Three Ways to Pop Corn

Do you like eating popcorn? Well, who doesn't? If so read on this post to learn about three simple ways that work excellent for popping your own corn. I've learned these methods over the years from various sources and experimented with them all. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. So you can choose the most suitable one for your own taste and kitchen setup.

Non-GMO colorful popcorns from my own backyard

Method 1: Microwave

This method is the simplest of all if you have a microwave oven in your kitchen. You also need to have a paper bag. Brown lunch bags or organic fruit and vegetable bags that you typically get from farmers' markets work very well. This method is so simple that it doesn't require much explanation. The steps you need to follow are:

• Fill a small glass with a volume of about 4 fl oz (half cup or 100 - 120 ml) with the corn of your choice. I try to use the corn from our own backyard but use store-bought corn if you don't have that option.
• Add the corns to a paper bag. Make sure the paper bag does not have holes in it. Looks like this:

• Close the bag by crumpling it with your hands. Do not excessively compress the bag, but make sure that the top part is squeezed onto itself so that corns cannot escape when they start popping. You do not need to tie it. 

• Put the bag in the microwave and set it to 3 minutes at the highest setting (in my microwave the highest setting is 900 so I use that). But if you have a stronger microwave (such as 1200, you may need to reduce the time).

• Enjoy your delicious popcorn. You can add some salt and butter in the bag, mix it well and pour the contents into a serving bucket.

Method 2: Stainless Steel Pot

This method is probably the most traditional one. You put some oil (olive or vegetable) in the pot according to your taste, add the corn kernels, close the pot with the lid, and cook at low-medium heat by shaking the pot frequently. Shaking ensures that the corn is mixed with oil and it pops without burning. It may take about 4 - 6 minutes depending on your stove and type of your corn. Listen to the popping sounds carefully. Initially there will be a few kernels popping, which gradually increases, and then slows down again. Keep shaking during this period (but do not shake continuously, leave it on the stove for 5 - 10 seconds before you shake again). Once the popping sounds diminish noticeably, turn off the stove as it is best to avoid burning instead of trying to pop every kernel. You may hear a few pops even after you turn off the stove. Open the lid carefully to avoid burning yourself by the hot steam and add salt according to your taste. The result looks like this:

Method 3: Dutch Oven

This method is similar to the second method but uses a dutch oven instead of a stainless steel pot. The difference is that due to the longer heating time of the dutch oven, we use a few "pioneer" kernels to tell us that the dutch oven has heated enough for popping the corns.

• Add some oil (olive, vegetable, or coconut). Actually coconut oil works very well due to its higher burning point.
• Add a few (3 - 5) kernels in the dutch oven
• Close the lid and turn on the heat to medium 
• Wait until the kernels have all popped. This indicates that we now have the proper temperature
• Take out these popped kernels from the oven as otherwise they will burn
• Add the popcorn - about half a cup
• Close the lid
• Wait for the kernels to pop as you shake occasionally. You do not need to shake as much as you did for the stainless steel pot. This is because the thickness of the dutch oven prevents burning of the kernels and also it is quite a workout to shake a heavy dutch oven!
• Turn off the heat once the popping sounds diminish noticeably
• Open the lid carefully, add salt and some more butter if you like. Pour the popped corn into a serving bucket.

So that is it. In this post I shared three of the most common methods that I use for making popcorn. What makes it so much more fun and delicious is to grow my own non-GMO corn, store it for the winter, and pop it in cold winter nights when watching a movie as a family.

Let me know in the comments if you have other interesting ways for making popcorn!