DIY popcorn!

yeah imagine that...

I found some bags of popping corn at the grocery store and it made me wonder why I even bother with Orville Redenbacher crap..I mean man I hate that greasy artificial butter after taste of microwave popcorn and something tells me that is bad for your health too...

I when I was growing up we were poor and we popped popcorn in a frying pan. Then we bought a hot air popcorn machine. Then Jiffy Pop was the next big thing. Then microwave popcorn. I've come full circle back to basics.. I used our big wok with a lid and used real butter instead of oil . It's been so long since I had pan popped popcorn and let me tell you it tastes so much better. The quality of the corn is not as good as microwave brands but the taste is honest. Now I'm on a quest to find higher quality corn and higher quality butter and proper salt instead of cooking salt!

I buy that microwave crap all the time.. I don't even enjoy it unless I try to coat it with butter
and it's still not the same as what I remember as a kid.

Good idea to find some quality corn & butter and pop your own for movie night.

the air popper I remember as a kid was not so bad either.

I am totally an air popped guy. I never touch the microwave crap unless that's all there is. When I air pop, I melt the butter on the stove and then pour it over the popped corn and stir it up. Perfect.

If you want "popcorn salt", all you have to do is put table salt in a coffee mill/food processor until it's the fine texture of popcorn salt. That's a great trick I learned from Alton Brown. That will save you money, popcorn salt is expensive.

hi guys
I agree air popping is the best method. I haven't seen popcorn machines here so maybe I'll have to really DIY with an old hair drier or two (thoroughly cleaned, sanitized, and air filtered of course) or a heat gun. StudEbiker great tip on the salt, thanky! I didn't know salt is prepared for popcorn I thought table salt or sea salt is what's used at theaters. I'll use mortar and pestil

I liked mine popped with lots of corn oil in a huge deep pot and sprinkled with curry powder or cayenne, Masala, "Spike", etc.
Try increasing the humidity of your corn by putting a slice of bread in a bag with it and then take it out and keep it in glass jar to preserve its moisture.

Zoot Katz said:

I liked mine popped with lots of corn oil in a huge deep pot and sprinkled with curry powder or cayenne, Masala, "Spike", etc.
Try increasing the humidity of your corn by putting a slice of bread in a bag with it and then take it out and keep it in glass jar to preserve its moisture.

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aaargh pop corn with cayenne, it gives me the chills. I guess not everything is already discovered, i'll try that someday.

When I went off to college about two million years ago, I lived in a vegetarian student co-op house. The preferred additive for popcorn there was nutritional yeast.

I have to admit I never got used to it.

rojitor said:

Zoot Katz said:

I liked mine popped with lots of corn oil in a huge deep pot and sprinkled with curry powder or cayenne, Masala, "Spike", etc.
Try increasing the humidity of your corn by putting a slice of bread in a bag with it and then take it out and keep it in glass jar to preserve its moisture.

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aaargh pop corn with cayenne, it gives me the chills. I guess not everything is already discovered, i'll try that someday.

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My favorite recipe is a little bit of butter (not too much), salt, Worchestershire sauce, spots of Tabasco, and grated parmesan cheese. Add each separately, so every mouthful is a little different (you'll know when you get the kernels which soaked up that extra splash of Tabasco).

Cameron

I have tried them all. From the loose corn, to Jiffy-Pop (great if you were in the Boy Scouts), to air pop, to la de da fancy-pants...

At the carnival, the kettlecorn was great, but I can't stand that version of flavored microwave popcorn. And then then there's CrackerJacks, or the carmel corn that comes in a tin; good stuff. But I never cared much for the bagged corn; too stale.

As it is - my last round of dental work will not allow me to enjoy popcorn like I used to: The husks get jammed in and it's difficult to floss them out, and worst of all... I can't eat the partly-popped bits either; cracked crowns.

The "smell" that is commonly associated with popcorn, especially theatre-style is Diacetyl. <Warning: Digression alert!>

There are two primary flavors associated with cream, milk, and butter: One is called Diacetyl and the other is Melanoidin. These are two similar, but distinctly characteristics involving heat and sugar: In the presence of oxygen, sugar will caramelize and produce diacetyl – the “buttery” flavor associated with it, and theatre popcorn. Diacetyl is also a beer and wine fault, with exception to some styles of English and American beer, namely ESB (Extra-Special Bitter, though if made incorrectly is often referred to as extra-special butter). Melanoidins are formed during the non-enzymatic browning of sugar, when heat is applied in the absence of oxygen, such as the kilning of grains (barley) or baking of bread. In this case, sugar forms a crystal-like intense sweetness similar to Belgian Candi Sugar, or hard-crack sugar candies.

Compare/Contrast

• Melanoidians are oxygen-scavenging molecules and aid in stabilizing beer flavor; those styles created with melanoidin malts have a fresh creamery aroma sensation! The flavor on the palate is sweet, but not coating.
• On the other hand, diacetyl on the palate tastes like butter, or chemical butter, although it in itself is not made of butter, and it will coat the entire mouth and feel slightly musty. The absolute test is to form an “O” with your mouth, like you are going to say “Ohm”, and then breathe lightly through the mouth: Do you feel the coating around the entire mouth, or just a part of it? If the tongue is sweet, it’s Melanoidan, but if it’s the whole mouth – that’s diacetyl.

Health & Safety
There are people out there that develop allergies to diacetyl. Early in my beer judge career, I had the hardest time picking it out until one day… My wife was a shopper extraordinaire and she happened upon cases of Scottish beer from Golden Gate Brewing for like $4/sixer. We’d buy cases of this stuff. They had ESB and Porter and Stout; we bought as much as they had from the cheap-arse store. One day I’m drinking this beer thinking there’s something not quite right about it. Every style from this brewery had this “flavor” to it. And then one day I was breathing through my mouth and realized I was tasting diacetyl, and from that moment on – I couldn’t drink it anymore, and in fact – I was hypersensitive to hence forth. Great if yer a beer judge. Hell if you walk into a theatre.

So for those that want to make your own flavors and avoid the microwave popcorn, I salute you! That’s being completely smart and responsible for your good health. And just to wrap up here: Butter does contain diacetyl, though in much smaller amounts than hydrolyzed vegetable product called margarine – the artificial butter. :wink:

And now you know the rest of the story…
~KF

I was just shopping around on amazon for a hot air popper and BAM..

A crystalyte bicycle popcorn machine! $287.40

Man there's money to be made with this kind of nostalgia. A Jazzy Popcorn Bike that travels from park to park providing high quality popcorn and some tunes, maybe even beers for the adults......Remember that special feeling you get when you hear tinkling of a music box tune when the icecream truck is approaching your neighborhood and then you run in asking your mom for some money?? There's nothing like that here..This might be something that this generation of children here need and can be nostalgic about 20 years from now.. 8) 8) 8)

I heard that food trucks is all the rage in california and those guys are making killing.

OK I've had too much coffee...
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[youtube]uKMmrQCIYzw[/youtube]

I don't understand why people buy microwave popcorn. I just take popcorn, and stick it in a brown paper bag, fold up the end and microwave. Then I melt butter in the microwave and pour it over, no cleaning to be done.

Damn, I am going to make some now.

It's not a normal thing I enjoy, but for some reason the other night I started craving a bacon waffle. I didn't have any bacon, but I had some sliced ham...close enough. I found this recipe online (http://www.waffleizer.com/waffleizer/bacon-waffle-recipe.html) and decided to give it a shot. Pretty darn good. Tonight I decided to have it again. With some left over chili and a glass of red wine, it made a pretty decent V-day meal.

Philistine said:

Damn, I am going to make some now.

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yeah, go try out some different flavors and tell us about it, there are popcorn flavors that have yet to be discovered. I like a spicy idea but maybe more subtle flavors that highlight the corn and not overpower it is what I want to find. Keeping popcorn "popcorn" is the idea.. and it has to be hot and crunchy which you can't do with caramel, and it's too sweet for me. I'm thinking a combination of herbs.

Found some hot air poppers as low as 16 bucks woo woo!

thanks for all the great tips!

StudEbiker said:

a bacon waffle

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breakfast for dinner 8)

Did you know you can simply put popcorn seeds in a paper bag and microwave it? We do this all the time, no gross chemical slime. Just put 1/4 cup of popcorn in a medium brown paper bag, close it, microwave on high for 3 minutes or so. Done. You can reuse the brown paper bag indefinitely. Add butter etc as desired.

See guys, this is what happens when societies experiement with too much drugs...things just naturally get mixed and mashed up...ain't it GREAT???
OT but it had to be said...
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I've always loved home made popcorn since I was a little kid and my grandpa would use his oil popper. It works kind of like a crockpot but for making popcorn. You just put in some oil (olive oil is great) or butter and the kernels and plug in. It makes about two microwave bags worth. He would always use Johnny's seasoning salt which I can't seem to find out here on the east coast. If you haven't tried it on popcorn with plenty of butter you are really missing out. Lowery's just doesn't cut it.

One of my personal favorites for going off the ranch with popcorn flavors I go with the Hawaiian hurricane style. Just toss your popcorn with mochi crunch (rice powder),nori (powdered seaweed) and butter.

/ microwave popcorn makes my mouth taste like cancer
// I still eat it sometimes

Here is what I do to make the best popcorn...

Start with good quality corn:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052XN0EI/ref=oh_o00_s01_i00_details

Use high temp tolerant oil -- coconut:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00014IVPQ/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Make your own salt by grinding to fine (good quality salt) and mix with other spices like powdered garlic, paprika...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005MER0RA/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Lastly, consider a popcorn popper:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W4AEB4/ref=wms_ohs_product

I would NOT use coconut oil as it is one of the highest in saturated fats, however - I bet it tastes great!

Wiki link to Types of oils and their characteristics

~KF

Kingfish said:

I would NOT use coconut oil as it is one of the highest in saturated fats, however - I bet it tastes great!

Wiki link to Types of oils and their characteristics

~KF

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But that's why it's more temperature stable - fewer of those troublesome double-bonds in between the carbons to react at moderate temperatures.

Cameron