how do you make popcorn?

The perfect way to make popcorn is the way you like it.

There are two or three main areas where you can run into problems - using too much oil, and using regular butter as a topping. Regular butter contains significant amounts of water that "melts" the corn. Ghee or clarified butter is what is used in (better) theatres.
Once the ghee has been made and the water and solids removed it will last indefinitely.
Make ghee by slowly heating butter on a simmer or even in a double boiler, for at LEAST a few hours. You can make something like it faster, but it won't be the same.

Every popper is different, so ratios of popping oil and corn have to be slightly different. In theatres the goal is to make the popcorn fluff into the largest finished product possible, pop as close to every kernal as possible, and not burn the corn. I commonly got half again more cups of popped corn out of a bag than others because I experimented for the sweet spot ratio and stuck to it. Kids used to try to double-charge the oil, thinking it would be better. Nuh-uh. It isn't. Coconut oil is the #1 choice for popping, peanut oil is a second choice some places. I won't eat corn cooked with canola.

Common popper sizes are made for 8oz, 16oz, 20oz, and 32oz charges of seed. Cooking temps are close to that 500 degrees mentioned, but not quite, due to fire hazards. If you look at a commercial popper working, you'll see that as soon as there is enough popped product to keep the seed from shooting out like a fireworks shell, the lid to the kettle opens automatically. That minor point is significant. The drier the finished product, the crispier and fresher it tastes. Corn that has been sitting in a heated warmer is often BETTER than the stuff fresh out of the kettle. I've demonstrated that to unbelievers regularly.

As a starting point, a 20oz charge of corn only needs about 3oz of coconut oil to french fry properly. Any more than that (in a creators machine) usually makes the corn greasy or gummy and the pop-out smaller. Manley popper kettles seem to effectively be a bit shorter and wider, and take a little more oil. About 95% of people want french fried popcorn, and the rest like the air-popped. Kettle corn (added sugar or flavorings) is big in England, but not as much in the U.S.

In commercial machines the CORN and salt or savoral or salt and celery salt go into a heated kettle FIRST. Only then is the oil added. That heats the oil the minimum amount of time, and prevents oil fires. There is a lot of thermal mass in the kettle, and once a popping cycle is started, the best corn comes only after the second charge and dump. That is one of the hardest things to replicate at home.

Popcorn seed can be old or new. As long as it isn't weevil filled or moldy, it will pop. The critical part is the moisture level. Too low, or weak pericap = tiny kernals. Too wet = mold and blecch. If your corn pops too small, let it sit for a few days in a sealed glass jar with just a FEW drops of water. Few means five or so drops. Too much and it can sprout.

In general, count to four-one-thousand between pops before dumping a kettle.

Everyone has different tastes, so just take this as a guide to how we get the theatre popcorn flavor. If you want yours different, great. I left out the salt measure because there is a wide variation in how much salt people like. Popcorn salt IS better than regular salt for the job. Saverol is just popcorn salt and beta-carotine. It mostly adds color.

Happy popping. Oh yeah, the popper we recently picked up is a little $30 Presto from Walmart. It isn't commercial grade but it does decent. With poppers cleaning of the kettle is generally only a wipe-out with paper towel or two, and an occasional boil-out of carbon. The lid parts get washed to prevent grease buildup. It is all sterile at those cooking temperatures anyway.

I started using the air popper as part of managing my weight. It is low-cal!

Exactly - higher calories, lower calories, different flavors. The nearly perfect snack.

Now THAT is the true Homesteader's way. I haven't succeeded in growing corn yet, though - the first time I tried I didn't know you needed a certain number of plants .

Great info as always. And another popper option.

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Cast Iron on a wood stove.

We buy LouAna Coconut Oil at WM it's 6 or 7 bucks for a quart. Nothing beats it for Popcorn and flash frying egg whites when cooking dipping eggs.

Glad to have a recommendation on the coconut oil - thank you!

I hope to pop corn on a wood stove sooner rather than later, but no wood stove yet.

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac

That's for sure. I found a bag of popcorn in the freezer of our old house as we were moving last summer, it was probably 10-12 yrs old but I brought it with us anyway. I've been popping it all winter and it's fine.

And we use an airpopper, but it goes in the microwave. Plastic doodad with a vented lid, I think I bought it back in the 80s.

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One like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Presto-04830-P.../dp/B00005IBXK

10-year-old popcorn. Cool!

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We do most on the stove - I prefer bacon grease for flavor but don't do it often that way don't save the grease. Never thought about coconut oil-I also buy Louanna-usually on sale at Meijer's for about $5 - I buy several at a time. Usually I use canola oil and regular popcorn salt. I also voted microwave because you can throw regular popcorn into a brown lunch bag turn down the top and pop like other store bought brands without all the buttery/fat.
Also my DD and I really prefer kettle corn, oil, sugar and kernels shake it like crazy while it cooks-the best.

I've never tried bacon grease, hmm... DH might like that.

I tried the paper bag in the microwave a couple of times but it started to catch fire!

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac

We use an old pressure cooker, gasket and vent removed. Clarified butter is great. I grow and pop strawberry popcorn. Small kernals but very tender and light....James

I use a heavy deep aluminum pot, with a long handle on it, over a cookstove. Put a couple of tablespoons of veg. oil with maybe a tablespoon of bacon grease. Put the fire on medium heat and place a couple of popcorn seeds in to heat up. When those two seeds pop, then it's time to pour about a 1/2 cup of popcorn in and put the lid on. Wait till you hear it start popping and then shake the pot back and forth while it's popping quick and loudly. Then when it slows down to about 5 seconds between pops, remove from heat, lift lid and dump into a big bowl. Salt it and sprinkle your favorite popcorn seasonings on it and enjoy!

Those whirly pops are great for making Kettle corn. Put in about 3 tablespoons of veg. oil and about 3 tablespoons of sugar. Pour in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of popcorn and pop. Enjoy!

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Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.

We use an old pressure cooker also (gasket & vent removed). Started using that old thing back in the early 70's and it is still going strong! By removing the vent, the excess moisture escapes easily so the popcorn is nice and crisp.

Clarify the butter and a healthy dose of lime pepper. Nom

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Me too! I hate the smell of microwave popcorn.

You put the butter right in with your popping corn? I have a Whirly-pop too

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Whats a dipping egg?

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Recognize the beauty in things, in creation, even when thats difficult to do.
Be loving, show compassion. Create while we're here.
Enjoy this life, be in this life but not be of it.

Stove top, SS pan; but only with organic corn. Not willing to sit down to a bowl of buttered GMO.

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We use Lindsey's stainless steel popcorn popper..love it!

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http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/10...y_tomfeld.html

This.

I have about 2 years supply of organic popcorn. Bought it in bulk from an online supplier.

On the stove in a regular old stainless steel pan with a lid or, for single servings, in a brown paper bag in the microwave.

Air popper currently. Although we have a stainless steel stove top model also.

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i air pop for lower calorie & less additives & stuff. But salt won't stick to it so I spray it with butter flavored cooking spray as it pours into the bowl. The olive oil spray is good too.

The best taste, I think is using bacon grease or butter on the stove top. The butter just browns as corn pops.

A shot or two of Tabasco on the popped corn is good but be careful--you can set your mouth on fire with too much.