Popcorn was first discovered by the Native Americans, who traditionally flavored popcorn with spices and herbs. Popcorn became very popular during the great depression especially in theaters. The popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for struggling farmers.

Today you can find popcorn kernels or microwavable popcorn bags in any grocery store or convenience store in many flavors.

Health or Junk Food

Popcorn is not as healthy as it once was. Popcorn has a great source of fiber, but can be over seasoned with oil, salt and butter. You commonly will find popcorn in theaters as a preferred movie snack. Do you like your popcorn extra-buttery? A bag of popcorn at the movies could be between 400 to 1,200 calories, with one to three days’ worth of saturated fat and up to 1,500 milligrams of sodium.
The lowest calories are found in plain homemade popcorn. And if desired you could make your own toppings.

At Your own risk

Could our favorite movie snack be dangerous? Yes. Young children should be supervised when eating popcorn, because it could cause choking if popcorn gets caught in the throat and blocks the airway. Remember popcorn originates from corn, so if you are allergic to corn stay away from popcorn aswell.
A popcorn kernel logged into the gums could cause infection. Un-poped kernels are known to unexpectedly chip or break teeth

How to Make

Traditionally, popcorn was made over the fire. You can now make popcorn in the microwave for a quick and easy 1 min and 30 seconds. If you do not have a microwave you can make it in a pot or pan, but careful it gets a bit messy. Here is how you do it:

Ingredients:
3-quart sauce pan with lid.
Popcorn, not much.
1 stick of butter
Vegetable oil
Table salt

1. Turn on stove and adjust to somewhere between medium and high heat.
2. Poor oil in the pan to cover bottom.
3. Place pan on stove and let heat for a minute or so.
4. In the mean time, put a stick of butter in another pan and start it melting at medium heat.
5. Put three popcorn kernels in the pan.
6. When one or two of them pop, cover the bottom of the pan with popcorn and then some, but not a whole lot. You should not be able to see the bottom of the pan.
7. Place the top on the pan. The popcorn should start popping in a minute or so.
8. Continuously shake the pan across the burner until popping reaches a crescendo.
9. Move to a unheated burner and back to the heated burner once or twice
10. Move to an unheated burner when the popcorn reaches the lid and wait while it finishes popping.
11. Pour popcorn in a large bowl, pour on butter, and salt to taste.

If that sounds complicated…why not try a popcorn machine?

Popcorn Machine

What is a popcorn machine? It is quite simply a plug-in machine that turns kernels into delicious popcorn! In 1885, Charles Cretors invented the popcorn machine. Today, a popcorn machine can be found in all shapes and sizes and at a number of price levels.

How To Use A Popcorn Machine:

1.Fill the hopper of the machine with popcorn.

2.Determine where the hot popcorn comes out of the machine and place a large bowl beneath this opening. For machines that are self contained this step is not necessary.

3.Plug the machine into an electrical outlet and turn the switch on. If the machine requires the popcorn to be manually released from the hopper, do this when the green light on the front of the popper comes on.

4.Allow the popcorn to fully pop before turning the machine off. You can determine when it is done when you don’t hear any kernels pop for 10 seconds or longer.

5.Unplug or turn off the machine when you are finished.

Anyway, back to her post about making the perfect batch of popcorn from scratch. She mentioned a lot of things I didn’t know as I always used a popcorn maker or microwave (yuk) to make mine.  Its interested because the way she does it pops almost every kernel instead of leaving like 15% of it behind.

Perfect Popcorn Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp canola, peanut or grape seed oil (high smoke point oil)
• 1/3 cup of high quality popcorn kernels
• 1 3-quart covered saucepan
• 2 Tbsp or more (to taste) of butter
• Salt to taste

Method

1 Heat the oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat.

2 Put 3 or 4 popcorn kernels into the oil and cover the pan.

3 When the kernels pop, add the rest of the 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. (Count out loud; it’s fun to do with kids.) This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

4 Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

With this technique, nearly all of the kernels pop (I counted 4 unpopped kernels in my last batch), and nothing burns.

5 If you are adding butter, you can easily melt it by placing the butter in the now empty, but hot pan.

6 Salt to taste.

Makes 2 quarts, a nice amount for two people, or for one hungry one.

Additional tips: From the comments section

a If you add salt to the oil in the pan before popping, when the popcorn pops, the salt will be well distributed throughout the popcorn.

b Fun toppings for the popcorn – Spanish smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, cayenne powder, chili pepper, curry powder, cumin, grated Parmesan cheese.

I tried this recipe and it worked great.  It did not leave any kernels behind.  And the taste was fantastic.  Loved it.  I’m surprised it came out as good as it did because I cannot cook.

I was looking at this retro kettle style popcorn maker and thought it was great.  It the kind of machine that you would normally see at a carnival.  This kettle popcorn machine makes fresh, hot, delicious popcorn just like at the movies.  It had a large stainless steel kettle with a built in stirring system and pops close to 1 gallon of crispy popcorn per batch you make.  It comes with a measuring spoon for oil and measuring your kernels to make every batch more uniform.  Its was truly an older fashioned cart and it would taste and look good in any one’s home.  You can usually buy these from $95 to $140 depending on quantities and time.

I was looking for more antique popcorn makers and came this Street Vendor Popcorn Machine.  It looks awesome.  I was so envious of anyone who could put their hands on this beauty.  It had all the looks of those popcorn makers you would have seen if you were living in the 1930s going to a “Gone with the Wind” movie.  I was totally impressed by what I saw.

Its made from Benchmark USA.  Its a commercial quality “antique looking” popcorn maker that can be used by itself on a kitchen counter top or put on top of a matching red trolley that you can purchase separately as an add on.  They can make a whopping 85 quarts of fresh popcorn per hour and only weigh 57 pounds.

Benchmark makes some other models as well but I thought that this one in particular was worth mentioning right now.  I just think that these popcorn makers are a perfect home gift for anyone you are thinking of buying a present for or if you are looking for a really nice addition to your kitchen to give it a new look.

The next popcorn maker that I saw caught my attention because of the color of it.  If you have a intricate home movie theater system this poporn machine is an excellent way to complete it.  It has such an antique feel its unbelievable!  I love it.  This is one of the only popcorn makers that I have seen that come with a “brass finish” with cool etched glass.  Nice!  It can hold 6 oz of popcorn and will give any house that old fashioned feel.   This popcorn maker looks  totally cool and I love it.  It would only work with the right color but if you could swing it I would say go with it.  All of your neighbors would be highly jealous.