How to make kettle corn

[jere7my]

Last night, prior to running off to Everything Is Terrible! I was just putting in a DVD of the 1958 B movie Fiend Without a Face when I decided I wanted popcorn. The popcorn package had this extremely simple recipe for kettle corn on the back, which I tried, became addicted to, and now pass on to you:

• Use half as much oil and sugar as popcorn. If you want to pop half a cup of popcorn kernels, use 1/4 cup of both oil and sugar.
• In a lidded pot large enough to hold the popped popcorn, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Heavier pot is betterer.
• Dump in the popcorn. Immediately sprinkle the sugar over the popcorn and put the lid on, clamping it tight with your hand.
• Start shaking the pan on the burner. Do not stop until the popping stops, which will be in about two minutes.
• Remove from heat, remove lid, and sprinkle with kosher salt to taste. The salt will trickle down through, sticking where it needs to.

The end result is fluffy popcorn coated in a crisp, glassy layer of sugar that causes the kernels to adhere lightly to one another in fantastic shapes, not nearly so densely as in a popcorn ball. 1/4 cup of popcorn was a good amount for me alone — it produced perhaps a quart of popped popcorn. I intend to experiment with other oils and sugars.

Comments

[glassonion]

I rediscovered stovetop popcorn recently. We had a hot air popper growing up, and i occasionally had stovetop popcorn at friends' houses, and it always turned out half-burned and gigantically complicated to make. But the principle seems to be a simple one, as you say: use oil, shake the pot, profit. Obviously, if you want the option of popcorn that doesn't have fat in it, you need to do something else. But why would you want that?

Anyway, the kettle corn idea is a good one. I've been using salt + random spices. Black salt worked pretty well. Thyme is great, assuming you like thyme.

[tapas.livejournal.com]

This sounds yummy! Must try it! It's even vegan so I can share with F! Oh, wait ... braces. Sigh. Maybe next year.

Still sounds yummy, though.