Microwave Popcorn, Minus the Ripoff

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Microwave Popcorn, Minus the Ripoff

By Mark Bittman

May 6, 2008

New York Times

I ran across this article and found it fascinating, given the amount of microwave popcorn Kat and the kids do. From the article:

All you do is take popcorn — say, 1/4 cup — and put it in a brown paper bag (preferably the large lunch bags sold in supermarkets ), then fold over the top a few times (some people recommend staples, but it seems the bags can catch fire that way and why risk it; the staple is unnecessary), then pop until the kernels stop, which is high heat for two minutes in many cases.

You can add oil to the bag at the beginning if you like, but this will yield a slightly greasy bag (so — you use a bowl). And of course you can top the finished product with melted butter or any spice you want. This enables you to have microwaved popcorn but with your choice of popcorn and oil (I like peanut), and, if you were to make popcorn daily, to save hundreds of dollars a year. At every supermarket in the country, microwave popcorn sells for at least $4 a pound and usually closer to $6. Ordinary popcorn is about $1 a pound, or less; good organic popcorn is about $2 a pound.

In one of the comments, there was the following:

Why bother with the bag? You can pop the popcorn right in a bowl, covered with a plate. Just need a closed environment so that the water inside the kernels turns to steam and pops. . .You can put flavorings and oils at the bottom of the bowl, or season afterwards. And there’s no waste!

Some people complained about microwaves not popping all the corn or burning some of it and others seemed to have no problem with this, so I imagine it all depends on the microwave settings. You probably have to experiment to find the best ones. One thing is clear, you don't need oil to pop common popcorn in a microwave.

Also, the comments gave all kinds of seasoning ideas, including Old Bay and bacon fat.

Choose your poison.

Michael

[Greybird]

What "ripoff," MSK? I get eight 3.5-ounce bags for $2.00 at Wal-Mart. The convenience of not hauling out bags, oil, and raw kernels isn't worth two bits per bag for you?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Steve,

Heh.

I sometimes wonder what it is like to be you.

You might have noticed that "ripoff" was the title of the NYT article, not my evaluation. But of course, judging from your comment, you did not. You acted like I want to take your popcorn away from you. Don't worry. I don't mind if you eat it.

I think the article had a good idea in it. Unfortunately, it came with that name and there was not another article on the same subject easily available. I can't say I looked too hard for another, though, since the title did not offend me.

The real value I got from the article is the idea of popping corn without the industrial chemicals, not the price. But that would take discussion to find out before popping out with moral condemnation from the microwave of canned Objectivist... er... forget it...

I highly recommend finding out facts before judging, but that's my system. We all can't be the same.

I prefer not to call an article by another name than what the author gave it. I admit that this choice might seem irrational to some people, but there it is.

(I could probably go on all day with this crap. After 3 years of bickering over nothing in O-Land, it has become second nature.)

They have a comments section at the NYT for that article, since it is on a blog, where you can complain to the author if you like. It's free, so knock yourself out if you want to.

As for me, I still think popping unprocessed popcorn is a good idea.

Michael

[Greybird]

Comments removed. At some point, remonstrating against being misrepresented becomes pointless.

Edited May 9, 2008 by Greybird

[Chris Grieb]

I must add that I love my microwave and I like microwaving popcorn. I getting ready to bake a potato in my microwave shortly. So there!

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

At some point, remonstrating against being misrepresented becomes pointless.

Ditto and touché.

Go microwave some microwave popcorn. Eat it with gusto. You'll feel better.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

I had the baked potato and I do feel better.

[Kat]

A hot air popper works just fine too. Picked it up for $9.99 at Walgreens. It is a bit noisy, but it makes good popcorn without the chemicals and oil.