Rediscovering Popcorn as a Snack

I have many fond memories of my dad with popcorn as a snack. I watched many baseball games on TV with a big bowl of buttered popcorn between us as he explained the strategies of the players. Popcorn has always been my snack of choice, even over chips and pretzels.

When we were first married (way back in the late 60s and early 70s), Bert and I had a huge garden with a section set aside to grow popcorn. The process is much like sweet corn but we needed to keep the sweet corn at the other end of the garden…they will cross pollinate and ruin both. Popcorn is taller than sweet corn and often had pink silk. Really pretty!

I will tell you…growing our own popcorn, drying it and popping it as soon as it was dry enough was a lot of work but the taste was amazing! A whole different taste from popcorn that had been sitting in a jar on the shelf for over a year!

For several years we did the work of picking the ears, husking them, laying the ears out on an old sheet in front of the wood burning stove until they dried enough to shell. We learned the hard way to wear gloves because the corn kernels had a sharp point and after a few ears our hands were shredded (at least mine were!).

We often had 5-6 gallons of shelled corn by Halloween and made sure to gift my dad a gallon of corn for Christmas! Most people thought we were nuts!

If you are interested in growing popcorn, there are many articles online about it. Here is one I thought was interesting: https://gardenerspath.com/plants/vegetables/grow-popcorn/

For the last 30+ years we haven’t grown popcorn but I’ve tried to find the best popcorn, and the best popcorn popper rather than growing our own. I’ve tried specialty and multicolor popcorn. The two main kinds of popcorn…white and yellow…seem to be the main choice. The white kernels are smaller and don’t leave a sharp piece of the hull. The big yellow kernels pop up much bigger and have more flavor, but often I’m left needing a toothpick or dental floss to get those sharp hulls that get stuck between my teeth.

Finding popcorn that is fresh with the right moisture content to pop well is tough. You have no way to know how long ago the popcorn was harvested and how it was stored. Sometimes, popcorn does better if it is stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Here are two brands that work pretty well for me. I always assume some of it will not pop and be left in the bottom of the bowl. I do miss the flavor of the popcorn we grew…but these will do:

The next challenge was finding the right popcorn popper. My dad used a popper similar to the one below and loved it so much he took it with him as he moved into assisted living.

This had a Teflon heat surface with a rotating arm that stirred the popcorn. I had a popper like this too for a while, but it was just too big and bulky and hard to store.

I seem to have quite a collection of popcorn poppers (I sold the air popper at a yard sale a long time age). At the moment I have 4 choices of poppers:

Popper #1

For many years, we used this popper. The handle crank and gears let us stir it as it popped, and frankly made the best popcorn. We still use it if we have company and have to make a lot of popcorn. I’m pretty sure I got this at Lehman’s of Ohio (from the catalog online). It’s solid and works fast.

Popper #2

For a while I was determined to find a popper that worked well in the microwave. I picked up this clay pot, made in Chile but sold by a company in the Midwest that sold popcorn. It does well but it gets hot and is kind of slippery. I’m always worried I’ll drop and break it. I’ve had it sitting on a shelf since that first try.

Popper #3

This clear glass popper is turning out to be my favorite because it has a handle I can grab with a hot pad and I can see how full it is as it pops.

Popper #4

Recently, I was enticed to pick up a small popper at the health food store that would make just one small serving:

Two minutes in the microwave…

This made a single serving of popcorn. I wish I could have seen through the container to see how full the cup was as it was popping but it did leave some of the corn unpopped.

So, my quest to find the best popper continues. I have tried the air popper but it put out so much air it blew the unpopped kernels right out before they had time to pop. It seems I often choose the white corn without sharp hulls and a popper that gets hot like #1 above.

I suggested to Bert that we try popcorn next year in the garden…and all I got was smirk and a reminder of how much work it was to shell. Guess I’ll just buy popcorn by the jar! Enjoy!