the popcorn would not turn out right in other microwaves, no matter what setting I tried, but if I used the one at work with the ‘popcorn’ button, it was perfect every time. I bought a microwave about 4 years ago that didn’t have a popcorn button per se (or any buttons really). It was the kind where you spin the dial on the timer rather than typing in the time. It did have a little picture of popcorn on the notch in the dial where you shoud set the timer, but no button. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/4 "2003-06-30T20:26:05Z")
Anyone know how this function works? I read somewhere that there’s a little microphone that listens to the sound of the corns popping, and adjusts the intensity accordingly. Could that possibly be true? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/5 "2003-06-30T20:39:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarrenS \* > Anyone know how this function works? I read somewhere that there’s a little microphone that listens to the sound of the corns popping, and adjusts the intensity accordingly. Could that possibly be true? Nope, it’s based purely on time. RTFM! Read the manual for your microwave. At least in mine it also tells you how to adjust for different bag sizes using the +/- buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/6 "2003-06-30T20:55:45Z")
Mine doesn’t, and I wouldn’t trust it if it did. Different sizes of bags, different brands, and (most especially) different amounts of oil will all require different amounts of time. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/7 "2003-06-30T20:56:31Z")
I have not heard of such a button, so I guess the “popcorn button” is not universally popular. However, I should assume popcorn is. Microwaveable popcorn is still relatively unknown around these parts, though. On microwaves with no popcorn button, you just follow the instructions on the packet and listen to the popping. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weak\_Force](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@The\_Weak\_Force](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weak_Force)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/8 "2003-06-30T21:21:49Z")
Yeah, that’s the traditional way. In my experience, though, the popcorn button almost always yields a better bag of popcorn than when I try to do it by listening to the pops. There are fewer unpopped kernels and the popcorn doesn’t get burned. I never could get it just right by listening. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/9 "2003-06-30T23:09:30Z")
Even if your microwave has a popcorn button you should still listen to the popping. One of the microwaves at work will _always_ burn popcorn if one relies on the button alone. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/10 "2003-07-01T00:57:58Z")
Meh. I prefer to pop my own. One of the first things I did when I got an apartment was get a hot air popper. I can pop TONS of popcorn in the same amount of time it takes to pop a bag of microwave popcorn, and I can top it with real butter. Mmmmmmmmm… But hey, whatever floats your boat. Microwave popcorn is certainly a lot more portable than my method. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/11 "2003-07-01T01:12:47Z")
Of course you can make microwave popcorn with regular popcorn, a paper bag…and TWO (no more) staples. Alton Brown [tells](http://www.foodtv.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_11374,00.html) you how. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/12 "2003-07-01T01:16:49Z")
My microwave’s popcorn button sets the timer for 3:30, which is probably a good middle of the road time. However, I’ve found that my favorite brand (Pop Secret’s Homestyle) takes 3:50 to come out right. I lost the manual long ago, so if there is a way to adjust what “popcorn” corresponds to I’ll never know… ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/13 "2003-07-01T02:51:20Z")
Popcorn was the very first food cooked by microwave. In 1946 Raytheon technician Percy Spencer held some popcorn kernels near the output port of a WWII radar magnetron. This worked so well that he immediately encountered the first microwave cooking accident. He tried heating an unbroken egg in a metal pot connected to the magnetron. It boiled and exploded in the face of an onlooker. Spencer took out the first patent on microwave ovens. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/14 "2003-07-01T02:58:01Z")
So do I. I particularly like the “mini” 50 gram bags, or the 99 gram Redenbudders light. Some of the big extra buttery ones are pretty high in fat and taste no better. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/15 "2003-07-01T13:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bbeaty \* > \*\*Popcorn was the very first food cooked by microwave. \*\* Not counting that melted chocolate bar. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-looooove-microwave-popcorn/185409/16 "2003-07-01T15:26:04Z")
I use the popcorn button at work but cannot trust the microwave at 7-11. So I just listen to the pops. If I can count to 1004 then it is done to perfection.