Microwave popcorn

bandylu2- I love it, but I never know exactly how long to pop it, I usually end up with either a lot of unpopped corn (which I repop even though it is against the directions ) or corn that smells like a barbeque!

That is a bit of a problem, Phoenix. Feels kind of silly trying to count the seconds between pops.

I'm not a big fan of microwave popcorn,
It seems that my old hot-air popper pops it just as fast, and I can add the amount of butter (real) and salt that I want.

BUTTER? i use nothing but polyunstaturated ghee, i thought everyone did.

I eat popcorn all the time. Just recently discovered Kettle Corn.

I push the popcorn button on my microwave and it works every time! (I think it's 1 1/2 minutes.)

But then you have to clean everything, Jerry, as opposed to just throwing the bag out. Actually the best is the real old fashioned popping over the fire, but since I don't have anything to pop it in any more and we don't have fires very often, I'm stuck with microwave of bagged (and microwave is much better than bagged).

Remember Jiffypop that you did over the stove? That was pretty good, too.

I like popcorn too, but also have the problem with the unpopped kernels/barbecue scenario. mac, is Kettle Corn a microwave brand of popcorn?

Kettle Corn is a slightly sweet flavor of popcorn - not nearly as sweet as say, Cracker Jack. Several brands are making it all of a sudden: Orville Reddenbacher, Jolly Time, Act II to name a few.

Wait a minute. My microwave doesn't have a popcorn button. I wuz robbed!!

Thanks macsm, I'll look for it.

Bandylu, you and me both.

I get JiffyPop for a treat every year or so. It's still fun to watch.

bandylu2- The popcorn box usually has a range of times that you need to use to pop the bag. I never get it right!

Although I like the taste of some of the microwave popcorns, I wouldn't touch any of it, and after reading the ingredients label, neither of my kids will either. Look at the fats and sodium contents of just a single serving of the stuff (most people eat a lot more than just one serving, too) and it's pretty scary. I agree with JerryR on this one...air popped and adding your own stuff is best.

All that bad stuff is what makes it taste soooo good, Matrix.

As far as the popping time for microwave popcorn goes, you could just set your microwave on high power for 5 minutes and then stay close while the popcorn is popping. As soon as the popping slows down to just a few pops per second, it's done, so stop the microwave. I've always had popcorn settings on my microwaves, and none of them have been of very much use.

True, bandylu, but the bad stuff in the microwave popcorn is really bad stuff...

I can partake in micro popcorn on occassion, those ones that are lazy and just need a snack but, i still have my hot air popper as well and would rather use that one when i really want popcorn.
I also have the popcorn button on the micro but, I still stand by to watch it.
I miss Jiffy Pop....I rarely see it around the stores.

I've tried several different popcorn poppers, including the gourmet kinds, but the Presto PowerPop, an inexpensive little microwave popper, is the one that pops best for me. I get really good popcorn from it--it pops most of the kernels--nice and light and dry. I simply dump it into a large bowl and add extra fine olive oil and salt, for a real taste treat.

I use the microwave variety, because i'm lazy mostly . . . and because it ain't worth the effort to do it on top of the stove just for me . . .

Jerry, there are many brands which are listed as "natural flavor" which have no "butter flavoring" -- basically, these have enough oil to pop the corn, and a little salt. I use those and melt butter to pour over it.

When i was a child, we grew our own popcorn--we used Japanese Hull-less, a white popcorn variety. Yellow popcorn has a hull over the kernel, that's the nasty burned-cellophane-like stuff that gets caught in your teeth and gums. White popcorn does not have that outer hull. Also, the Japanese Hull-less was a smaller, starchy/sweeter variety, that is, smaller kernels. My grandmother would pop it in an old pressure cooker with the rubber ring removed. She saved her bacon fat (an old-fashioned habit, once quite common--you were once able to buy a cheap tin jar, about one quart, with the word "bacon" stamped on the outside, and two lids--the inner one was perforated for straining the little burned bits from the hot bacon fat) and used that for popping the corn. It was fantastic stuff. Growing popcorn is quite easy, as well--it only needs to be weeded until it is about 12" tall (and you could even dispense with that--but my grandmother was a neat freak), and then you forget about it until the first frost--it is not very far removed from a weed, itself, and few weeds compete well with it. The only really bad part is shelling the popcorn--your hands will be raw from it. We produced about 50 quarts per year (about 100 pounds). This met all our needs, even though we ate popcorn in the evenings about two or three times a week, and we gave quite a bit away to family and friends.

I've only seen a white popcorn variety available for the microwave once, and, sadly, it is no longer available.

I use the microwave variety, because i'm lazy mostly . . .