making popcorn in the microwave

I’ve looked all over the basement for the hot air popper I used to have in college, but could not find it. I like microwave popcorn, but I remember trying actually popping kernels of corn in a brown paper bag in the past and decided to try it again. The kids got a big kick out of that. It works great. Even though I haven’t had much success getting all of the kernels to pop, most of them do and it’s much cheaper than buying microwave popcorn in packages.

The flavor is a bit lacking and any salt or seasonings you add don’t stick well because the popped corn is not moist enough. But, a few suggestions I’ve heard include using a spray to moisten the popcorn and then sprinkling the season on it. I tried spray butter and it allowed the seasoning to stick better.

Here are the basic instructions: put about a third of a cup of popcorn kernels in a brown paper lunch bag and fold the top over a couple of times to seal it. Put it in your microwave with the bag standing up (not laying on its side like you would with packaged microwave popcorn) and then set the microwave to three minutes. (Depending on your wattage, it may take less time than that.) Stop the microwave when the popping slows to about two seconds in between pops. You don’t want the popped corn to burn!

If you’d like, use spray butter to flavor and moisten the popped corn. After that, if you choose, sprinkle salt or a popcorn seasoning. I’ve tried the caramel and kettle corn seasonings from Kernel Seasons but I bought them at my local grocer rather than online so I cannot attest to the online service you might get if you tried ordering from their website. That company also makes a spritzer (which would replace the spray butter in the instructions above) but my grocery store did not carry it hence my need to use spray butter.

These items were next to the bagged and microwave popcorn at the grocery store, but another area you might want to check is in the spice aisle. There, you would find lots of neat things to sprinkle on popcorn — seasoned salt, chili powder, powdered chese, etc. And, don’t forget the parmesan in the aisle with the spaghetti sauces!

Enjoy! Popcorn (especially if you don’t pop it in oil) has very few calories and neither the spray butter or the sprinkled seasonings have any calories, so a great and tasty treat for calorie counters!

Tags: low calorie foods, popcorn, Recipes