Does anyone know how to make "kettle korn",?

-- mike hackwith (napeluta92@hotmail.com), November 05, 2000

Answers

Are you talking about the old fashioned way of fixing popcorn in a cast iron skillet? Put a little oil in the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Add small amount of popcorn and continuously shake the pan with a lid on it, over the burner until the pop corn stops popping. We always fixed popcorn this way when I was a little, many moons ago!

-- bwilliams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.

Some time ago my sister begged me to find out the secret of making kettle corn. I did a lot of searching, called in a few favors and finally found that all that's to it is to pop the corn in oil (as opposed to dry popping like in a microwave) and sprinkle it with sugar while the it's still hot enough to melt the sugar. Some people use a mix of sugar and salt, so play with that to find the mix you like.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), November 05, 2000.

Sugar and salt is yummy on popcorn. Parmesean cheese is great too.

-- Andrea Smith (a-smith@mindspring.com), November 06, 2000.

I didn't respond yesterday to see if "kettle corn" was some form of candied corn.

To pop popcorn in a kettle on the stove, I find it is best to use a deep heavy pan like a pressure cooker. Heat the kettle to a medium high heat, pour in your cooking oil to about 1/8th of an inch depth, place two or three kernals in the oil and cover. When these kernals pop it means that the oil is hot enough for proper popping. Then pour in popcorn to well cover the bottom of the pan, shake to cover each kernal well with the oil. Cover and walk away. No shaking is needed as the popping acting of the kernals will keep the corn stirred. If the cover is too tight to let the steam to escape, you will get tough popcorn. if you have a screen splatter top it would work best. I simply use the pressure pan lid without the gasket, but once the corn gets to really popping I hold the lid above the pan a short distance so that the steam can escape and the corn won't fly out. Once the popping slows to 3 to 4 seconds between popping intervals dump the pan or the corn may burn.

There is a BIG difference in popcorn and the volume that the kernals produce. Splurge and get a jar of Orville Redenbacher's and compare it to the cheaper brands. I use the yellow (as opposed to white) popcorn from Sam's Club that comes in the five gallon buckets. It is what the theaters and schools serve.

That's the popcorn 101 that I learned.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), November 06, 2000.

Notforprint's method is quite correct. Young people nowadays think popcorn can only be made with a special airpopper or a microwave...how bizarre! Better than sugar on popcorn is sauteing garlic in the butter, and just before drizzling it over the popcorn, add oregano & chilli pepper to the hot butter, and then mix it all together using parmesan instead of salt. Yumm!

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), November 06, 2000.

Hey Snoozy, I've gotta try that. I also like nutritional yeast on popcorn. But don't you ever worry about what would happen if every grain popped at the same time? :)

-- Sam in W.Va. (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), November 07, 2000.

Although I find my irons a bit heavy, I have found that at the high setting on my gas stove, the kernels pop so fast that they "shake" themselves, and the iron doesn't concentrate the heat in one area so they don't burn. Every so often, I lift the entire assembly (pot and lid) and "heave" them up a bit just to shake the unpopped kernels to the bottom.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), November 08, 2000.

i use a crank stove-top popper...dump in 3 Tablespoons of oil, 2-3 Tablespoons white sugar, and 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn...crank/cook until done popping...add salt to taste. enjoy!

-- kristen (kbhansen@msn.com), November 09, 2000.