Not just popcorn ... REALLY GOOD POPCORN

Kev

Kev

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I'm certainly not a connoisseur of popcorn and normally do not eat it very often. My wife went to a local market and came back with several bags made by a stall owner that specialises in different types of popcorn (among a few other things).

For starters, I thought popcorn was popcorn .. just popcorn [smile]

So, one particular bag was supposedly "sweeter" than they other type .. huh? [huh]

I just gobbled a large bag of fresh and salty but honey sweet, dry and crisp but soft and buttery, slightly smokey bacon(ish) flavoured popcorn that I can only describe as AMAZING [big grin]

Now I feel sickly bloated .. it was a big bag and I'm a real pig when It comes to something nice to eat, but that's an entirely different issue.

So now I'm curious about popcorn. About how people make and their own "special popcorn" and give it that unique flavour??

Please share you long held family popcorn secrets!! [big grin]

 
Dump some popcorn in a paper bag and stick it in the microwave on high. When the popping starts, listen for the pace and when it slows significantly, take it out.

Flavor at will. I prefer just a little salt.

Tom
 
it's nice to find a niche food maker that takes their craft to such high levels.  and there's nothing like fresh.  i suppose that's why as soon as some of these makers try to take their business to a larger volume level where the goodies have to have a longer shelf life, everything starts going downhill.

my secret when i make my own popcorn is to put enough salt on it to mask the charred taste.  followed immediately by a hypertension pill chaser.  sorry i could not be of more help on the maker side.  however on the theory side, i was able to bore my son for a full 15 minutes as we strolled at the farmer's market on the science of why popcorn pops...
 
I really like either the plain old "little bit of butter and a little bit of salt" method or....

I grew up on the East coast and we put Old Bay on everything. Old Bay + popcorn = awesome.

Cheers. Bryan.
 
Yum, Old Bay! 

Many years ago, while on our honeymoon along the West Coast, we stopped at my Aunt's house for a seafood dinner.  I instinctively asked for some Old Bay, and my Aunt and cousins all said "Huh??".  The various people we asked later in California all said the same thing :  "Uhh, what's that??"

Maybe things have changed and it's marketed in California now?
 
I've been to a back woods crawdaddy boil in the Atchafalaya swamp and a big ole' can of Old Bay went into the pot. That's actually when I first learned about it...

Tom
 
I'm a big fan of homemade kettle corn, which is just popcorn popped on the stove with a little bit of oil and sugar. It takes practice to get a hang of not burning the sugar, but when you get it right, there's nothing better.
 
bkharman said:
I really like either the plain old "little bit of butter and a little bit of salt" method or....

I grew up on the East coast and we put Old Bay on everything. Old Bay + popcorn = awesome.

Cheers. Bryan.
Click to expand...
 

YEAH!!!  Old Bay is the absolute best on just about anything, especially Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and steamed shrimp!!!  It's even better washed down by a goodly dose of Small Craft Warning or Cross Bones.
 
Tom's brown bag method is the favorite in my house as well.  I mix white and yellow kernels at about 50/50 and just a touch of oil.  Butter and salt after it comes out.  Best stuff I have ever had.  The trick I found was to use the larger sized lunch bags.  It gives more room for popping....
 
Popcorn, creamed corn, corn on the cob, whatever, it's all functions strictly as a carrier for Johnny Salt (the MSG version, not the neutered Costco stuff).  I prefer it to Lawry's, Alpine Touch, Tony Chachere's, Old Bay, and any other regional seasoning salt variants.  I am pretty sure that Johnny's Salt is the spice they were mining on Dune, it's that good.
 
Before moving to 10 miles west of the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Idaho I lived, for many years, in "ballmore, MD"; where old bay is used on everything. I've had old bay ice cream, old bay potato chips,  and the list goes on. One of my personal favorites is old bay on corn on the cob. 

But, back to popcorn. In Baltimore is the historic Senator theater.  Its an old, art deco, large auditorim, super wide screed screen theater where many movie openings have been held including all the films by John Waters; a Baltimore native. The Senator, at least the last time I was there, still served some of the best popcorn. It is all freshly popped and covered with real butter, not the crappy oil of the theater chains. A great treat.
 
jbasen said:
Before moving to 10 miles west of the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Idaho I lived, for many years, in "ballmore, MD"; where old bay is used on everything. I've had old bay ice cream, old bay potato chips,  and the list goes on. One of my personal favorites is old bay on corn on the cob. 

But, back to popcorn. In Baltimore is the historic Senator theater.  Its an old, art deco, large auditorim, super wide screed screen theater where many movie openings have been held including all the films by John Waters; a Baltimore native. The Senator, at least the last time I was there, still served some of the best popcorn. It is all freshly popped and covered with real butter, not the crappy oil of the theater chains. A great treat.
Click to expand...

A bunch of friends of mine spent 4 years and a ton of our own money to make a Star Wars fan film years back and had our premiere at the Senator. It was a very cool place indeed!

I lived in and around Washington DC for many, many years and we would go to the Uptown and they both have that historic thing going for them.

I really miss getting a bushel of blues with old bay and vinegar and a couple dozen beers with my friends. Great way to kill the greater part of a day...

Cheers. Bryan.
 
There aren't a lot of things I miss about the east coast since moving out west. But, the seafood and especially the crabs lead the list. A bushell of steamed crabs covered with old bay seasoning are the things that dreams are made of in Idaho.
 
I've never tried Old Bay seasoning, but for any Aussies interested ... usafoods.com.au offer it.
 
Sparktrician said:
bkharman said:
I really like either the plain old "little bit of butter and a little bit of salt" method or....

I grew up on the East coast and we put Old Bay on everything. Old Bay + popcorn = awesome.

Cheers. Bryan.
Click to expand...
 

YEAH!!!  Old Bay is the absolute best on just about anything, especially Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and steamed shrimp!!!  It's even better washed down by a goodly dose of Small Craft Warning or Cross Bones.
Click to expand...
Dead Rise, from Flying Dog is brewed with Old Bay. It's pretty good stuff.
 
1.  White popocorn is better than yellow.

2.  Coconut Oil is my preferred oil for cooking it.

3.  I, for some reason, have always liked Lawry's seasoned salt on my popcorn. 

I also use a popcorn popper which is probably 40 years old or more.
 
Take the bag.  Put it in the microwave, nuke it, add hot sauce shake it and eat it
 
My favorite way of making popcorn is only for the winter although I suppose that you could do it over a charcoal grill.  I have one of the old fashioned long handled cast iron popcorn poppers that when used over the fire in the fireplace allows some of the smoke flavor adhere to the popcorn.

Wife loves Parmesan cheese on hers, I do browned butter and a bit of salt.  Seasoned salt or Old Bay (accept no substitutes) is also good.

This thread just reminded me that I was an idiot and forgot to restock on Old Bay today.  Oops.

Peter
 
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