Making popcorn on the stove top can be tricky. I used to have a hard time getting all of the kernels to pop before the popped ones burned, but with this method, almost all of the kernels pop. And it doesn’t burn, because of you turn off the heat before the popcorn is actually done and allow it to finish up with the burner off.
Coconut oil is another important part of this recipe. Not only does is make for a great-tasting bowl of popcorn, coconut oil has a high smoke point, so it’s ideal for popping corn and much better for you than vegetable oils.
Before we get popping, I want to tell you something about the pan you use for popcorn, because it can make a big difference. Just last week, I was going to make some popcorn, but the nice, heavy-bottomed pan I usually use was dirty, so I grabbed a different one – a really light-weight pan with a thin bottom, and that popcorn turned out just terrible! Make sure you use a good quality pan with a nice heavy bottom for popcorn because it will distribute the heat evenly and make for much better popcorn.
This recipe makes 6 quarts of popcorn, perfect for our family of seven. If you halve the recipe, cut the oil back to 3 tablespoons, not 2. You might also try omitting the butter and salt altogether and turn this batch of popcorn into caramel popcorn.
Ingredients:
1 cup popcorn
4 tablespoons coconut oil (We use expeller pressed coconut oil because it’s bland. Virgin coconut oil will give the popcorn a slightly coconutty taste.)
fine ground Celtic sea salt
melted butter or ghee to taste
Directions:
Heat the coconut oil on medium high heat in a heavy 6 quart pan on the stove top. Once it’s hot, add add 3 or 4 kernels of popcorn to the pan as test kernels and cover the pan.
When those test kernels start to pop, pour in the rest of the popcorn, cover the pan, and turn off the heat for 30 seconds or so while the popcorn kernels heat up. This gets the kernels ready to pop gently, so they’ll start to pop all at once when you turn the heat back on.
Now turn the stove back on to medium high. The popcorn should start popping soon.
When you hear the pop-p-p-pop sound change to more of a pop… pop… turn off the heat but keep the pan covered until it stops popping. Then transfer the popcorn to a bowl.
You can melt your butter or ghee in the hot popcorn pan. Drizzle it over the popcorn and sprinkle with salt.
How do you make popcorn? Does anyone cook it in ghee? I bet that would be good!
You did not mention continuously moving the pan over the burner, but I remember when I was very young, my daddy would move the pan rapidly back and forth over the burner. Is it necessary to move the pan with this method?
We never do move the pan around with this method, but I’m sure you could. Maybe that would give the onlookers more of an appreciation for good popcorn. 😉
This is exactly how I make popcorn, except I keep the heat on high and move the pan rapidly back and forth over the burner from the time I pour in all the kernels until the popping slows. This method has kept my popcorn from burning, and allows most of the kernels to pop. When the popping slows, I just hold the pot an inch or two above the burner until the popping stops, and pour it into a big bowl. I keep the heat up high because my pot is not big enough to pop more than 1/3c of kernels at a time so I make several batches in a row, so I keep the heat on high to make sure it is always hot. I only do the test kernels for the first batch, and I add a big spoonful of coconut oil each time. And we always melt a whole stick of butter to pour over the whole batch. Delicious!!
We use red palm oil because it’s a high heat oil and it gives the popcorn a nice yellow buttery look like theater popcorn. We also use a whirlypop. We always use organic popcorn because most other corn is GMO. 😛
I cook with butter and pour it over popcorn. It is WONDERFUL as it gives the popcorn (or anything you are cooking) a rich butter flavor.