In recent months, I've given up on planning dinner for a Friday night. I usually would end up scrapping whatever the idea was, and just make popcorn for Jack and myself. Which we enjoy snuggled on the couch watching a DVD from the library.
If you've read this blog for more than 15 seconds, you'll realize that I love kitchen gadgets. I have tons of them (usually give as birthday or Christmas gifts or bought using Amazon gift cards I've saved via Swagbucks), and they often make appearances in my recipe posts.
But I don't have a popcorn maker. I've had them in the past, and while they work fine, they take up a ton of space and are impossible to clean. Microwave popcorn is a no go (ever read the ingredient list?), so finding this tip was a godsend.
Take a heavy bottomed pan (my dutch oven, while the love of my life, is too heavy to comfortably make this), and let it get hot over a medium heat. My stove goes from 1-10, and I usually heat it on a 6 or 7.
Once it gets hot, add a few tablespoons of coconut oil and let that get warm. The pour in some popcorn kernels.
Cover the pan with a sheet of foil, and cut two or three slits in the foil.
We used to make ours like that. My mom gifted us a huge pot that worked great. A few weeks ago I picked up a bowl that you dump kernels into and microwave. We've been using that nearly every other day. I loooove purple popcorn, and bags of it stay yummy in my purse for an on the go snack for a few days.
ReplyDeleteI've never had purple popcorn before! Where do you get the kernels?
DeleteWe get ours at the local bulk food store. It makes the brightest white puffs ever. They're a little smaller than normal, and delicious completely plain. (I'm going to hell for that remark, I know.) :-) I have friends in Seattle. I can ask if they know where to find it up there.
DeleteHmmm, I've never seen ours at the fancy pants bulk store about 45 minutes away. I'll check Azure! Maybe Amazon?
DeleteI found some on Amazon, but it's cheaper right from the supplier. http://www.amishcountrypopcorn.com/purplepopcorn.html
DeleteWe paid $3 for enough to fill a quart canning jar, plus a cup or so left in the bag. I just prefer the purple because it seems to never go stale. We made stove top kettle corn with it yesterday. 1/4 cup of oil in the pot with two kernels. When they pop, add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and about 1/2 cup kernels. Then just proceed as usual. Soooo good. Using brown sugar gives it a more caramel crunch.
I may have eaten it for breakfast this morning. ;-)
Ha, it sounds like a wonderful breakfast!
DeleteI can't handle kettle corn, but I'll take your word for it. In college, my sister and I had a roommate with an eating disorder who smoked a lot of weed. She would make "healthy" kettle corn and make popcorn at 2 am, spray it with cooking spray, and cover it in Equal. I can't get past the taste of that to enjoy real kettle corn now.
I kinda disagree about microwave popcorn. I hate the prepackaged stuff, but I found a microwavable popcorn bowl at Target this winter and I love it. It's just a heavy plastic bowl with a vented lid, but you can use it with or without oil. And Target has awesome seasoning salts for popcorn, I'm addicted to the Salt & Vinegar seasoning. As for cleanup, I just wipe the few unpopped kernals out of the bowl and put it way. I only have a few unitaskers, but this is one I'll keep.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen these bowls before. I'll check them out next time I'm at target because I can't picture how they'd work.
DeleteAnd yes, when I was talking about microwave popcorn, I meant the prepackaged stuff.
I have one of those bowls and use it all the time. But you don't need one of those bowls, any big bowl that goes in the microwave will work. I heat a cup of water for two minutes to preheat the micro then put the empty bowl in with a plate on top as a cover also for a minute. Then add 1/3 cup popcorn kernals and micro on 80% power for 1 minute and 100% power for 2.5 minutes. My microwave is super old (as in older than a co-worker of mine) so this "popcorn routine" probably only works for it and everybody else would have to find their own routine.
DeleteSometimes I wish I had snagged that steel pot (the one with the crank on top, you know?) at that yardsale I was at. It was a buck and I was ... well I was thinking, that'll just take more room in the cupboard (I only have one), so I passed on it and kind of regret it now.
I need to try this!!! What kind of serving size of kernels do you use? 1 cup?
ReplyDeleteLike most things, I eyeball it. I would say probably 1/2 cup?
DeleteThis is how I make my popcorn because I have family members with multiple food allergies. If I want to make microwave popcorn I put some kernels in a paper lunch bag fold over the top a couple of times & microwave for a few minutes. Works great for us!
ReplyDeleteGotta love the ending. I do think it is a perfectly acceptable meal! I miss stove-top popped popcorn. Maybe I'll look for a bag next time I'm at the store...
ReplyDeleteYou gotta try it!
DeleteI use a wok, it always seems to do a great job.
ReplyDeleteI'll give it a shot in my wok!
DeleteI just use my pot lid, and I let the oil heat up a little first and pour the butter and salt right into the oil, that way it coats all the kernels as they pop! I add my kernels, and give it a few shakes as they pop. No need to waste foil! :) Ive been getting creative with my toppings/flavors, I just add it right to the oil and then dump in the kernals. I can do 1 cup of kernals for a regular soup or spaghetti sized pot.
ReplyDeleteWe wrap my homemade bread in foil for the freezer. When we take a loaf out of the oven, we set the foil aside to reuse for lining pans, popcorn, etc.
DeleteI've tried the salt right in the pot, but not the butter yet. I'll give it a shot!
It's pricey, but I was gifted a stainless steel popcorn popper since our family is addicted to homemade kettlecorn (just add sugar in a 2:1 popcorn to sugar ratio before popping). That thing cleans like a dream!! Even the sticky bits of sugar fall right off with a light scrubbing. There are some crappy ones out there, though, so if you decide to add one to your wish list, go with the Lindy. :)
ReplyDeleteWe had one that was a big pot with a crank...is that similar to what you're talking about? Perhaps ours was just cheap, but it broke after only a year. Lame!
DeleteI have an air popper that was $20 at the store. I prefer my popcorn as plain as you can get it and I've found nothing that works better than the air popper.
ReplyDeleteFrugal isn't about not spending money but about spending money wisely. That $20 has gone a long way so far.
I 100% agree with "Frugal isn't about not spending money but about spending money wisely"! I will save and invest in quality and products that I love because they last and fit the need. Someone gave me crap last night in another post that I was buying "too expensive" essential oils. Well, I've had the same $8 bottle of peppermint essential oil for 4 years now!
DeleteI can't get on board with the plain popcorn though. ;-D If my hands are covered with butter by the end, it's not a great batch of popcorn.
We make it by putting a 1/4 cup, mixed with a tiny amount of oil into a paper lunch bag and into the microwave.
ReplyDeleteTada! Microwave popcorn without the yicky stuff.
Totally giving this a shot!
DeleteThis is Alton Brown's favorite way to make popcorn which he demonstrated on his Popcorn episode of "Good Eats". I have used this method with an aluminum mixing bowl on the stove with great success. The benefit of the shape of the mixing bowl is it funnels the unpopped kernels down to the bottom of the bowl so you have less unpopped kernels at the end.
ReplyDeleteYES! Ever since we saw that episode we make it in my wok, covered with foil.
DeletePerfect every time!
I put a little fresh ground pepper in with it. Just like this little old time gift shop that was at the Dayton airport in the early 90's!
You have my intrigued with the wok!
DeleteOK, I must admit, I was all set to discount your idea. I mean, it's cute enough, but the microwave stuff I buy isn't bad - the ingredient list is just "Popcorn, Canola Oil, Salt". Just to be sure, I double-checked.... and for the first time, found the tiny print that says "Contains 2% or less of the following" followed by a predictable list of yuck and junk. I've been duped!
ReplyDeleteGuess I'm putting "popcorn kernels" on the next shopping list LOL
A super big plus about my method is that it's SO much cheaper than microwave popcorn!
DeleteMicrowave popcorn is nasty, not to mention ridiculously expensive compared to regular popcorn. I've made popcorn the "old fashioned" stovetop way forever. One day when grandkids & great-grandkids were visiting, decided to make a big batch of my famous caramel corn. When the kids saw me popping the corn in a pan on my stove, they were AMAZED. They had no idea it was POSSIBLE to make popcorn without a microwave! Made me sad.
ReplyDeleteI bet they loved the taste though!
DeleteI agree with the Alton Brown method. No pot to clean, just use a brown lunch bag. I make mine without oil and sprinkle olive oil and salt on it. Also, no need to staple the bag, just fold top over a few times. So easy!
ReplyDeleteI've found out the hard way that staples = mini microwave fire! ;-D
DeleteI'll give it a shot!
Absolutely! I've been making it in paper bags for a couple years now...sometimes it doesn't quite pop as big as it does using other methods, but it' super crunchy and you can reuse the bag + no cleanup of a pan. Sprinkle something tasty on top and your'e ready to go. If you have a big enough microwave, you can sometimes use the larger brown paper bags from the grocery store to make an extra large batch. Although I'd make sure the bag was pretty clean first...hate to have anything left from groceries in there before popping!
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