The other day I was talking to a friend on the phone and I told her I was popping some popcorn. The process went on for a while and she said “You must have the slowest microwave in the world” and I told her I wasn’t popping the corn in the microwave but on the stove. She is quite a bit younger than I am and said she didn’t know you could pop corn on the stove. I am no health expert but if you do a little research, maybe starting with “Is microwave popcorn good for you?”, the results are a bit surprising and kinda scary. I’m not a microwave fan to start with. In fact, ours is in the laundry room. Vince uses it occasionally and I never use it.
The next time I was getting ready to pop some corn for a snack, I wondered how many people cook popcorn on the stove these days. We have an air popper that we use sometimes . . if Vince is in charge of popping the corn, but I’d much rather just use a pot on the stove. I wondered if our grandkids will ever see popcorn being cooked on the stove and then I wondered if it matters! Who cares how it’s cooked . . just so we enjoy popcorn and make it as healthy as we can. I’m not going to go so far as to say popping corn on the stove is becoming a lost art but it would be kinda sad if the whole world uses microwave popcorn and no one remembers making popcorn on the stove top!
Here’s how I do it.
Coconut Oil
I start with a little coconut oil in the bottom of a deep (6″ sides) skillet. Melt it but don’t get it real hot.
Corn for Popping
Add just enough popcorn to almost cover the bottom of the skillet. Stir the popcorn til it’s all been covered in the oil. You can add a little salt but even if I add salt at this point, I still need to add a little more once it’s done.
Place a lid on the skillet and shake the skillet from time to time, cooking over medium fire til the popping has almost stopped.
Popped Corn
Add a little salt and maybe a little butter and enjoy fresh cooked on the stove popcorn!
Popcorn
Since I grind the popcorn to get cornmeal, we buy it in 45 pound tubs.
Popcorn
This year I’m going to try to grow some in the garden. We’ll see how that goes! One of the problems, aside from grasshoppers, is that we have so much wind that it’s real hard for corn stalks to stand up and they’re often blown completely over and then manage to uproot themselves but it’s worth a try.
Kate says
Nail on the head, Judy…
My husband works in an office with mostly young women – they think the strangest things – like ‘homemade ‘ cookies are those tube dough things… they were amazed you could make cookies from flour and eggs and sugar!
Enjoy your popcorn! Kate
Erin says
Well I have coconut oil too! And my grandkids and I pop popcorn the same way when they are here! I have the Lodge cast iron skillet! I also have the air popper! I won’t do micro popcorn per a healthy heart course I took at a hospital!
shirley bruner says
I grew popcorn last year. we got a few ears but it was in a spot that the water didn’t reach and it didn’t do well. next time i will grow it closer to the water source. but we did real corn, too, and it did real well. my husband eats popcorn on an almost daily basis…the microwave kind. i rarely eat popcorn….my teeth don’t like it.
liz n says
Never used a cast iron skillet for popping corn, will have to give it a try. I do use coconut oil….love it with a bit(maybe a lot) of hot sauce instead of butter. Yum!
coloradolady says
NEVER do I use a microwave for popcorn. I love it popped on the stove, but my daughter….well, she won’t think of not using the microwave. I never use my microwave either, really dislike it.
Jennifer says
We (and by we, I mean my husband) always make our popcorn on the stove too! I bought a box of Boy Scout popcorn one year to support them and I think it took us 4 years to get through the box! I don’t think our kids even know you can do popcorn in the microwave!
Carolyn S says
My daughter puts popcorn into a brown paper lunch sack and pops it in the microwave with no fat for her boys. Just an FYI.
patti says
i do it on the stove too, but use a revereware pan. mine is an older set with heavier metal than you get these days. i use peanut oil and love the flavor it gets because i don’t use butter on it, just lightly salted. people always rave about it when i make it for parties, i think they’re probably used to the microwave type … YUK!
Karen says
that is just how I do popcorn except I use whatever oil I have on hand. I have always made popcorn like this since I was a child (a long time ago 🙂 ) I too have heard some ask how you can make popcorn on a stovetop and didn’t know you could – they thought it just came in those little bags for the microwave – I too do not use the microwave often – I just don’t care for it. — today’s children are totally deprived LOL we used to grow corn for popcorn
Kim says
The best is made on the stove top just like my mom taught me when I was a kid!
Ruth C says
I use the stove, too. I never thought to use coconut oil–I will try that next time. I have been using olive oil. Doesn’t the popcorn pop out of the skillet? I have bee using a large pot with a lid.
Yvette says
With bacon grease like grandma used.
Helen says
I’m very curious… I thought corn grown for popcorn was different than that grown for other purposes I guess I should go look it up.
I’ve made popcorn over an open fire, but not on the oven top. I guess I should give it a go!
Kat Scribner says
I love popcorn. I used to eat it nightly. Sometimes I cooked it on the stove, sometimes used Orville. Always use the white corn, it is so tender, always use lots of salt, never add butter. The problem with cooking it on the stove is I have never been able to judge the right anount to pour in the pan and always cooked too much, then ate too much. The microwave packets help to curb what you make and no mess, it pops in its own bowl too. I haven’t looked into if it’s bad or not. If i don’t know bad stats then they don’t exist, right?
pat says
I grew up remembering my parents making popcorn in a large kettle on the stove. And our children remember grandma doing the same and they would shake a large supermarket paper bag and add butter and salt in it. To this day, our children remember when visiting their grandparents, how their house smell of popcorn. We do not use microwave popcorn either, just use the popcorn you pop on the stove. I don,t add butter but do add some paremsean cheese, or some herbs. Also have melted some chocolate over the popcorn I have bought different kinds of popcorn at the farmers market, black popcorn, tastes the same as reg popcorn. Patti
Jeanie in MO says
I use the Whirly Popper on the stove top. Will have to try coconut oil.. I do not like microwave popcorn.
Donna Williams says
I removed the microwave from the kitchen 5 years ago (Louis took it to his little shop) and you would have thought I had committed the greatest felony ever.All the grown kids and all my friends got very upset with me. I never used it and it was taking up valuable counter space in a small kitchen. Anyway, I too pop popcorn on the stovetop – best popcorn ever!
Joan says
I still have the old popper that has a crank on top to stir the corn as it pops. Still like that better than the microwave stuff. Never found one I liked so still do it with the old popcorn popper.
Theresa (aka lw) says
I love popcorn– we use an air popper and butter. I used to eat microwave popcorn at work, but after reading about the carcinogens in the packaging and coating, I stopped.
I’ll have to try it with coconut oil, it sounds yummy.
Sheryl says
Not long ago I found some Jiffy Pop at Winn Dixie and bought some. I popped one with my niece and she was totally amazed that you could pop corn like that! And she loved watching the aluminum bubble expand as the corn popped.
Dorothy says
I use the whirly pop on the stove, never thought to use coconut oil, will have to give that a try. I have also used butter as my oil, have to watch that it doesn’t burn, but it helps spread the butter flavor as it pops.
Toni now in Washington says
Yep! I too make it on the stove! Love it! And I could easily get rid of the microwave. I wonder why I haven’t?
Rebecca in SoCal says
I’m not fond of single-use appliances, but have a “Stir Crazy” popper that I like so much, I just replaced it!
Sue K says
I used to pop corn in my mom’s good Revere ware saucepans. She would always get made because there were little black burn spots on the bottom. Guess who got to clean THAT mess 🙂
Sue L says
The problem is not the microwave, but the artificial flavorings in the microwaveable popcorns. Plain popcorn done in the microwave is delicious and you can top it with your choice of flavors.
Andrea says
Another stove popper here. I hate the film in my mouth after eating microwaved packets of corn. I’ve made it in a brown paper bag in the microwave, but the salt doesn’t stick well. We just use vegetable oil, but the other oils mentioned and the bacon grease sound interesting – will be experimenting soon!
maggie says
We use a whirly pop popcorn popper on the stove top. ours is definitely not heart healthy. olive oil, popcorn and real butter. i’m thinking we’ll have some tonight.
Marsha says
My Dad used bacon grease to pop the corn, delicious
Julie in WA says
Used to be, a popcorn popper went to college with most students, for popcorn was one thing you could make in the dorm! But we put the poppers in the hall so the room would not smell like popcorn oil for days afterwards. I thought it was always so funny when someone would, as a prank, remove the cover just as the corn started popping, and there would be popcorn flying through the hall! Ah, good memories.
Does the popcorn made with coconut oil have some coconut flavor?
Mary Anne F. says
I usually always pop corn on the stove. One of my much younger co workers said she felt sorry for me because I never had popcorn until the microwave was invented! Hahaha!!
Joyce says
I have my grandmother’s really old popper that you use on the stovetop, and turn the crank to keep it stirred. I also have the popper my parents had. The base has a coil that gets hot and the popper sits on that. I think it pops better in those than in the microwave.
Pat (EagleKnits) says
We’ve worn out several Stir Crazy poppers. When the last one broke, Wal-Mart didn’t have any, so I bought a Presto Power Pop. It’s a bowl that’s made for the purpose of popping popcorn in the microwave, and you can add butter or oil before you pop it. It works really well, and is easier to clean than the Stir Crazy.
Linddylou says
I only do real popcorn. Hubby bought me a new pan at Christmas and it’s one of our favorite treats.
Michelle says
Well now I’ve got to try the pan with the lid that fits well so I can try making it with bacon grease! Of course your grandkids will know how to make it on the stove because you’re going to show them.
Reading these comments have made me feel better about a math question my son missed earlier today — expecting him to know off the top of his head how long it took to bake cookies. I was surprised that he didn’t know .Now I’m wondering how many kids his age DO know.
Dar in MO says
I make popcorn just like you only it’s done is an old pot that has been named the “popcorn pot” since it still have evidence of where we burn it occasionally. lol. My DH likes to turn up the heat on HI right off, pour in the popcorn, and let it pop until it stops making noise. Sometimes that results in a few burnt kernels in the bottom. We use olive oil most times, but when I make it, I use coconut oil too.
Jannette B says
We don’t pop corn very often, but when we do, I do it on the stove top. When our kids were younger, I’d pop corn for their birthday parties. I used a Corning Visions pan – it’s a large, tinted-glass pan. I’d call the kids together to watch it pop – and it ended up being one of the most requested party activities!