Anyone who’s known me for more than about five minutes knows that I’m not a fan of the microwave. Oh, sure it can be a nice convenience, but, to me, a microwave is more of an annoyance. It takes up a lot of space, is a pain to clean, and has serious limitations in the cooking department. When our last microwave died, I refused to spend the money on what I considered nothing more than a big, bulky popcorn maker, and since I won’t buy microwave popcorn anymore, I didn’t see any reason to get another one. Then my husband got one for free, so I have a microwave cluttering up my kitchen, again.
Now, I should explain why I don’t buy microwave popcorn anymore. First, it’s way too salty for my taste. Second, it goes from barely popped to burned in about an eighth of a second. Third, I don’t know what diacetyl is, but it sure doesn’t sound like anything that belongs in my popcorn which should consist of nothing more than corn, butter, and salt.
For a while, I was making it on the stove in a wok. That worked out fairly well except that it was a lot greasier than we like. I fiddled with the process a bit, but still wasn’t happy with the results. I don't like heavy popcorn. So, we haven’t been enjoying much popcorn these days. Until I found a neat, new idea: microwave popcorn. We can make popcorn in the microwave without the fancy, chemical laden bags.
Place 1/3 to ½ cup of popcorn kernels in a paper lunch sack. Fold the top over a couple of times, leaving plenty of popping room. Place the sack in the microwave and cook like you would the store-bought bags.
I set my microwave for three minutes and took it out when it seemed to stop popping. I dumped the fluffy popcorn in a big bowl and tossed it with a little melted butter and salt. It was really good! I was shocked that it worked. And, since the bag didn’t have any salt or butter on it, it can make its way to the composter.
I originally used ½ cup of kernels, and that amount really pushed the limits of the bag. I suggest only using 1/3 of a cup. Also, I buy my popcorn from a bulk foods store for 70 cents a pound. When you add in the bag, salt, and butter, our big bowl of fresh popcorn cost lest than fifty cents!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll try this idea. I admit I was skeptical. I really didn’t think it would work. Shockingly, it really does.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Betty
I found a similar idea on the web and have enjoyed making popcorn in my microwave, too! I do use 1/3 c. and drizzle a little olive oil and 1 t. salt before popping. Perfection! Of course, the bag can't be composted, but oh well... Blessings to you and yours! ~Lisa
ReplyDeleteI had found this idea as well but was not sure that it would really work. Since you are the second person to try it, I think I will give it a try as well. It would be so much cheaper and better for us to eat it this way. (We eat ALOT of popcorn for snacks)
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