popcorn popping tips!!!?

Question

today, for the first time, i poped my own popcorn w/ seeds form the store. i followed the directions exactly. we used oil instead of butter. and it tasted okay but it was chewy for some reason. whas it the pop corn brand? or was it something i did. is butter a better idea? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Answer 1

yes it's something you did.....#1 use canola oil....and let the steam out ....or it will get chewy......then if you want butter use alittle or you can use that powered kind... its called molly miss butter...........enjoy,,,,,

Answer 2

I make my popcorn from "scratch" all the time. It is a lot cheaper and extremely easy to do. In fact my family used to grow acres of the stuff. There are three basic types of popcorn seeds, one with a variegated color , like Indian corn, and is mostly not commercially available, and two other common types, yellow, and white. Now, there are many hybrids touted in the market place, but again they are basically either a yellow, or a white corn. there seems to be some density or taste difference between the two, Luckily popcorn kernels are cheap enough for you to experiment and find which if eater, you prefer. You should not expect to see a price difference between yellow and white generic brands.

The popping action of the corn comes from water stored in the kernels, so the corn should be gotten as "fresh" (I,E, New to Market) as possible, and kept sealed, preferably in glass jars or jugs. This Will help to keep the corn from drying out. Once the sealed kernels loose their water content, they also loose the ability to "Pop". This is important to the fluffiness of the popcorn, since the more stored moisture the kernels have the more fluffy the popped corn Will be, and the fewer un-poped kernels you will have.

The second ingredient in popping corn is generally oil. While there are air poppers and microwave poppers, even most microwave bagged corn, use a substrate of oil to pop the corn. The reason for this is that the oil conducts heat to the kernels more efficiently. Since it is present, the type of oil used will impart somewhat different characters to the taste, Corn oil will tend to give a slightly heavy taste to the popcorn, while my favorite, though more costly, peanut oil results in a much lighter and brighter taste. There are also commercial preparations by popcorn makers that are even pre- butter flavored, usually made with a mix of oils such as sunflower, and other cooking oils. Avoid using butter or hydrogenated oil like Crisco solids, unless you like burnt tasting corn in the former case, or lardy, greasy corn in the latter.

Preparation:
I abjure fancy special popcorn cookers. In my view, these net you nothing. Instead, select a four quart or better straight sided
steel pot with a good fitting lid. make sure the pot is bone dry, as frying oil will spit if there is moisture in it. For your first adventure pour corn into the dry pot until it covers the bottom
of the pot evenly and completely in a single layer. Then pour it back out into a glass or measuring cup so you can see how much corn you needed to do this. Mark the amount from this trial well, because that will be the measure you will always use for that pot. You now have a premeasured amount of corn, and an empty pot. Pour your oil, - fresh, unused cooking oil,- (for me peanut oil) into the pot, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan completely. Maybe a 32nd of an inch or so. Remember that the oil is just there to transfer heat to the kernels and inhibit scorching. It is not really an ingredient in a recipe.

Place your pot on the stove, and heat on high or medium high, until the oil is frying hot, almost smoking. one kernel dropped in the pot will fizzle if the oil is hot, but be careful, for it will soon pop and may splatter.

When the oil is hot, dump in your pre-measured corn and put on the lid. let the pot sit until popping starts, then agitate the pan while the popping continues. near the end you can reduce the heat or lift the pot free from the stove to agitate. This agitation is to keep un-popped kernels sifting down to the bottom of the pot where they can pop, instead of distributing the un-popped kernels around in the pot as the popped corn fluffs up and fills the pot. reducing heat just about 3/4 of the way through the process will keep scorching down, and yes, that part is all guess work, separating the master from the novice.

Dump your corn out into a large bowl or serving container right away once popped. don't stop to salt , butter or admire it, for it Can burn sitting in the popping pot quickly once it is popped.

Now, add your salt, melted butter or whatever suits you fancy,
toss, and enjoy.

Answer 3

You wouldn't want to cook the popcorn in butter. Oil is the right choice there. Butter burns. Butter goes on after it's popped - and clarified butter is best, but most people don't have time for that. (To make clarified butter, which is pretty much butter with the water removed, look for instructions in a general cookbook like the Joy of Cooking.) Don't use melted soft tub margarine on popcorn -- they add water to make it soft and that'll make your popcorn mushy.

I like cooking popcorn on the stove. It lets me make just the amount I want and I can control what kind of oil is used and how much seasoning (if any). It's also much less expensive than microwave popcorn and there's less packaging - so better for the environment. I like fine-grained popcorn salt -- it seems to last forever in cupboard, BTW.

I don't know why yours was chewy. Here are some tips, though. Use a heavy pan and heat it and the oil before you add the popcorn. (I like to use my big cast iron frying pan.) Put a few kernels in the oil and when they sizzle, the pan and oil are hot enough. Careful, though, too hot and the popcorn will burn. Add the rest of the popcorn and shake the pan from side to side as it pops. I like to use a splatter screen instead of a lid on the pan - this lets steam escape instead of allowing the steam to turn into water droplets on the underside of the lid and getting on the popped corn.

Some popcorn brands are better than others. Orville Redenbacher's is a good one. The Redenbacher web site has instructions, here: http://www.orville.com/recipes/perfect_pop.jsp . Popcorn sold in plastic bags at the grocery store can get old and not pop well.

Also, if you add a teaspoon of water to a quart-size container of un-popped corn and store it tightly-sealed in the refrigerator, it's supposed to pop bigger. (Don't know where I heard that - it was a long time ago.) Too much water, though, and you end up with too much steam and mushy popped corn.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Range-Top Popping
To pop popcorn on a range-top, assemble the following:

* a 3- to 4-quart pan with a loose lid that allows steam to escape
* at least enough popcorn to cover the bottom of the pan, one kernel deep
* 1/3 cup of oil for every cup of kernels (Don't use butter!)

Heat the oil to 400 - 460 degrees Fahrenheit (if the oil smokes, it is too hot). Test the oil on a couple of kernels. When they pop, add the rest of the popcorn, cover the pan and shake to evenly spread the oil. When the popping begins to slow, remove the pan from the stove-top. The heated oil will still pop the remaining kernels.

Salting
Pre-salting kernels toughens popcorn. So, salt the popcorn after it has been popped -- or skip salt altogether and add salt-free spices.

Answer 5

my dad always made his that way. he would put half butter and half oil in a pot, then the kernels. he cooked it on high heat and then he'd wait to cover the pan until a few kernels popped. then, he would cover it with a lid and shake the pot until all the popcorn was popped. he dumped all the popcorn in a bowl and sometimes added extra butter and some salt. his was never chewy, though.

Answer 6

do u have a pressure cooker? u can put in some salt and butter... once the butter has melted, add the corn kernels and close the lid. remove the whistle and let it pop till the popping sound reduces to 2-3 times a minute. if u dont have a pressure cooker, u can do the same thing in the small pot ur using.... if the popcorn isnt coming out well, try using a different variety of kernels.... butter adds to the taste... popcorn doesnt taste as good with olive oil.... enjoy....

Answer 7

Butter would smoke or catch fire, if you're doing it right.

Put a heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat, add a layer of heat-tolerant oil, add salt to the oil (it spreads evenly that way), add 3 corn kernels. Cover the pot. Shake frequently until a kernel pops. Add a layer of kernels, re-cover, shake frequently until there are very few popping.

Answer 8

the fact that popcorn is greasy is a lie.
Cook the popcorn with oil, it works way better. but only use 1 1/2 Tblspoon. It seem greasy because people pur butta all over it after they make it crispy with A LITTLE bit of oil

Answer 9

Buy organic popcorn.
Use as little oil as possible for popping.
Shake some garlic powder over the popped kernels for extra ZIP.

Answer 10

Your chewy popcorn was because of the brand that you used. Generally, an air pop popcorn maker will give you the lightest and biggest popcorn.

Answer 11

oil is better. just make sure you dont leave it on the burner too long. put it on the burner and when they start to po take it off and let it sit for a min and then put it back on and let it start popping it again and then shake the wholle things around and take of burner while still shaking and making all the kernels pop and add salt and such. You left it on the burner too long and market basket has really good pop corn. its amazing and light and fluffy!