Stovetop Popcorn

A big bowl of popcorn is a serious winter treat. What would a howling winter night be without the twin graces of video streaming services and big, creamy fistfuls of popped corn?

Ah, but you say you don’t have a popcorn popper at home? You say frigid, snowy air is blowing sideways across state and county roads, and there’s just no way the thrift store in your town has an air popper in stock today, this very minute?

Here’s a four-minute masterclass in this delightfully simple, low-tech take on homemade popcorn. A cast iron Dutch oven is our favorite implement, but any big metal soup pot will work.

If all you’ve got is a small sauce pan at home, friend, we are still not beaten. Look yourself in the mirror, say you can do it, and just scale this recipe back into smaller batches. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, isn’t there?

Ingredients

1 tablespoon light refined oil

About 3/4 cup popcorn kernels, off the cob

Optional toppings: a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast, salt to taste, several tablespoons melted butter

Process

To liberate the kernels from the cob, just rub the ears of corn over a bowl. The kernels will fall right off. This recipe calls for about half of what goes into our winter share boxes—say about an ear and a half of kernels. It’s the right amount for our family of four.

Pre-heat a cast iron Dutch oven over pretty high heat. Add about a tablespoon of light, refined oil to the pot. Add just a few kernels to the hot oil, and cover them with a lid. A glass lid is nice for entertainment purposes.

When those few kernels pop, your pot is hot and ready to go. Add the rest of the kernels now. Be sure to cover the pot with the lid again.

Get a firm grip on a trusted potholder. The pot is going to stay level on the stovetop, but you’re going to shake and shimmy it over the stove burner. You want to keep the kernels moving. You’re not going for ceaseless motion, just a few attentive shakes. Kernels on the move are kenels kept from burning.

When the crescendo of popping starts to slow, it’s time to turn off the heat. Don’t wait til every pop has ceased, or you’ll burn the bottom layer. If you’re using a Dutch oven, residual heat will continue to cook the stragglers.

Our family loves nutritional yeast on popcorn for its buttery, cheesy character. I add melted butter, too, but even that is not really necessary. You might like to try a dash of cayenne or a splash of curry powder or cinnamon and sugar. Popcorn is a blank canvas. Any seasoning you like will be excellent.