Sep 03, 2007
I don't have one of those neat hand-crank popcorn-making-thingys. I have absolutely zero experience making popcorn on the stove. What I do have is a pot that I normally use for chili and pasta, a fondness for kettle corn, and a heck of a of a nerve on me. Here's what I did, mistakes and all: I did the 3-kernel test, and then added the sugar and the popcorn at the same time. (I'm not going to call that a mistake, but I think next time I'll add the sugar, let it melt, and then add the popcorn - the way I did it this afternoon, the popcorn started to pop before the sugar was melted.) I used canola oil and thought it was fine. I added 1 tsp of salt plus a pinch or two to the sugar; next time I might stick to just 1 tsp, as I found some pieces to be a little salty. I did the three-seconds-on-the-heat/three-seconds-off-the-heat thing, shaking the entire time, and I probably pulled it a little early because I'd rather have a few unpopped kernels than burned sugar and popcorn. The end result was very, very tasty. Some of the pieces carmelized quite a bit, others didn't; I preferred the ones that didn't, but that didn't stop me from eating the entire batch by myself. Cleanup was no problem; the cooled sugar melted right off again with hot water. Thanks for the great recipe! Edit: Later, I tried letting the sugar melt before adding the popcorn. I thought the sugar carmelized too much - it tasted burned instead of sweet. I'll add them at the same time from now on.
—ZeldaSayre