Foo - For those of you who make popcorn in a pot

I have this aluminum cooking pot that originally belonged to my great grandfather. For the last 35 years, it has been the family popcorn making pot, and I am the lucky inheritor. The best popcorn I have ever tasted has come from that pot. Times change, and the cooking oil of my childhood isn't necessarily available or preferable. What is your current favorite cooking oil for popcorn making purposes?

My parents had a neat old popcorn-specific pot with a latch-down glass lid when I was a kid, and it was always cool when Dad pulled it out and cranked out a batch or two. (For some reason, popping popcorn was always a Dad thing to do - I do not remember my Mom ever using that pot.) I used to have a cheapo pot (not popcornspecific) that I popped popcorn in when I was in college and first married - no clue what hapened to it.

But to answer your question, although it's been a while, I always used plain old corn oil and it worked and tasted great. I think that's what dear ol' Dad used, too. I know I never felt the need to add butter that way - it tasted just fine without being greasy.

Glad to hear that a little slice of your family history is being preserved. Microwave popcorn is perfectly okay, except that popping corn in the pot just makes it seem a little more special.

Used to use a 12" Revere-ware frying pan with Mazola corn oil, approx 1-1.5 Tbs. per one Dixie bathroom cup of pc. All I can say is try it out, whatever your means of doing so, and just experiment 'til it's right for you. :)

I have one of those pots with the split lids that open to dump it out.. and a crank at the end of the handle that turns a thing inside to stir it. pretty cool... I use cooking oil.. or cooking spray if I'm out of that.. and some kind of steak rub stuff to season it or some fine popcorn seasoning..

no oil. I use a cheap camping pot, tie a handkerchief over the top, and shake it over the burner wire mesh and campfire style. never much liked oily popcorn.

**** seed or sunflower oil mixed with butter.

I like to use peanut oil, doesn't burn at as low a temp as other vegetable oils. Then I sprinkle melted butter on top when it's done popping.

Castrol Syntec 10W-40... ain't nothin like it.

So funny you started this thread - I was just thinking about the popcorn my Gram makes in the pot the other day!

She uses straight up butta.

Amateurs. Sheesh....

Here's how I make my popcorn:

http://www.joelandtrish.net/picstorage/smIMG_1612.JPG

I use all the bad stuff that makes it taste so good: pure coconut oil, flavacol, yellow corn and, of course, the buttery flavored topping in case I want some extra grease!

Then again, before I got this I would, on occasion, go to the movie theater, get a bucket of popcorn and bring it home to watch a movie....

I use olive oil and hot sauce. Once I even added some anti bear pepper spray. Daves insanity sauce is hotter, but pepper spray does have a surprisingly nice zesty flavor.

I have this aluminum cooking pot that originally belonged to my great grandfather. For the last 35 years, it has been the family popcorn making pot, and I am the lucky inheritor. The best popcorn I have ever tasted has come from that pot. Times change, and the cooking oil of my childhood isn't necessarily available or preferable. What is your current favorite cooking oil for popcorn making purposes?

I don't eat pop corn much, more of a donut kind of a guy.

I like to use peanut oil, doesn't burn at as low a temp as other vegetable oils. Then I sprinkle melted butter on top when it's done popping.


Peanut oil is the best! At times I've started to make popcorn and discovered I didn't have any fit oil (olive oil is the worst for popcorn). Once I poured some oil off the top of peanut butter and that worked fine. A couple times, I've used recycled bacon fat and that works well too. But there's nothing like peanut oil.

I prefer the pot on the side with the popcorn. I'm picky.

It's just not fair! I can't eat popcorn anymore and I have a popcorn pot that was my great grandma's, cast iron and seasoned perfectly! I still make it for the wife, but I can only nibble a piece or two or it gives me stomach probs!:(

Any oil. But instead of salt and butter I use amino acid and brewer's yeast. I know it sounds weird, but try it!

I still use Jiffy Pop when I go camping, remember them? aluminium pan with a handle and you shake it over the burnner and it puffs up?

At home I'm on to microwave stuff.

When I do make it at home - I use an older piece of aluminum Revere ware.

However, when I'm good - I'm very very good, and when I'm bad ---- I kill the kitchen.

So far I'm 1 good pot of popcorn to 2 bad pots of popcorn.

:(

I still use Jiffy Pop when I go camping, remember them? aluminium pan with a handle and you shake it over the burnner and it puffs up?

At home I'm on to microwave stuff.
+1 I'm still mesmerized by watching the foil expand when the jiffy pop starts popping. It's like a miracle.

+1 I'm still mesmerized by watching the foil expand when the jiffy pop starts popping. It's like a miracle.

Hahahaha. Love that stuff. It was the first thing I was allowed to cook by myself!

One of the biggest tricks is use new popcorn. If it sits around for a little bit it's not nearly as good (which might explain your one good pot to 2 bad pots!)

I use corn oil, though nowadays I cheat and use the microwace stuff.

I use light olive oil in my big stainless steal pot. I top it with sea salt and nutritional yeast (the yellow flakey stuff). Yummy!

I like olive oil as my popping medium. My family is big nutritional yeast on popcorn fans as well. The stuff is remarkably healthy.

Olive oil and sea salt. Its the best. :)

Had never heard of nutritional yeast on popcorn before!!!!

It would appear people like it, how does it compare to lashings of butter (other than the fat content)

Cooking in aluminum cookware is bad, acids in food dissolve the aluminum, which you then ingest. High aluminum diets are a suspected cause of Alzehiemer's disease later in life. You should switch to stainless steel or cast iron cookware for making your popcorn.

I would be more worried about sodas as the phosphoric acid is 10x stronger than anything you'll get from cooking food...

Cooking in aluminum cookware is bad, acids in food dissolve the aluminum, which you then ingest. High aluminum diets are a suspected cause of Alzehiemer's disease later in life. You should switch to stainless steel or cast iron cookware for making your popcorn.
Utter hogwash..there are no scientific or medical studies to support that..

Utter hogwash..there are no scientific or medical studies to support that..
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Aluminum+Cookware+Alzheimer%27s&spell=1

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Aluminum+Cookware+Alzheimer%27s&spell=1
Read the links..

Peanut oil. Doesn't everyone do that? I guess not from the responses. So yes, a splash of peanut oil, 1/4 cup kernels. Sea salt, of course, when it's done.

Read the links..

ha...yes. reading is good. I was all like, wtf mate, I've never heard of such a thing. Might I add, as your friendly neighborhood librarian, a google search is hardly (read: never) scientific, concrete evidence. No, not even google scholar :p I think you're safe with your original pan...

Read the links..
Of course the aluminum cookware industry would like to discount the link between aluminum cookware and Alzheimer's. Nobody's proved there isn't a link, either, so don't you think it would be prudent to err on the side of caution?

Anecdotally, the Brits turned in all their aluminum cookware as part of the war effort in the 40's, which they then used to make RAF planes. The British population as a result has much lower levels of Alzheimer's than the comparably aged US population.

Bombing germans was much more worth while.

There's a scientific american article linked at the bottom of this page that addresses the topic, but some reason I can't get it to direct link here:

(it's under the "additional information section")
http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/valentin.htm#add

Anecdotally, the Brits turned in all their aluminum cookware as part of the war effort in the 40's, which they then used to make RAF planes. The British population as a result has much lower levels of Alzheimer's than the comparably aged US population.If that's the analogy you want to use, compare Alzheimer rates between Americans and Asians then. Just about every single rice-cooker uses an aluminium pot and they eat rice 3-4x a day! Sometimes the rice sits in the cooker for hours on end keeping it warm. Also a lot of the cookware is cheap bare aluminium, not even anodized to get a hard wear-resistant surface.

Here's a link to that Scientific American article (http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=0000FCD2-AA88-1C71-9EB7809EC588F2D7&catID=3). While there's a presence of aluminium in the bodies of Alzheimer's patients, how it got there is still not known. Cause & effect are not one and the same. For example, you hear sirens and go to check out local fires. What do you see at the fires? FIREMAN!!! Therefore you conclude that the FIREMEN are the cause of fires...

...you conclude that the FIREMEN are the cause of fires...
Sometimes they are...

"The United States Fire Administration has released a report on the problem of firefighter arson and what some communities and states are doing to prevent it.

Although there is little data available on how often firefighter arson occurs, the report looks at issues such as motive, the signs that an arsonist may be a firefighter, how the arsonist's crimes may escalate over time, and the impact of firefighter arson on the fire department and community. "Given the far-reaching effects that criminal firesetting by a firefighter can cause, awareness and action are clearly necessary," the overview states.

According to the USFA, firefighter arson task forces have been organized to prevent the crime through programs including education, training, and criminal background and reference checks. The report highlights some of these efforts to give fire service leaders ideas for their own departments. The report also brings the issue home by examining specific cases, some of which involve "extreme" firefighter arsonists who purposely put people's lives in danger."
http://www.nvfc.org/news/hn_usfa_arson.html

Here's a link to that Scientific American article (http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=0000FCD2-AA88-1C71-9EB7809EC588F2D7&catID=3). While there's a presence of aluminium in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, how it got there is still not known. Cause & effect are not one and the same. For example, you hear sirens and go to check out local fires. What do you see at the fires? FIREMAN!!! Therefore you conclude that the FIREMEN are the cause of fires...

BEST example EVER!!! :) Do you mind if I use that for my next evidence-based medicine class?

(I knew those firemen were up to no good...)

There are definitley no conclusive studies..but believe waht you want to believe, that's your right...

Another anecdotal piece- most of the people in the world in poverty cook and eat out of simple, cheap aluminum pans..no alzheimer's there..

I bet alzheimers has to do with all the synthetic chemicals we use in this society..

Another anecdotal piece- most of the people in the world in poverty cook and eat out of simple, cheap aluminum pans..no alzheimer's there...
The world's impoverished generally don't live long enough life expectancy to develop alzheimer's, it's a disease of afluence.

BTW, where's your 'evidence' regarding the type of cookware the world's impoverished use to cook with?

;)

BTW, where's your 'evidence' regarding the type of cookware the world's impoverished use to cook with?

;)

Probably hanging out with your medically conclusive study regarding the direct correlation between cooking with aluminum cookware and developing alzheimers disease...

The world's impoverished generally don't live long enough life expectancy to develop alzheimer's, it's a disease of afluence.

BTW, where's your 'evidence' regarding the type of cookware the world's impoverished use to cook with?

;)

ANECDOTAL evidence- aluminum is the cheapest material to make cookware out of- ever been abroad?

Alzheimers isn't really a disease of affluence- diseases of affluence usually have to do with lifestyle habits, such as smoking or obesity

ANECDOTAL evidence- aluminum is the cheapest material to make cookware out of- ever been abroad?

Alzheimers isn't really a disease of affluence- diseases of affluence usually have to do with lifestyle habits, such as smoking or obesity
Aluminum is actually not cheap compared to cast iron or steel.

Affluence as in longer lifespans.

Affluence as in longer lifespans.
WTF? You mentioned alzheimers as a disease of affluence, now say affluence = longer lifespan? ???

Many less developed countries have lifespans comparable to the us.

World map of life expectancy

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Life_expectancy_world_map.PNG/800px-Life_expectancy_world_map.PNG

Sometimes they are...

"The United States Fire Administration has released a report on the problem of firefighter arson and what some communities and states are doing to prevent it. Yes they are in some of the cases of arson, but that's from investigations and represents a small portion of fires. However, the point I was making was the incorrect assumptions that the effect is the cause. You can't jump to conclusions and say that "all fires are caused by firemen" similarly to "aluminium causes Alzheimers".

And producing something out of aluminium costs a lot less because it requires a lot less energy than steel, especially from recycled sources.

This article (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/water-eau/drink-potab/aluminum-aluminium_e.html) indicates that aluminium from cookware is negligible compare to from other sources like drinking-water. A lot of other studies say the same as well, but if you want to stick to personal-opinion blogs for your info, there's really no point in discussing it.

These naturopath doctors (http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/71/natureDoc.htm) says mercury causes more problems than aluminium. Gee, like we didn't already know that...

From your map, chile, argentina, mexico, cuba, and others which are not exactly 1st world countries have comparable life expectancy to america... thank you for proving my point..

"Many less developed countries have lifespans comparable to the us."

Blahblahblah what's with the thread hijack?

I just made some popcorn thanks to this thread. Yum! :)

Just don't cook your food. Then you'll have no problem. ;) :D