We had a popcorn machine, but I gave it away. It worked perfectly fine. The problem was that it was made of plastic and Teflon, two things we stay away from when food and heat are involved. After I gave away the popcorn machine our popcorn consumption decreased drastically. This made me sad because I really enjoy a big bowl of popcorn on a regular basis.
Then I realized that people made popcorn before popcorn machines were invented (imagine that!). If you do a Google search for “stove top popcorn”, up pops up a ton of results (pun intended). And to make things even better, stove top popcorn is easy to make and tastes delicious.
To make stove top popcorn you need:
– a large pot with a lid
– 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
– oil (safflower, sunflower, peanut, canola) *I wouldn’t recommend using olive oil because of it’s low smoking point
– seasoning (melted butter, salt)
The directions are straight-forward:
Put the pot on the stop top and add a couple Tablespoons of oil. Heat on medium high and throw in a few kernels. When the kernels begin popping add the rest of the popcorn kernels and put the lid on the pot. Keep a crack in the lid to allow the steam to escape and shake the pot every couple few seconds to prevent the popcorn from burning on the bottom. When the popping slows down take the pot of the stove and pour popcorn into a bowl. Season and serve.
Well Preserved recently posted a recipe for Cayenne, Cheddar, Olive Oil and Lemon stove top popcorn. It has cheese so it must be delicious!
3 comments
We have been doing popcorn this way for a few years now. If your children are salt and vinegar fans, put a little vinegar in a spray bottle and spritz some on the popcorn instead of butter, and then add your salt. Yummy, yummy…and it is a lot less filling, so you can eat more of it 🙂
Love it! That's how I grew up with popcorn. Sooo good!I think I'll make some tonight, thanks!
Yum! Salt and vinegar is a favorite around here and I never thought of using those flavours for popcorn. Thanks for the suggestion Natalie 🙂