I am on vacation this week and thought it might be fun to revisit some “vintage” posts. This was originally posted in September 2009.
I have never been thrilled with microwave popcorn- at least the taste that is. It’s not really that expensive- I can usually get it for around $1 a box making it a pretty cheap treat at .33. But it never tastes right to me- it always seems “chemically”. So I recently bought a bag of popcorn kernels and started popping my own. It really is good when popped in olive oil and then topped with real butter and salt. Can’t say it’s low fat- but it’s delicious.
I don’t mind making it on the stove- but it does take a little time and I can get a bit tired of shaking the pot (not to mention the noise of dragging a pot over and over my gas cooktop- needless to say – I don’t do it during nap time).
So I was curious- could I make it myself in the microwave?? So I did some poking around on the internet and indeed I can (and did). And it’s awesome!!
There are a few methods I found, all of which are easy. One of them I made up on my own and it seems to work too.. check it out.. you won’t be sorry.
1. Paper Bag Method
Fill a brown paper lunch sack with 1/4 cup popcorn kernels and around a tsp. of oil (I have heard that the oil is not necessary- just tastes good). Fold the bag a few times (it’s OK if it comes loose a bit- I have not had any problem with the popcorn coming out). Cook in the microwave for 1-3 minutes, depending on your microwave. You will simply have to listen for the slowing of the popping- when it slows take it out so it doesn’t burn (make sure you stay with the popcorn so you don’t risk burning). Pour into a bowl and top with your favorite popcorn toppings (I like butter and salt).
2. Microwave PopCorn Bowl Method–
I don’t have one of these- so I don’t know for sure but my guess would be that it would be similar to the above. But I do recommend following the directions on the bowl. I was thinking about buying one of this bowls with my Swag Bucks on Amazon- but decided to try the last method first- so we will see.
3. Any old microwave safe bowl with a loose fitting top
Directions are the same as popping in the bag- except don’t use any oil, it can melt the bowl.
So I tried this this morning and it seemed to work. I did not have 1/4 cup popcorn kernels (as we have been making too much DIY microwave popcorn). So I used around 1/8 cup and it did pop- just not as well- there were a lot of kernels left after almost 3 minutes of popping and it was just beginning to burn. So I need to try this again with more kernels and see if that was the issue. I like this method because you don’t use a bag and you already have a bowl with the pop corn in it. But if it doesn’t work as well I will definitely go back to the bag or buy the #2 method bowl.
Enjoy your popcorn!! Now you need a movie.
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