Secrets To Making Movie Theater Popcorn

It's easy to get that movie theater taste at home.

Chances are, you grew up loving the taste of movie theater popcorn and at some point, you've probably wished that you could get that same wonderful flavor when you make popcorn at home -- not to mention that the price of a bag of popcorn at the theater can be 10 times what it costs to make. Fortunately, it's easier to make movie theater popcorn than you might have guessed, and you don't need an expensive machine either.

The Right Tool For The Job

One of the secrets to movie theater popcorn is that the machine stirs the popcorn continuously. This ensures that the popcorn cooks evenly. The machine also ventilates the steam released from the popping kernels to keep the popcorn from getting soggy. There are stovetop poppers available that can do both of these; look for an aluminum pan with a hand crank and steam vents in the lid, such as Whirley-Pop. With this, you can keep the popcorn circulating and the humidity at the right level.

The Popcorn

Believe it or not, you don't have to spend a lot of money on popcorn. Brands like Orville Redenbacher are designed to perform well in a large pan that doesn't cook evenly, but with a rotary popper, even cheap popcorn will taste delicious. Remember that your theater, which makes most of its money from the snack bar, is probably using the cheapest popcorn it can find, so do what it does and buy your popcorn cheaply, in bulk.

The Oil

Movie theater popcorn is usually popped in coconut oil. This oil is very stable and well-suited to high-temperature cooking, and it is also relatively cheap and lasts a long time without going rancid. It is also very high in saturated fat, which is why movie theater popcorn has an unhealthy reputation; however, it is difficult to reproduce the flavor with any other oil. You can buy coconut oil in bulk at your local bulk-foods store.

The Salt And Flavoring

While theaters advertise their popcorn as "buttered", the butter flavor they use is artificial. There are butter-flavored season salts available that provide an authentic movie-theater flavor. Sprinkle a bit onto your popcorn once it's finished cooking, and you will be hard-pressed to tell the difference from what your theater serves.

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