Jiffy Pop Popcorn

An ad for a small microwave here brought this back to my thoughts. Why is Jiffy Pop Popcorn not available in Mexico? I'm not talking the microwave kind but the old fashioned kind that you used to heat on a burner on the stove...when the foil top expanded to a maximum, the popcorn was ready. The majority of Mexicans have at least a gas burner but not a microwave. Couldn't they enjoy the treat too? Or do they already have a secret way of making it? Curious.

They DO pop popcorn, but I've never seen them actually do it. Bet they do it in a big casuela or olla. Look at all the popcorn for sale on those little TV-tray-in-the-doorway businesses with packaged stuff. I buy it a lot, it's good. How do they pop popcorn???

In Nepal and India they pop corn in sand.

How?

In a wok. There's a video on-line. Google "popcorn making Indian way".

It's not a special kind of corn specifically for popping?

"In a wok" isn't quite the same as "in sand" now is it?

The corn is popped in sand in a wok. To me, that's popped in sand.

Jiffy Pop stove-top is pretty pricy. On Amazon it is $2.00 USD per carton for a box of 24. I imagine people put a little oil and corn in a heavy saucepan with a cover, and shake it when it starts to pop. Like I did before microwaves. And microwave popcorn in a paper bag.

That is pricy. It used to be 29 cents. :(

Seriously? Jiffy-Pop? Come on.

It takes a pot. Some vegetable oil. A flame under it. And some corn kernels. And when they all stop-a-poppin', they're done! Just like in that magic JiffyPop TV commercial from the 60's or 70's. And it costs next to nothing to make.

Of course, once your kids saw that fantastic expanding foil in the JiffyPop commercials, their eyes grew big and wild and nothing else would ever do. Blame the marketers.

EDIT: Oops. Writing post while others were making the same point. Popcorn is cheap!

Rosa Venus is right. You can buy popping corn in bags or from bins. You have a saucepan with a lid. You put enough oil to cover bottom of pot. Drop in three seeds, cover and put on the flame. When the three kernels pop, the oil is hot enough. Remove from flame and add enough kernels to cover bottom of pan, cover and wait 30 seconds. Put back on flame and wait for it to begin popping. When popping slows almost to a stop, remove and dump popcorn in a bowl, add salt to taste -- and butter if you want. But, this popcorn is so good you really do not need butter.

Wonderful! What's popping corn (from a bin) called in Spanish? I know that the finished product is called Palomitas.

If you ask for Palomita they will give you the right kind--at the cereal/grain places. WalMart and Sorianas has bags of them in the beans area. Superlake has it in the nuts and grains area. It is so cheap!

Cheap is good...being able to choose the oil it gets popped in is priceless.
Thanks for all the tips.

ferret wrote:Wonderful! What's popping corn (from a bin) called in Spanish? I know that the finished product is called Palomitas.

It's a toughie.

Maíz para palomitas.

You are welcome! You will never go back to microwave popcorn again.

I got so tired of my partner making crappy, pre-nastyass-buttered microwave popcorn, I finally broke him of the habit by showing how to do it old school. It's soooooooo much better.

I know--and people scarf it down while marveling about it as though you had performed some miracle!

Yep.

Actually. Maybe this thread needs to be deleted. You know. Secret recipes and all that.

Yeah. You´re right. Geez, can´t have people thinking just anybody can do it.

I'll practise...I expect the first few batches to get burned until I figure out which burner works the best...so ya kept some information back. :)

Seis...ouch! That was so easy it's embarrassing. Although I have to admit I would have said, in the store "Quiero hacer palomitas...que typo de maiz voy a usar?"

Kept no secrets, ferret. But, it does take practice as you figure the burners, height of flame, how much oil (it is by sight and based on size of pot so no standard measurement) and that exact moment when you have acheived maximum popage and just before it is going to scorch. It is an art not a science. Oh, but when you get it just right, the reward is that delicious, tender, perfect popcorn. Oh damn. I gotta go pop some now.

Guys, guys, guys! Air popping! Get a hot air popper, pour in the amount of popcorn you want, wait a few seconds until they heat up and start to pop and get ready with a big bowl to catch all those tender GREASELESS little palomitas (that's redundant, isn't it). Then add a bit of olive oil, coconut oil, butter, or whatever your oil of choice is, some Mexican rock salt, and YUMMMMMM.

High fiber healthy and virtually non-fat.

Air popping?!? Surely, you jest! No, no, no. Bleh. Why not just buy a bag of packing peanuts and chew on them. There is just about as much flavor.