Stovetop Popcorn

I almost feel silly posting this because it’s so amazingly simple, but I remember how frightening the thought of making stove top popcorn seemed to me before I made it for the first time. I loved the idea of throwing in a bag of microwave popcorn, and figured as long as I got the organic stuff I was in the clear. And while the organic stuff is still better than conventional I still had to pay close attention to labels.

Two of my big concerns with some microwave popcorn:

1. Dyacetyl: This is a chemical used to make the butter flavoring in many (not all) bags of microwave popcorn. Some popcorn factory workers have developed bronchiolitis obliterans (a lung condition) after prolonged exposure to the dyacetyl used for flavoring. Some brands of popcorn have since ceased using dyacetyl in their popcorn due to this problem. If you do buy microwave popcorn that contains dyacetyl, it would be wise to open the bag away from your face so not to inhale this chemical.

2. PFOA: Many microwave popcorn bags are coated with a chemical which breaks down and forms the chemical perfluorooctanoic (PFOA). PFOA is a known carcinogen

So here is how I make stove top popcorn.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup organic popcorn seeds
• 1-2 TBS Avocado Oil (We have also used coconut oil before but avocado oil is a WONDERFUL oil for cooking at high heat. See note below on best avocado oil brands**)
• sea salt, real salt, or pink himilayan salt. We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market. 
• grass fed organic butter or ghee (optional)

Process:

1. Simply add your avocado oil to a large pot.
2. Pour your popcorn kernels into the pot, cover, then turn burner to medium/high heat.
3. As your popcorn begins to pop, gently shake the pot on the burner and keep cooking.
4. Once the popcorn popping slows to several seconds between popping, turn off your burner and set your pot onto a cool burner.
5. If you want to add melted butter at this point you can do so however, I usually just add Redmonds Real Salt which has plenty of flavor. We also sometimes add nutritional yeast flakes and/or garlic powder for a “cheesy flavor”
6. Enjoy!

** You have to be really careful when choosing avocado oil. I buy the Chosen brand that they sell at Costco since many are often cut with other inexpensive oils. Check out this post about the problem with avocado oil. We LOVE avocado oil and choose it when cooking at high heats but we are careful not to just buy any brand.

You have to be careful with Olive Oil for the same reason. Check out this article here. 

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