Perfect Stove-Top Popcorn

June 5, 2023

This was originally posted on bestkitchengear.com

Which oil works best?

Truthfully, almost any oil will work. I’m after popcorn that tastes like the kind you can get at a stadium, fair, or movie theater. I’ve tried ghee, which Alton Brown recommends in his “Darn Near Perfect Popcorn” recipe, but it came out a little toastier and nuttier than I prefer. It’s not bad, but it is not what’s used to make the kind of popcorn sold at stands or kiosks.

Research led me to coconut oil dyed with beta carotene. This is sold at restaurant supply stores and online in bulk, and the beta carotene gives the popcorn a characteristic yellow hue. Believe it or not, this is not where the buttery flavor comes from, but I will get to that in another section. The beta carotene ONLY adds an appetizing color. The good news here is that you can buy regular old coconut oil at virtually any grocery store these days, and the taste will be spot on even if the color appears paler.

What type of popcorn is best?

I started off using yellow popcorn from my local grocery store, but the kernels would get stuck in my teeth a lot. This popcorn tastes fine, but it’s really annoying.

I did some digging online, especially on the Popcorn Subreddit, and decided to try white popcorn instead. Sure enough, the white popcorn kernels are MUCH softer, and get stuck between my teeth in much less painfully. It also tastes comparable to the yellow popcorn.

In my research, I came across a variety of heirloom popcorn called Tiny But Mighty which is claimed to have even smaller kernels. I found that the popcorn comes out hilariously small, indeed with very small kernels. However, it was not the completely kernel-free experience suggested in some of the comments I had read. This popcorn is great, but I don’t believe it’s worth the premium over generic white popcorn.

Look out for either store brand or Orville Redenbacher brand white popcorn kernels, which are both widely available at grocery stores and online.

How about seasoning?

Flavacol is the key to stadium or movie theater popcorn. It’s a seasoning salt that contains some butter flavor and is ground extremely finely. You can find it on Amazon or at restaurant supply stores. I found the best info on it in the article [“Can You Really Make Movie Theater Popcorn at Home?” from Food52] (https://food52.com/blog/15919-can-you-really-make-movie-theater-popcorn-at-home).

Perfect Stove-Top Popcorn

Ingredients

1 tsp Flavacol
2 tbsp Coconut oil
1/2 cup Popcorn

Preparation

Add coconut oil and flavacol to a covered pot. Turn heat to medium-high and mix them together a bit as the coconut oil melts
After mixing the oil and flavacol around, drop in 3-4 popcorn kernels
When those kernels pop, remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining kernels in a single layer. Shake the pan a bit to get them all covered in oil uniformly
Return to heat and shake the pan as the kernels pop. This ensures the oil and seasoning is distributed evenly 5. Remove the lid and enjoy! Be careful as a lot of steam will be released

Note: If you’re using stainless steel, you’ll want to make sure you don’t leave the salt sitting in the pan for too long or you may experience pitting. Be sure to clean up in a timely manner!