I don’t like microwave popcorn. The best popcorn I’ve had is when someone makes it on the stove.
So last night I tried making popcorn for the first time. I simply followed the directions on the jar… I put a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan, turned on the electric burner, threw a couple kernels in the pan, then put the lid on. After I heard one of the kernels pop I dumped in 1/3[sup]rd[/sup] of a cup of popcorn.
Half the kernels burned. It was a disaster. I tried it again with less heat. Not as many kernels burned, but quite a few were un-popped.
What am I doing wrong? How much heat should I use? How much oil should I use? Should I also smear oil over the entire inside surface of the pan?
You put oil in the bottom, heat it up, add popcorn, and turn the handle. Then you keep turning until the popping slows down and pour the popcorn into a bowl. Add about 1/4 stick of melted butter and salt and mix it around. I find that easier than trying to use a regular pan.
If you’re just using a pan on the stovetop, make sure it’s a heavy one like cast iron or clad aluminum, and big enough to handle the popped material. For 1/3 cup of kernels, I’d say you would need at least a 4-quart pot. I’ve even used a heavy skillet with a lid. The heat should be fairly high, depending on the cookware and the stove, but I’d say med-high. When it starts popping, you need to shake it and even lift it off the heat occasionally. You should also open the lid a crack to allow steam to escape. Moisture = tough popcorn. I like to use a large, heavy skillet with a vented lid. When the popping has wound down to almost zero, dump it quickly into a bowl; waiting for those last few kernels to pop will result in burnt product.
You only need a tablespoon or two of oil. Make sure it’s a good quality vegetable oil, but not olive oil or anything with a low smoke point. Peanut oil works well, or canola. When it’s hot, it should spread itself to cover the bottom of the pot.
Popping popcorn was about the only thing my dad used his pressure cooker for. Not so much for the pressure as for the fact that the lid latched shut.
This was important because he would shake the pan continuously while the kernels were actively popping.
It doesn’t sound like you were shaking the pan. Also, it is normal to have more unpopped kernels that you would get with air popping or microwave, in my experience. That was a big novelty of air poppers when they first came out.
I love popcorn and I especially love stove top popcorn. Here’s my recipe.
Find WHITE popcorn kernels. Much more tender than yellow popcorn kernels but hard to find. If you can’t find them, well, just don’t buy Orville Reddebackers (sp?) popcorn. I don’t care how you cook it, it’s tough and terrible.
Get out a sauce pan that has a lid. Cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Turn on the heat. When you see the oil become wavy with heat, drop in one or two popcorn kernels. Wait until they pop.
Cover the bottom of the pan with a single layer of popcorn kernels. More than that, and lots of them won’t pop. Put on the lid of the pot.
When you start to hear the popcorn pop, shake the pan. You’re trying to keep the kernels from laying directly on the heat. Shake the pan repeatedly.
When the popping slows down, turn off the heat or take the pan off the burner. Shake again.
Shaking the pot is key, as is using white popcorn. And the fact that I can write this much on the subject of a snack food is very, very depressing.
For what it’s worth, I use basically the same method as everybody else with two slight variations:
(1) I don’t use test kernels. I just dump all my kernels in at the start. When I hear one pop, then I go over to the stove and start shaking.
(2) I go ahead and dump my salt and pepper (yes, pepper! I know, I’m a heathen) in the oil with the kernels so that it automatically coats them as they pop.
I do the same. I also find that the organic popcorn from the bulk bins at Whole Foods is damn good.
I make popcorn a lot. It’s yummy and ridiculously cheap.
My big bad secret is that I use a flat-bottomed wok to make it!! That way, the oil and kernels are concentrated together at the little bottom part, and it gets really hot there. Then when it pops, the popped popcorn moves up and away from the heat so they don’t burn. Works really well.
Oh, and I agree with Wonder9–white popcorn is delish (if you can find it.)
This place has everything needed. Including the same oil and salt (Flavacol) that I used to use when I was a teenaged movie theater employee. I dump the popcorn and salt into the oil now just like I used to do it back when.
Oh, incidentally, I just adore the purple popcorn. It pops white of course but is very nice and tender. Supposedly it has more antioxidants in it than other varieties. I don’t know about that but I do know that popcorn has plenty of fiber-it’s a whole grain food. A couple of years ago I gave up my nightly nacho run to Taco Bell after work and started snacking on popcorn instead. I lost twenty pounds and thirty cholesterol points.
