this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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You Should Know

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Why YSK: Popcorn fans often want a buttery flavor, but plain butter is a bad choice for popping popcorn in a pot, because the proteins and sugars smoke and burn around the same temperature where it's hot enough to pop the kernels.

Ghee, or Indian-style clarified butter, is butter that's been simmered and the milk solids (proteins and sugars) skimmed off. This leaves a clear yellow oil that doesn't smoke when it's heated and doesn't go rancid quickly, but has a distinct toasty butter flavor.

Vegetable oil is either flavorless or faintly bitter, and some high-temperature vegetable oils tend to start polymerizing (i.e. becoming plastic) when heated in small amounts. This is also not good for popcorn.

Good-quality popcorn popped in ghee reliably produces lots of "butterfly" popcorn with few unpopped "duds" and no scorched kernels or batches ruined by smoke.

Try it! I'm sure not going back to canola oil.

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[–] lnm225 39 points 1 year ago (4 children)

smacks forehead

That is a great idea! Coconut oil was ok,but kinda odd-flavored for popcorn ...

[–] acupofcoffee 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Since ghee is so expensive, I usually do coconut oil and ghee mixed!

I love ghee on my stovetop popcorn! A wok works great!

[–] deviant 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Dude, my mom makes ghee out of milk. It costs literally nothing

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's not true because you still have to buy the milk.

[–] Fondots 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] BloodyFable 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tiddy butter popcorn is a sentence crafted by war criminals to torture the goodness from the world.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

to make ghee at home costs lots of milk, time, and effort. Try making ghee yourself from cratch and you'll know exactly how much it really costs.

[–] blueskiesoc 7 points 1 year ago

Go to youtube and watch how to make ghee. It's quite simple. I use butter to make mine. I won't buy expensive storebought again because it's so cheap and simple to make.

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[–] half 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Avocado oil is great for popcorn. It doesn't add any flavor but I love the resulting texture: very crisp and clean. I like using red or blue corn because the contrast is visually appealing. You want long, skinny kernels to get the butterfly popcorn. Personally I'm crazy for cheesy popcorn, and the secret there is to find cheese powder with some savory herbs like oregano. I also love to do it with Kashmiri (floral hot Indian chili) powder.

Important edit: Do NOT under any circumstance use chili popcorn to spice up Netflix & Chill. This is a snack for lonely degenerates who don't even masturbate daily any more. It's for watching war documentaries and French New Wave, not pervy cartoons and superhero throwdowns with plot designed to be ignored while you finger your frenemies. You won't look worldly and sophisticated while you're driving somebody to the fucking hospital. Be responsible.

[–] Tot 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Burlap and barrel has a black lime and a black urfa chili that are just fantastic on popcorn.

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[–] galaxi 4 points 1 year ago

Someone's speaking from experience..

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[–] mynona 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Olive oil here. The market nearby doesn't sell canola oil because it was never popular. MSG is also great on popcorn.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Nutritional yeast is also amazing. Gives it a cheesy flavor, and it's healthy to boot!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Nutritional yeast, chicken salt, and ghee for the oil is my go to. Absolutely delicious.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I second that comment.

It's been about two decades since I've gone there, but the Landmark Cinemas in the San Diego area had nutritional yeast for your popcorn, right there in the station where you pump your own butter and grab napkins. Curious, I gave it a try...

For the past twenty years (give or take), a can of Bragg's Nutritional Yeast has been an ever-present staple in the kitchen, which I use to season popcorn, as well as slightly charred tortillas with either butter or avocado.

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[–] nihilist_hippie 14 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Ghee sounds awesome for popcorn! I use refined coconut oil and Flavacol at the moment.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also, as far as i know, you can buy the same seasoning they put on the popcorn at the theaters. Its called flavacol.

Also, beware of bagged popcorn a lot of the bags contain PFAS, which is supposedly bad for you.

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[–] Dark_Blade 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

…holy shit you’re a genius.

[–] justhach 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] dojan 7 points 1 year ago

Ugh. That was so bad. I love that for you.

[–] lolola 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Don't some companies sell "popcorn oil"? What is that made of?

[–] ohmyiv 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oil and artificial flavors. I've tried a lot of them and none of them have a "real" butter flavor. It's more of a greasy feel than taste.

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[–] KreekyBonez 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

soybean oil, usually. and diacetyl can be added as a buttery flavoring.

fun fact: diacetyl inhaled in large enough doses can cause bronchitis. this was a problem in popcorn topping factories, hence the term "popcorn lung"

[–] OsakaWilson 10 points 1 year ago

We use non-virgin olive oil. High smoke point, but good flavor.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

That’s great and all, but if any discussion about popcorn on the stove doesn’t involve Flavicol, it’s simply incomplete.

[–] tanin 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I've always just used avocado oil. Sometimes coconut oil but that obviously leaves a faint hint of coconut that not everyone likes. I'll try ghee next time but I never heard of anyone trying to make pop corn with just butter in the pan. That sounds like a mistake folks only make once! lol

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[–] thesalamander 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Never tried Ghee. I usually use canola, coconut, or bacon grease. I'm up for more buttery flavor though. Thanks!

[–] metalcheems 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Bacon grease sounds incredible. How much of the flavor ends up in the popcorn?

[–] thesalamander 5 points 1 year ago

It's subtle, but I only use just enough to pop the kernels. I also have a jar of it by the stove most of the time.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For any dairy intolerant or vegan people here you can get a similar effect by clarifying a vegetable spread like Flora and adding salt until it tastes ‘buttery’ enough for you

[–] smokedtofu 5 points 1 year ago

Exactly. And don't use the vegan butter to pop the corn, just use some neutral vegetable oil like rapeseed oil there. After the corns have popped, just melt the vegan butter in a pan and drip it over your popcorn.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I tried ghee, it tasted awful. Butter flavored coconut oil is where it's at.

[–] Tetractys 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Peanut Oil is the answer. High smoke point, taste negligible.

[–] fubo 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  1. Not buttery
  2. Although it probably doesn't kill the housemate with the peanut allergy, it makes them very uncomfortable and possibly costs them a significant medical bill.
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[–] seth 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Add in a teaspoon of Tabasco to the butter/ghee/oil before popping. 🍿

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I use bacon grease.

[–] _MoveSwiftly 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hello.

Could you please add a "Why YSK:" to your post? It's rule #2. :)

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