Thread: Popcorn

I have found out a few days ago how to prepare popcorn in the microwave.

Not those prepacked microwave popcorn bags with their usually horrible flavoring but with corn like you can do in a pot or frying pan.

Use a glass pot or a ceramic pot, most plastic microwave dishes will get destroyed by the hot sugar. Cover the ground losely with corn, app. 50g depending on size. Add water until the corn is nearly covered. Add a tablespoon of sugar and stir a little.

Put the pot into the microwave and cover it with a microwave cover, one of those with a hole in the middle.



Run the microwave with full power. First all the water evaporates and the sugar will nicely caramelize, giving the popcorn a really nice flavor. Not too sweet as a lot of the sugar ends at the bottom of the pot.

It tasts surprisingly good exactly the way we get popcorn at the cinema or at carnivals from those popcorn stands.

It is difficult to give a precise time as it depends on the precise amount of water, as all the water needs to evaporate first. Just observe when the popping starts and when the pops get rare it is done. Stop the microwave so the corn does not get burned.

Works with half a teaspoon salt and some butter too if you don't want it sweet.

When i saw the topic - Patsy's eyes lit up. yum yum.

Sorry, no microwave...

Have you got a recipe for old fashioned popcorn? When Mum remembered to put the top on the pot, before they go all over the kitchen... One of her culinary faux pas...

I buy the bags, but they taste old.

I have tried other methods before but they all have the same problem. You don't get the flavorings to stick with the popcorn so they taste bland and the sugar is not caramelized, an important part of the process for the real taste.

This recipe is the first one I know that solves this problem and produces popcorn that tastes like the real thing from these machines.


The trick with the new method is the water. It evaporates and in the process the sugar or salt attaches to the corn before it pops.

I will try if it works in a pot on a normal hotplate too and will report.

Maybe you can try it in a microwave of a friend. If you really like good popcorn I believe you might then buy one.

You can google popcorn ufo. I have heard that those produce good popcorn too, but that is not first hand experience so I cannot confirm.

Originally Posted by Takeovers

I will try if it works in a pot on a normal hotplate too and will report.

No, doesn't work. It ended up a burned mess..

You can put regular popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag, fold the end down and microwave it. Just do not leave it in very long.

Also they sell hot air popcorn poppers in Thailand.

Originally Posted by chitown

You can put regular popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag, fold the end down and microwave it. Just do not leave it in very long. Also they sell hot air popcorn poppers in Thailand.

Yes, but they are tasteless with both methods. The method I described uses those regular popcorn kernels too. I have tried those hot air devices too, but the result is no good.

Melt some real butter and pour it on.

Originally Posted by chitown

Melt some real butter and pour it on.

It won't distribute evenly. And you would need a lot of it to make any difference.