Popcorn/Popping Corn

Does anyone have any preferred brands/varieties of popping corn? The raw stuff, not microwaveable.

The baby yellow and other varieties from Riehle's look very good, but I'd love to hear if any LTHers have personal favorites.

I like Black Jewell. The kernels are black, but it pops up snowy white -- unless you use golden coconut oil, as I often do. It's very crunchy and flavorful. And it's from Illinois.

Thanks Cynthia! Is it something one can readily find in the Chicago area, or do you mostly mail order it?

I've bought it at the local Jewel - but I had a very bad experience with it once, so I'd be careful that it hasn't gone stale (I assume it has a date on the bag or something?)

This thread had a lot of suggestions on where to get interesting popcorn.

Mhays wrote:This thread had a lot of suggestions on where to get interesting popcorn.

Mhays,

You beat me to the punch, I was just going to link to that thread. The only place I have consistently seen gourmet popcorn has been Fox and Obel, though lately I am working my way through a 8/lb Costco jug of Orville Redenbacher

As an aside, lately I have been using a topping mix of light butter sprinkled with a 50/50 mix of Vulcan Fire Salt and granulated Maple Sugar, both from The Spice House.

Enjoy,
Gary

Mhays wrote:I've bought it at the local Jewel - but I had a very bad experience with it once, so I'd be careful that it hasn't gone stale (I assume it has a date on the bag or something?)

Coming from Jewel it is probably a turnover issue; the average person buying popcorn likely tends towards the standard yellow or white popcorn. Unless I'm getting it from somewhere I know to have good turnover (or more likely a local source where I know it is fresher) I tend to stick to regular popcorn. Gourmet popcorn is a nice treat, but with how often I make popcorn (multiple times a week) I can't afford to ship in the fancy stuff all the time. I haven't had luck myself buying fancy types around here, though I hadn't looked at Fox and Obel for some reason. I should change that.

As a side-note, when I met my future spouse I was *shocked* to learn that T. had never had real popcorn, only microwave popcorn. I fully believe my popcorn making skills (along with pie and cookie making) are at least partially responsible for the ring on my finger.

I buy my interesting popcorn at America's Market in Buffalo Grove. They carry several kinds, including the Black Jewell and Amish popcorn. They also sell the golden coconut oil for popping corn, which I enjoy using.

G Wiv wrote:

Mhays wrote:This thread had a lot of suggestions on where to get interesting popcorn.

Mhays,

As an aside, lately I have been using a topping mix of light butter sprinkled with a 50/50 mix of Vulcan Fire Salt and granulated Maple Sugar, both from The Spice House.

Enjoy,
Gary

Glad to see that someone else enjoys the Vulcan Fire Salt from Spice House! We use it almost daily on just about anything!

Thanks folks! I'd done a cursory search but missed that one.

We were already planning on heading back to America's Market on Saturday, so I'll grab some there. On our last stop, we did pick up some of the golden coconut oil -- great stuff.

I'm also a big fan of vulcan fire salt. The vinegary bite is especially nice.

And, sadly, Costco on Clybourn seems to have switched from Orville Reddenbacher to another semi-upscale brand that I can't recall.

and granulated Maple Sugar

I don't know if the Spice House carries it, but I recently got a bag of granulated cactus honey that I bet would be great in a spicy/sweet popcorn mix.

While I know someone recommended on that other thread, here's another vote for Crown Jewel. My favorite is petite princess amber (though all their corn is good).

http://www.crownjewelgourmet.com/popcorn_line.html

The wife and I like to try alot of different corn and we keep going back to Riehle's baby white popcorn. We pop in in a whirley pop.

happy popping!
dan

Awhile back I happened to turn a friend of mine onto the notion of popping corn in his Le Creuset and he found one of the most insane mixture of oils to flavor the corn with - Russian salo (he insists it's sala, but I can't find anything in English backing that) and giardinara.

I fully intend to try this combo for myself tomorrow, being blessed enough to have a pound of salo hanging out in my fridge. It sounds delicious and the rendered salo leaves you with bits of bacon in the popcorn.

I fancy a topping that combines butter, sesame oil, and garlic.

Pete wrote:Awhile back I happened to turn a friend of mine onto the notion of popping corn in his Le Creuset and he found one of the most insane mixture of oils to flavor the corn with - Russian salo (he insists it's sala, but I can't find anything in English backing that) and giardinara.

I fully intend to try this combo for myself tomorrow, being blessed enough to have a pound of salo hanging out in my fridge. It sounds delicious and the rendered salo leaves you with bits of bacon in the popcorn.

Where are you finding salo? Is this what you're talking about? Wow. I can just imagine...

My favorite popcorn is Walker's Prairie Harvest, which is grown in Philo, Illinois. Here's a WILL-TV segment on the farm from 2006. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyplace to get it in the Chicago area; I've only bought it at Art Mart in Champaign. THey usually have white, yellow, black and maybe red varieties, but last year I could only find the black at Art Mart. You really don't even need butter on it. It's that good.

So, with my stash gone from last year, I bought some Rural Route 1 popcorn at Woodman's. The popcorn cooked up much fluffier than the black Walker's that I mixed in with it (but I think that's common for colored popcorn -- pops up smaller and very white). The RR1 was very tasty, and at $1.69 for a 2-pound bag, I would recommend it.

Pete wrote:...one of the most insane mixture of oils to flavor the corn with - Russian salo (he insists it's sala, but I can't find anything in English backing that) and giardinara.

Dang.. How does he do this without a gasmask?

I went ahead and tried the salo/giardinara mix of oils for popping and it's definitely good stuff. But yeah - don't inhale when you've got the lid off. It'll be a bit like tear gas.

I called my friend that brought me the salo and he told me that he purchases it at Richard's Deli at Western and Iowa. It's very much an authentic Eastern European deli, so expect slightly standoffish service. The staff isn't being rude to you, they're just rude to everyone. Also: don't let the senior citizens try and cut in front of you in line. Much like bees and dogs they'll smell the fear on you and you'll never get served as they all just push themselves in front of you.

Kasia's at Chicago and Hoyne might have it, but I personally don't recall ever seeing it. Any Ukranian deli should have it though.

Now I've got myself wondering where I can get some kabanosy in Madison.

tcdup wrote:My favorite popcorn is Walker's Prairie Harvest, which is grown in Philo, Illinois. Here's a WILL-TV segment on the farm from 2006. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyplace to get it in the Chicago area; I've only bought it at Art Mart in Champaign. THey usually have white, yellow, black and maybe red varieties, but last year I could only find the black at Art Mart. You really don't even need butter on it. It's that good.

Thanks for posting that video link. What a cool story. Next time I'm in Champaign, I'll definitely have to make a stop at Art Mart and try a bag of Walkers.

Hi,

I saw Black Jewel popcorn at Strack and Van Tils on Elston last night.

Regards,

Yeah, Treasure Island on Clybourn also has it, although for $3.70/pack

tcdup wrote:My favorite popcorn is Walker's Prairie Harvest, which is grown in Philo, Illinois. Here's a WILL-TV segment on the farm from 2006. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyplace to get it in the Chicago area; I've only bought it at Art Mart in Champaign. THey usually have white, yellow, black and maybe red varieties, but last year I could only find the black at Art Mart.

Philo ... WILL ... Art Mart ... smoke gets in your eyes ... thanks for the memories.

The OP said, let's not talk about microwaveable popcorn, but ... can we? I'd like to know what the favorites are. Sweet Baboo and I have a late-night popcorn snack during the late-night movie most nights of the week. (We figure, heck, it's pretty healthy, 3 grams of fiber, etc., if you don't count the 2 tbsp of melted butter we put on it ...)

By the way, who among you puts melted butter on microwaved popcorn, and who doesn't? Because I'm here to tell you, it was an all-new concept to me 'til a few years ago when we had some popcorn at my brother- and sister-in-laws' house. Can you believe I went through the first 40 years of my life never having seen someone add melted butter to supposedly "butter-flavored" popcorn? Have I mentioned my child-of-Depression-era-parents, large-Irish-Catholic-family upbringing? I think I have.

BID. (Katie for "but I digress.") We usually buy Pop Secret. Once recently Sweet Baboo came home with a Jewel brand of popcorn. (I could have told him not to waste his $$ at Jewel, but he didn't ask for my opinion.) The flavor was good; the popped-unpopped ratio was no better. I didn't pay so I don't know how the cost compared.

Another question for all: do you have, and if so do you use, a "popcorn" button on your microwave? We use it and it seems to have good timing, though it doesn't guarantee no unpopped kernels. But then, adding another 5 or 10 seconds afterwards doesn't seem to help either.

You might be wondering how someone with a child-of-Depression-era-parents, large-Irish-Catholic-family upbringing wound up with a microwave with a "popcorn" button on it. All's I'll say is that I went out of town for work and somehow Sweet Baboo burned up the workhorse prototype microwave I'd relied on for 20 years and had to buy a new one before I came back. Grrr.

We don't normally use microwave popcorn, at least we haven't since we stopped having Cub Scouts in the house selling it for fundraising. However, we got a box of Abt brand microwave popcorn when we bought a new microwave from them, and it was pretty good for microcorn. And yes, we've used the popcorn button. It still can overdo-it. Listen carefully, and rescue it when the kernels slow down to the point where it's boring.

I wonder if Abt sells their microcorn, or just gives it away with purchase of an appliance.

Nope, no butter on it.

I wonder if Abt sells popcorn, or just gives it away with the purchase of an appliance.

They gave you popcorn?!? We bought a razmfrazm microwave from them! Another grrrrrr...

During the winter we worked through the popcorn from Cub Scout nephews. The caramel corn did not, shall we say, "move," but everything else did, eventually.

For some reason I thought that popping popcorn in a dutch oven like Le Creuset might damage it. Is it really ok?

Has anyone tried those microwave popcorn bowls like this one? I was kind of curious about these as a lower fat alternative to popping popcorn over the stove.

I don't know if it's OK, but I've been using my enameled dutch oven for this often (admittedly not a Le Creuset, a knockoff with which I'm satisfied) and it doesn't seem any worse for wear...

I didn't get any free popcorn from ABT when we got our microhood, either. JoelF must know somebody....

I don't buy microwave popcorn. I microwave regular popcorn and add real butter. On the flavor scale, this method ranks slightly below traditionally popped corn, higher than air-popped and much higher than "butter-flavored" microwave popcorn, which is usually full of all kinds of artificial crap.

You can get special microwave popcorn poppers, but I've never used one. Here's what I do:

Take a paper lunch bag. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup popcorn. Drizzle in 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil (not necessary, but improves flavor). Fold down the top of the bag a few turns, then dog-ear the corners of the fold to keep the bag shut.

Microwave on high power till the popping slows. You'll have to experiment with your particular microwave for the timing -- don't overcook or the popcorn will scorch, from the center out. In my microwave, which has no popcorn button, the optimum time is 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Unfold, add melted butter and seasonings, if you like, and eat. (If I'm feeling too lazy to wash a bowl, I put the greasy bag on a paper plate.)

You wind up with a few more old-maids in this method than you'd get from a bag of commercial microwave popcorn, but given how much cheaper regular popcorn is than microwave popcorn, I don't mind.

Your microwave oven manufacturer and other people worried about being sued will tell you not to do this due to risk of fire, risk of heavy metals migrating from the paper bag, and other risks I can't think of. I spent years roasting turkeys in grocery bags in regular ovens and I'm less concerned about what's in paper bags than the PFOA from microwave popcorn bags. But follow these instructions at your own risk.

Has anyone tried those microwave popcorn bowls like this one? I was kind of curious about these as a lower fat alternative to popping popcorn over the stove.

I use the Nordic style, and have for years. I highly recommend it: the great flavor of real popcorn and seasonings with the convenience of a microwave.

I like getting kettle corn at county fairs.