There are so many ways to make popcorn. You can cook it in a pot with oil or use an air popper. For the especially adventurous out there you can use the explosive Chinese popcorn maker (maybe called a popcorn cannon?).
But, it occurred to me this weekend as I was fending off a large black bear while enjoying a bag of Orville's best that microwave popcorn is growing on me as the best option.
On the pro column, it's easy to make, perfectly seasoned, and when it's fresh out of the microwave, it's just the most delightful hot and fluffy flavour. Plus, even once you've finished all the popcorn, the bag is still so well seasoned and it's a delightful treat in and of itself.
On the con side, yes it makes extra garbage, you can't control the toppings and it's quite a bit more expensive than just making it yourself. Plus, I haven't found a dependable microwave for when I'm camping.
There are a few ways to circumvent some of those negatives, though. I found a homemade microwave popcorn recipe that would make it customizable to season and could be made in a reusable container like a silicone bag or a bowl. I'd heard that you can do it in a paper bag before, but that just creates more waste again.
But you know... I seem to remember grabbing a silicone bag a few weeks ago for my sandwiches at lunch. Should I... do an experiment for my blog?!
YES!
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Before - just kernels and potential |
I started with maybe 1/8 a cup of popcorn kernels and a little tiny bit of oil - basically enough to coat everything. I tossed it in the microwave and hit "popcorn".
PRO TIP - Leave a little vent in the bag when you close it. The damn thing inflated like a balloon! This led me to stop briefly midway and crack it open before it exploded.
And did it work?
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Yes |
It was a tiny bit overcooked. I think this is mostly because I had to stop halfway through and vent the bag (as mentioned above). It took another 20 or so seconds after restarting for the popping to continue and I'm sure that contributed. But otherwise, this was just great microwave popcorn!
I'll have to chase this recipe around a bit now. It needs butter and I only did a little tiny bit. I'll have to run some experiments to see how much I can cook at one time without filling my microwave with popcorn. It gets pretty hot when it cooks so I would certainly recommend sticking to silicone or glass when cooking. But the microwave works great. There is no special voodoo in those microwave popcorn bags.
I would recommend pouring the popcorn out into a bowl, it's starting to stick to the sides of the bag as I monch on it finishing this post up. If you're looking to do this yourself, I got this stylish Star Wars silicone bag at Dollarama for like a buck. So this thing starts paying for itself pretty quickly.
So here's to a fun new approach to popcorn - and a new way to stick it to Big Popcorn and their microwave popcorn markup!