# What do you call this type of popcorn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905 "2010-04-30T21:45:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/1 "2010-04-30T21:45:13Z")
Okay, here’s a Wikipedia article on [Kettle corn.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_corn) There’s information and a picture. What I want to know is what you call it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/2 "2010-04-30T21:46:18Z")
Kettle corn. Candy corn are those small, orange and yellow and white kernals of mega-sweetness you find around Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/3 "2010-04-30T21:48:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Trick question? > > Kettle corn. I did an impromptu office poll. Three people have never heard of this kind of popcorn and one knew what I referred to but didn’t call it kettle corn and couldn’t tell me what he called it (?). One person got confused and thought it was the kind of popcorn with a hard candy-like shell on it, like caramel popcorn in Crunch n’ Munch or Cracker Jack boxes. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/4 "2010-04-30T21:51:57Z")
Some people do not go to enough fairs. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/5 "2010-04-30T21:52:34Z")
I went about 35 years before I knew about kettle corn. No loss. Here’s something for you. [Screaming Yellow Zonkers](http://www.oldtimecandy.com/screaming-yellow-zonkers.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/6 "2010-04-30T21:53:40Z")
Well I said Kettle corn. People in the US tend to call sugar popcorn Kettle corn. However, Kettle corn is popcorn that is made in a Kettle. It doesn’t have to have sugar. (but it usually does.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/7 "2010-04-30T21:57:01Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Some people do not go to enough fairs. That was my thought. I see kettle corn at almost every State/County/Streetfair – they usually make a big production out of it, with a giant kettle and an oar-sized stirring implement. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/8 "2010-04-30T21:57:48Z")
“Godawful crap” should have been listed, but I would have accepted “insult to the tastebuds.” ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/9 "2010-04-30T22:01:18Z")
I thought a kettle was a vessel you warmed water in to make tea, cf the song title _Be Like the Kettle And Sing_; typically, it has a black plastic handle on the top of it and a spout on one side. You fill it with water and put it on a stove burner. When the water is heated, a whistling sound is emitted from the spout. In Canada, we have long had electric kettles. Whenever I made popcorn on the stove (back in those pre-popcorn maker days), I used a pot. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/10 "2010-04-30T22:13:47Z")
[Kettle corn being made at a street fair](http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/images/may09/abf5.2.9kettlecorn.jpg) I suppose you might technically call it “caldron corn”, but that name doesn’t have quite the same appeal. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/11 "2010-04-30T22:19:43Z")
Awful wasn’t one of the options, so I went with kettle corn. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/12 "2010-04-30T22:28:25Z")
It’s kettle corn, if made from scratch and sold at a fair or roadside stand. The packaged, microwaveable product Wikipedia describes, involving sucralose (!), is garbage. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/13 "2010-04-30T22:55:24Z")
Don’t care what anyone else says, I love the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/14 "2010-04-30T23:01:43Z")
I never realized there was a difference between this and caramel corn, which is what I would have called it. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/15 "2010-04-30T23:17:17Z")
Caramel corn has a stronger flavor, kettle corn is more subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/16 "2010-04-30T23:17:25Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > It’s kettle corn, if made from scratch and sold at a fair or roadside stand. > > The packaged, microwaveable product Wikipedia describes, involving sucralose (!), is garbage. Absolutely! Fresh kettle corn is the stuff, microwaved instant is an abomination before the deity of your chosing. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/17 "2010-05-01T21:39:26Z")
I’m with **RealityChuck**. It nauseates me. The wonderful, tantalizing aroma that is fresh, buttery popcorn is turned into the cloying stink of sugar-drenched pencil shavings. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/18 "2010-05-02T08:10:37Z")
Is it any relation to this stuff (comes out around christmas here in oz)? [http://www.popcorn.com.au/catalogue/c113/c141/p812](http://www.popcorn.com.au/catalogue/c113/c141/p812) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/19 "2010-05-02T09:09:20Z")
Can’t abide the stuff … to me popcorn is a savory not a sweet. I like mine popped in olive oil, with a touch of garlic salt. Butter and plain salt is nice too, but once we made it with olive instead of plain veg oil and it was excellent, so we started making it with olive oil only. Adds a bit of depth to the corn flavor that is nice. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905/20 "2010-05-02T15:33:18Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > Is it any relation to this stuff (comes out around christmas here in oz)? [http://www.popcorn.com.au/catalogue/c113/c141/p812](http://www.popcorn.com.au/catalogue/c113/c141/p812) Sounds like the same thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-this-type-of-popcorn/537905.md?page=2)