How to Make Great Popcorn

by perryvandell

I love going to the movie theater. It's a wonderful, air-conditioned refuge that allows me to kill a couple hours with my friends, while also viewing movies on a screen that is larger than my house. The only problem is that the popcorn there costs about as much as the movie itself. It's ridiculous when you consider that it costs the theater about 25 cents (if that), to make you a bucket of popcorn that they charge seven dollars for. To make matters worse, the common solution for popcorn at home is microwave popcorn, which really is only a shadow of the movie theater kind. Sure, there's microwaveable popcorn that is advertised as "movie theater quality" but when you compare the two, there really is no comparison. So how does one make cheap quality popcorn in their own home without using a microwave? It's simple, you make it the same way the movie theaters do.

I, like many people, am lazy. I'm one of those guys who groans at the thought of switching games to play multi-player with my friends, since that involves me getting up to switch out the game discs. Because of this, I settled with microwaveable popcorn for many years due to its convenience. However, a few months ago I was browsing

This will save you a lot of money Amazon for random deals, and came upon the Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper (say that five times fast). This device is the answer to those who want to quickly make awesome-tasting popcorn that is either just as good or better than the kind at the theater. After making popcorn with this for a while now, I feel comfortable giving some tips on how to get the most out of it and how to save yourself some time and trouble.

First off, making popcorn with a traditional popcorn popper will take more time than if you just microwaved it. However, it is my firm belief that the increase in quality and taste of the popcorn is more than enough to justify the small amount of extra time needed to make it. When you first get the Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper, it comes packaged with around three or so bowls worth of popcorn with a special butter-salt substance that you mix in. It's pretty good, but it's not worth the price when bought separately. To save yourself some money, buy some un-popped popcorn at your local grocery store, and use that instead of buying more expensive popcorn mix from Whirley Pop.

When you have the cheap popcorn, use one tablespoon of peanut oil (or some other kind of oil if allergic) and 1/3 of a cup of popcorn kernels. If you want to make the amount you would get for a large popcorn at a movie theater, then I would suggest using 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of oil and 2/3 of a cup of popcorn kernels. Anything larger than that amount would cause the popcorn to spill over the popper, making a huge mess. Melt some butter and add some salt if you want and you will have yourself a quality bowl of popcorn.

Something to keep in mind when using a popcorn popper is that stuff burns easily if you aren't careful. My first few tries making popcorn ended up with me popping all the kernels, but leaving some burn marks on the bottom of the pot. The burn marks can be removed with enough Bon Ami and elbow grease, but there are a couple things you Movie Theater Popcorn aka: Scam can do to keep yourself from getting into that situation in the first place. One, is to set the stove to medium heat. It may take a bit longer to make the popcorn, but you will save yourself a lot of time and clean up. Also, when the rate of pops starts to slow, take the popper off of the stove and pour the popcorn into the bowl immediately. You will have some un-popped kernels, but it's next to impossible to pop all the kernels without burning the popcorn.

Cleaning the popper is pretty simple as well. All you need to do is take a dry paper towel and clean off any excess grease or popcorn husks. Be sure to actually wash the popper every few uses to insure that it stays clean. I know it seems like a lot of information to take in for such a simple task, but the process definitely gets easier with time.

If you have any questions, comments, critiques, or ideas you would like to share, feel free to leave a comment or send a pm my way. I hope you enjoyed the read!