I will never ever buy microwave popcorn again! I have discovered that making your own microwave popcorn at home is the easiest thing on earth! All you need is a brown paper bag (a lunch bag), some popping corn and two staples. That's it! Put 1/4 C popcorn in the bag, staple it shut with two staples and put it in the microwave for about the same amount of time as the store bought kind (until there are 2-3 seconds between pops.) Top with melted butter, sea salt, parmesean cheese, spices or whatever floats your boat! I got this method from my favorite food guy, Alton Brown. His recipe calls for tossing the popcorn kernels in oil and salt, but I found that the flavor did not really get on the popped corn and then the bag was really greasy. Personally, I put a couple tablespoons of butter in a small cast iron skillet I have while the popcorn is popping, then drizzle it over the popcorn after I've poured it in the bowl and shake some sea salt on it. This really doesn't take any more time than the alternative and tastes way better as well as being better for you. No need to pay for all the extra (unrecyclable) packaging, marketing/advertising, and laboratory engineered yellow butter flavored substance that they put in microwave popcorn.
I had also been popping popcorn on the stovetop in an effort to get away from the store bought product and to use the microwave less, but this is about a million times easier than even that, so there will remain at least one thing that I use the microwave for regularly.
I'm amazed - metal staples in the microwave? And they don't spark? Well, if it works and you've heard it's safe...very good!
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought microwave popcorn in years because David pops ours on the stovetop in a covered pot. It tastes great but it makes dishes I don't like to wash.
We have been using a Nordicware (microwave) popcorn-popping bowl. It has this vented cover. You can use it either with or without oil and it goes right into the dishwasher. We like that we can still have some fat on our popcorn, but it's not a chore to clean-up, as in the stovetop method. I found it on Amazon. I've used it for lots of other things too, since all my other big bowls are heavy glass.
ReplyDeleteThis is AMAZING! Wow! Now, are the metal staples okay in the microwave?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of metal in two staples is not a problem. I've never seen it spark, and I'm sure Alton Brown wouldn't put it in his recipe if it were a problem either. IIRC, I think commericial microwave popcorn bags have a thin sheet of aluminum in them.
ReplyDeleteI have also tried this method recently with only folding the bag over a couple of times (no staples) and that has worked fine too. Plus one less obstacle between me and the popcorn!