I love eating popcorn at home, but let me be blunt: You mustn’t eat any popcorn that comes out of any kind of bag. Skinny Pop is too chewy. Orville Redenbacher’s recipe coats the mouth with a chemical-butter film. Better ways to make popcorn are easy. Don’t worry — this isn’t coffee culture. We’re not so precious. You can even still use the microwave.
I used to be devoted to the inverted-sieve stovetop method of making popcorn, in which you use a heavy-bottomed pot with a sieve acting as a dome to release steam and keep the popcorn contained. But between monitoring the heat and shaking the pot to make sure no kernels stuck to the bottom, I too often ended up with acrid popcorn and a scorched pot. There had to be a better way. So I took a $17 roll of the dice and bought a silicone microwave popper.
A silicone popper — there are many similar ones on the market, I chose one called Proper Popper — consists of a collapsible bowl and lid. You put some kernels in the bowl and maybe some oil (it’s not necessary, but I like to put in a bit of olive oil, for some subtle flavor) and top with the lid, which at first will sink to the bottom of the popper. When the kernels start to pop, the lid rises. A quarter-cup of kernels gives you a nice snack and is ready in about two minutes. More than any other method I’ve tried, the silicone popper yields the highest number of popped kernels, no matter which kind. I’ve even had a 100 percent pop rate, not to brag. It’s also simple to clean — I wipe it down with a wet paper towel, but it’s dishwasher safe — then can be folded up (or crammed into a cabinet) for maximum storage.
Now I know I said popcorn culture was not like coffee culture, but I’m allowed to be interested in something. Did you know ancient Peruvians invented the popcorn popper? And although I love my yellow Proper Popper, theirs was quite aesthetic. Many early versions of corn were only edible as popcorn, and researchers have found kernels as old as 1,000 years that were still poppable. It’s hard to say exactly how many varieties of popcorn exist today, but they’re generally divided into three categories: size, shape, and color. The most common types of popcorn are white, small yellow, and large yellow; yellow butterfly is what you tend to get at a movie theater.
My Proper Popper gives me the freedom to create a bespoke popcorn experience. I’m not a big fan of butterfly kernels; I like my popcorn with some heft. In my search for the fattest kernels on the market, I found an Extra Large Mushroom variety at Dell Cove Spices, which is run by a former journalist and her husband out of Indiana. Oh man, these kernels are so good. Each one pops huge and fluffy and looks like a brain, which makes them optimal for carrying the seasoning of your choice. I’m typically a salt purist, but lately I’ve been appreciating how popcorn is a blank canvas for spice experimentation. That said, my clove popcorn seasoning was not great. Lately I’ve been loving salt and Penzeys Cinnamon Sugar.
Dell Cove has some other interesting, if kitschy, varieties. I’ve flirted with Snowman Kisses, which explode into teensy white tidbits — great for the holidays. Scary Movie popcorn has a red center, “like a tiny drop of blood,” and the Better Off Single kernel has a center “as black as your ex’s soul.” While that’s none of my business, popcorn is actually a fitting gift for someone newly single. It reminds you that while some things may not last, popcorn has been with us for hundreds of years, and it’s only getting better.
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