The thing about popcorn…
…is that I don’t really like it. Well, let me amend that. I don’t like theater, carnival, street-fair popcorn with the excess “butter” and stale undertones. I’ve just never really understood the luuuuuuv people have for that stuff. It’s not like it’s kettle corn (for which I will totally stand in line to buy a bag as long as my body and then devour while seated on the nearest curb).
Okay, but homemade popcorn? That’s a whole other story. And don’t even talk to me about air-popped or microwaved or anything other than real, stove-top, oil-popped, salt-covered corn. I grew up on my dad’s awesome popcorn which he made by shaking a copper-bottomed pot over the stove until he achieved perfection in the form of an overflowing pot and a never-burned kernel. (Take that, freakin’ microwave!) But when I moved away from home, I said “bye” to popcorn. I mean without Dad’s magic touch I just didn’t see the point.
Enter Beth. She also grew up eating homemade popcorn, but her family made it using the contraption shown here: Felknor’s Theater Popcorn Popper. Quite a name. In fact, it makes such great popcorn that she STOLE her family’s popper when she moved to Cali. That’s dedication. And a good thing too because, people, they don’t make this popper anymore. That sandbucket shape, which Beth swears is the key to the whole thing, is gone in today’s models. Thank goodness she found brand new deadstock on ebay to replace our now broken, 25-year-old original popper.
Now, while the Felknor version may be hard to come by, the new style popper 
i, too, despise the movie/microwave ‘popcorn’ abomination . grew up making it in a saucepot on the stove, and cannot bring myself to buy even the ‘organic’ microwave stuff from whole foods.
enter alton brown of ‘good eats’ fame. he has turned me onto the goodness that is home-made *microwave* popcorn…quick, easy, painless and much, much less bad for you.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_11374,00.html
try it. seriously.
ah yes. i do love the Alton Brown and I remember this episode. I confess I havent tried it but when one has the perfect popper, it’s hard to risk disappointment. STILL! for you perry i may give it a go!
i’m all about shaking the hell outta the pot on the stove. i call it excercise and then somehow don’t mind the entire stick of butter i pour over it. : )
although i just might stalk ebay…
wait…will the metal staple in perry’s recipe screw with my microwave?
ooh. excellent question on the staple. no idea there.
Mmmm. Dad’s popcorn IS awesome! It’s perfect without butter or any additive flavoring. It never occurred to me that he was the reason I’m not crazy about regular popcorn. Still I think it’s funny that you poo-poo the people who enjoy the artificial colored and flavored and stalish stuff. This from the girl who eats peeps and prefers them aged. Blech!
I am just now discovering your blog! I too love the real popcorn experience….delicious and nutritious,…I use a dry, but hot, All Clad sauce pan with lid, agitate it over my electric burner and my popcorn pops perfectly in just a few minutes!… then I add clarified butter and celtic salt and serve. A real treat. Those movie goers don’t know what they are missing.
The Whirly Pop works very well, and also pops every kernel. It’s even faster than microwave popcorn. Gotta hand wash it though, or it warps eventually.
Beware the Whirley Pop and go for a Felknor’s on eBay, if you can. The Whirley Pop top snaps onto a circular pot at the diameter. Pinching a circle in the middle is not a secure hold. Try it with two fingers on opposite sides of a dinner plate. Also, the gear that translates from the horizontal crank to the vertical post is made of plastic and cracks easily. Felknor’s popper is all metal and the top fits into slots on the bucket so that it can’t fall off when you dump the corn out.
Unfortunately, Whirley Pop bought out Felknor and the public no longer has access to the better design and better product.
And have you seen this????
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/16/health/main606532.shtml
It’s freaking me out. Now I’m bummed that I didn’t steal the popcorn maker. I may have to try Alton Brown’s thing. I read that modern microwaves are not bothered by metal. I know that when I use the microwave to defrost my hamburger that comes in the plastic tube shape, the metal clamps on the end aren’t a problem.
I despise microwave popcorn.
And by the way-
I’m so glad you’re back
you’ve been missed!
For awhile, Dad was using the microwave popcorn because, now a Weight Watcher, he could get the “snack size.” But he has reverted to the ol’ pan-on-the-stove version. It is just SO much better! We’ll try the AB recipe that Mindee linked. Sounds great (and we love anything that gives controlled servings!). Thanks, All!
Try Lehman’s. I know they have something for stovetop popping but I don’t know what the brand is.
http://www.lehmans.com/
You can buy a used Felknor’s at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FELKNOR-Aluminum-CRANK-HANDLE-Stove-Top-POPCORN-POPPER_W0QQitemZ200223456350QQcmdZViewItem
I’ve had one for many years, and I’ve never found any popcorn popper that compares to the old Felknor’s!
HDS