When I worked in a theater, yes, we used coconut oil. Both the oil and the salt were butter flavored. We put the salt into the popper along with the oil and corn, and offered more flavored salt at the counter. The manager wanted the popcorn to be pretty salty, as he thought it would increase drink sales.
I live on popcorn, sometimes eat it twice a day. It’s a very healthy, satisfying snack (depending on how it’s prepared). I cooked it on the stovetop for years in a battered metal pan that occasionally caught on fire due to the buildup of grease on the outside. Ah, those were the days.
I’ll second, third, or fourth the votes for white popcorn (or maybe even blue); it’s much less annoying than yellow. Popcorn salt is really nice, too. It sticks to the kernals better than table salt. (I’d use a hot-air popper, but even the popcorn salt just falls right off without oil.)
It’s a little harder to make on a gas stove (at least for me), and I’ve never been able to find a pan to match the random-ignition model mentioned above, so I’ve been making it in the microwave lately. I found the coolest NordwicWare microwave popcorn bowel at Target. I can use as much oil as I want or even no oil, pop up 1/3 cup in 4 minutes on high, and it’s easy as hell to clean up–and contains no toxic chemicals.
I use corn oil, I guess just because it matches. I hate conflict.
We don’t have a wok, but we do have a really big mixing bowl that my husband uses as a popcorn popper! Same principal as the wok, and he covers it with aluminum foil (with holes poked in it) and uses a removable handle from a defunct T-Fal teflon pan set. It’s good stuff.
I’ll also suggest that maybe you used too little oil. I find that the secret for me is not just the shaking, but a bit more oil than you might think at first (don’t worry, it doesn’t all end up in the popcorn). Use too little, and you’ll find yourself scouring with steel wool later.
And as soon as you think the popcorn is done, immediately dump the popcorn into the bowl. Don’t give it any chance to burn onto the pan.
My husband got me one of these for Christmas Stir Crazy popcorn popper and it makes great popcorn.
And kettle corn! Delicious.
We use popcorn bought from these people: www.popcornlovers.com
I highly recommend “High Mountain Midnight” which is a deep blue kernel. Orchard Blossom and White Birch are our other favorites.
Much as I would like to try some of this, their shipping rates to Alaska are outrageous: $25 for $9 worth of popcorn. Assholes.
+1 on the Stir Crazy. Alton Brown scoffs it off as a “unitasker,” but he’s a cork-sniffing dweeb anyway. The stir Crazy makes wonderful, no-fail popcorn.
I always use peanut oil, incidentally.
I hate microwave popcorn - those plastic coated paper bags with a smidgen of corn & a huge gobbett of mystery chemical goo selling for $1 / serving. Yecch.
OTOH, stove-top popcorn is fun in a romantic pain-in-the-ass sorta way, like chopping your own firewood or canning your own vegetables. Sounds nice in principle, but waay too much trouble in practice.
I used to use one like jsgoddess just above. Ok, not great. Then I got one of these NameBright - Coming Soon & Mr. Stir Crazy is relegated to the ashheap of history, or at least to the obsolete cookware box in the basement.
Totally great invention. Add 2-ish tsp of your favorite oil (I use peanut), 1/2 cup of your favorite popcorn, set in microwave & push popcorn button or ~5 minutes on 80%.
No shaking, no burning, no fussing. Add a little salt at the end & it’s snack time.
Easy to clean, easy to store, and reliable as only an inert lump of modern plastic can be.
I was coming here to recommend this! It’s awesome! I usually just put a quarter cup or so of kernels in it and set it at three minutes in the microwave. While it’s going, I have time to melt butter and whatever other seasoning I might want together on the stove. By the time the popcorn is popped, the butter is melted, and it gets all mixed together in one big bowl of yum. Seriously, this thing is great if you’re a popcorn fan.
Thank you, Green Bean, for saying you use your wok. This thread inspired a popcorn craving, so I got out my wok (before, I used a big, non-stick pot, which was okay, but I needed to shake it a lot, and it was a nuisance to wash), and used a little coconut oil along with the vegetable oil. Wonderful! With the wok and the coconut oil, I didn’t need to shake, every kernal popped perfectly, nothing burned, and there was a new, good flavor element.
I’d been thinking about getting a Whirley Pop, but have been too cheap to spend the money. But now with the wok method, I won’t bother.
I must echo the use of a Whirley Pop for popcorn making. And if you want to taste exactly like movie-style popcorn, get yourself their Real Theater Popcorn package and enter heaven. Their popcorn packages have all the pre-measured ingredients, including coconut oil (which is solid at room temperature, so you have to kinda squeeze it out of the package), flavored salt, and awesome popcorn. So making stove-top popcorn is pretty much as convenient as microwave. Cut open bag, pour into the Whirley Pop, and start stirring. Three minutes later, you’re eating kickass popcorn with almost no duds.
They also have the same topping as movie theaters, but while it’s yummy it can be a bit de trop. The flavored salt is more than awesome enough on its own.
Of course you can also use your Whirley Pop with any brand of popcorn kernals. But I just love the packages for a real movie-like treat.