Homemade Microwave Popcorn – From Scratch

You can make bags of microwave popcorn at home. They’re delicious and ready to serve in just a couple of minutes. Not to mention they’re cheaper than the name brands, and free from any nasty chemicals.

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Music By:

Jens Kiilstofte – “Morning Cruise”
https://machinimasound.com/music/morning-cruise

Project Inspired By:

My dad. He’s a huge fan of popcorn and I wanted a quick and easy way to make some when he came to visit. I took more inspiration from microwave popcorn, and the internet. I ripped bags of microwave popcorn apart to figure out how they worked, researched the internet for DIY ideas, and experimented on my own with 20-30 batches to get the results you see here.

WARNING:

Immediately after popping, bags may release steam that’s hot enough to burn skin. Hot oil or other ingredients may also cause damage to exposed skin or mouth on contact. Let the contents of the bag cool before touching and eating, or use appropriate protective gear. Have fun, but use caution and common sense, and always remember that any experiment you try, is at your own risk.

Project History & More Info:

I wondered if there was a way to make a single bag of popcorn at home, that would be ready to eat right away. No buttering, no salting .. just ready to eat as soon as it was popped.

Of course I was inspired by microwave popcorn, because it can already do that. But some research suggests there may be harmful chemicals in the heat-resistant lining that are released when the kernels are cooked.

I experimented by popping kernels in butter, but most of the time the butter burned, and either melted the plastic containers I was using, or scorched them.

I experimented with coconut oil, and that worked really really well, but there wasn’t much flavor and I wanted the recipe to use very common ingredients, so olive oil ended up being my preference.

For containers, I experimented with plastic, glass, and even slurpee and coffee cups, but they all either warped, stained, or melted at the seams and fell apart once in a while. Not very reliable.

After searching around the internet, I realized this actually isn’t a very new idea, and people have been making microwave popcorn in brown paper bags for years. So I tried the brown paper bag method, and while it was a bit messy, it worked perfectly every time.

I experimented with different recipes and amounts trying to get a single bag to pop and be ready to eat straight out of the microwave. This is the recipe I use now, after weeks of testing;

1/3 Cup Popcorn
1 Tsp Olive Oil
½ Tsp Salt

I found that if the kernels were coated in the oil first, they would pop faster, and be more complete. I also found that throwing all the ingredients in at the same time will still season everything and yield a great taste. You could shake the bag to make the contents more uniform, but it still works either way! 🙂

Just for fun, my wife suggested I try adding some sugar to see if it would make instant kettle corn .. and it did!

So: (optional) – Add 1 TBSP Sugar to make Kettle Korn

Kettle Korn is a sweet and salty version of popcorn for people who like it like that. My personal preference however, is salty. So I usually leave the sugar out. I included the option in this video because many Americans are fans of the Kettle Korn taste.

Enjoy! 🙂