How to Make Popcorn Without Oil?

Makes 1 dinner plate amount

Ingredients:

3 TBS popcorn kernels

Directions:

1. Heat pot at medium-high heat at no. 7.5 out of 9 stove (I am using a Siemens electrical stove). Cover and heat for 5 minutes (it takes 5 minutes for my stove to heat ready for the corn kernels to pop, experiment with yours accordingly)

2. In the meantime, scoop 2 TBS of corn kernels into a container ready to be used.

3. When the pot is heated after 5 minutes, add 2 corn kernels into the pot for testing, and turn the heat down to no. 7.

4. Cover with lid, shake the pot and wait for them to pop. It should start popping within 1 minute.

5. Remove the 2 popped kernels to prevent burn.

6. Add in the rest of the corn kernels (2 tablespoon of corn kernels), cover with lid and gently shake the pot constantly to prevent burning the kernels.

7. Once the kernels start popping, reduce heat further to no. 5 immediately and continue to gently shake the pot to prevent burning the popcorn.

8. Once there is no more popping sound, turn off heat and immediately transfer to a plate to prevent burn. The whole process should take you approximately 10 minutes. Enjoy :-)

Additional Information:

At 7 years old, J is at the age where he asks for popcorn. It is cozy to eat popcorn, while watching a film or visiting an amusement park such as Legoland or Tivoli. I first made popcorn drizzled with syrup. He loved it. But being health conscious, he asked me to make popcorn without adding any syrup or salt. He said he would still like it and would eat it. I made it today (27/06/2016, 7Y3M22D) and he ate them. And he suggested bringing our own homemade popcorn to amusement park, so we can have popcorn that is tasty, without having to pay for overpriced popcorn those places charge which at the same time compromises our health.

Although making popcorn at home feels healthy, the smell that the oil gives at high heat makes me doubts its goodness. So I googled to find out more.

Popcorn is actually wholegrain, and in itself is healthy and nutritious. But the way popcorn is made makes it unhealthy, since it is believed that "heating olive oil can cause it to oxidize and damages its delicate polyphenol antioxidants" (The World's Healthiest Foods) However, all the recipes I found on the internet didn't quite work for me as they either burn all the popcorns or recommend using non-stick pan to make popcorn without oil. I am not so comfortable to heat an non-stick pan to such high temperature, as it may give off some chemical residue. So I experiment with using an ordinary stainless steel pot.

Hope this recipe will work for you too :-)

We could buy organic popcorn that cost 40 DKK per pack at Urterhuset.

So now we can soon have a cozy time with popcorn, without compromising our health :-) This feels super good :-)

The link below explains what popcorn is made of:

https://www.popcorn.org/Facts-Fun/From-Seed-to-Snack

References:

http://www.veganhightechmom.com/how-to-make-stovetop-popcorn-without-oil/
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=76
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/popcorn-nutrition-and-health#section9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn

1. Heat stainless steel pot at medium high heat (no. 7.5) for 5 mins to the temperature ready for the corn kernel to pop.

2.  In the meantime, scoop 2 TBS of corn kernels...

into a container ready to be used. 

3. When the pot is heated, test with 2 corn kernels

4. Cover with lid, shake the pot and wait for them to pop.

It should start popping within 1 minute.

5. Remove the 2 popped kernels to prevent burn.

6. Add in the rest of the corn kernels (2 tablespoon of corn kernels) and cover with lid and gently shake the pot constantly to prevent burning the kernels. 

7. Once the kernels start popping, reduce heat to no. 5 immediately and continue to gently shake the pot to prevent burning the popcorn.

8. Open the cover of the pot occasionally to let off steam and hot air.

9. Once there is no more popping sound, turn off heat immediately and transfer to a plate immediately to prevent burn. The whole process should take you approximately 10 minutes.

10. Wait for the popcorn to cool and enjoy.