Poppy Corn, Bitches!

note to video: while making the caramel sauce, I mistakenly advise to use baking powder. USE BAKING SODA. I don’t know if baking powder will really work.

 

Basic Transcription:

When talking with some friends I realized that there are several people in my life who do not know how to make popcorn from scratch. And I realized that if *my* friends didn’t know how, then there might be like A LOT of people who don’t know and it’s so easy and fast and cheap, that I figured I’d just show how.

Microwave popcorn is filled with all kinds of stuff (fillers & preservatives and chemicals to make the corn pop in a microwave) that your body simply doesn’t need; regular popcorn is about 89c a bag or less if you get it in bulk and is available in organic option. With regular popcorn all you need is oil. And even the oil might be debatable.. Everything else is just a bonus.

Microwave popcorn is a total waste of time and money. It takes not very much time longer to make popcorn at home at a fraction of the cost. I don’t even know how much microwave popcorn is – Jesse says it’s around $3 for 4 “bags” of popped corn (which I’ve never been able to get to pop fully and always burn). I’m pretty sure one whole box (all the bags combined) of microwaved popcorn will yield less than the amount of what I made here for about 10c.

[ not mentioned in video, but something to think about ]

Also, if you buy the corn from the bulk section, there is NO waste; and if you buy the corn in a bag, there’s only one plastic bag instead of several chemically induced microwavable freakshow bags and a cardboard box. Yes it’s plastic, but it’s a lot less material. And there’s almost always the option for bulk when you can bring your own reusable container. I get the lidded containers at the deli counter and use those for the bulk section and I reuse them instead of tupperware and reuse them to buy more bulk.

I’m not saying you “should” do this, but it’s something to consider is all.

[end minor rant]

Use a heavy-bottomed pot; I prefer cast iron. If you don’t have cast iron, well, that’s too bad for you. Use the heaviest lidded pot you have. The heavier it is, the less you need to move it around because the heat in heavy pans travels up the sides and heats more evenly. You can still use any pot you have with a lid, just keep the heat to med-high, not all the way high cuz you can easily scorch the corn.

The lighter your pot is, the more you must move it around to keep the corn from scorching.

Use about 1tbs of oil for 1/3c of corn. In my pot I used just a little less than 1/4c of oil to 1c of corn and it yielded a shitload.. use this amount though if you are making the caramel option.

• Put your oil in the pot along with a few kernels of corn. When the kernels pop that means your oil is hot enough to add the rest of the corn.

It takes a couple minutes to hear/feel the kernels pop.

• Meanwhile, if you are making the caramel option, melt in another pan (preferably cast iron again) 1/4c real butter (not margarine) and 1/2c brown sugar. Mix and heat on medium high. Keep your heat tempered, you don’t want to scorch the butter.
• Approximately at the time the butter is close to melted your kernels should be exploding with joy.
• Add the rest of your corn and cover with lid
• Add to the butter and sugar mix 2tbs of corn syrup. I use cane sugar syrup, an alternative to corn syrup. I don’t know if it’s any better for you, but I’m kind of wary of industrial corn products so… Also you don’t need that much, Realistically I add probably 1tbs, but the recipe calls for 2. Experiment.
• Stir your caramel mixture add 1/4 cap full of vanilla (just a drop or two)
• Add 1 pinch of salt
• Add 1/8tsp baking SODA
• Corn should be close to popped now, and you can easily mix the sauce onto the corn. Voila!