Exploding Food
Written: Aug 21 '00 (Updated Feb 13 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: unburned popcorn in just a couple of minutes
Cons: unpopped kernels and exploding popcorn-grenades
The Bottom Line: A good, solid choice.
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| owling's Full Review: Archived Home & Garden Reviews |
The Salton Hot-Air Popper
My fiancee has infected me with his great love of popcorn, so we bought a hot-air popper. They're wonderful because you can pop popcorn without lots of dishes to clean, and without using oils.
First thing, you put 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels into the hot air popper. Then you put the lid on. It fits very easily, and we haven't had troubles with it. Then you plug the unit in, listen to the kernels whizzing about, and wait for the show to begin. Of course, you'll need a bowl beneath the opening in the lid to catch the popcorn as it comes tumbling out. When the popcorn stops popping, you unplug it, toss any unpopped kernels, and wash the lid.
We really like the Salton hot air popper. It's incredibly easy to use and clean. It's also very enthusiastic. There's no need to worry about the popped corn being kept in the popper under its own weight and burning (I've seen this happen with other poppers). In fact, it tosses the popcorn out in such a hurry that not only do some of the kernels come with it, but sometimes they pop in the bowl, resulting in a mini-explosion of popcorn on your counter.
Honestly, we prefer this to burnt popcorn. 1/2 cup still pops plenty of popcorn for the both of us, and popcorn is fairly cheap so a few unpopped kernels aren't a tragedy. Just be wary of those exploding grenades that are the unpopped kernels - we practically had a heart attack the first time it happened!
Butter-Flavored Popcorn
Unfortunately my fiancee and I had to start counting calories recently in an effort to lose a little weight. This means that we can't just drizzle melted butter all over our popcorn the way we used to. We found an odd but very yummy way to solve this problem, so I figured we might as well share.
After the popcorn has popped, very lightly spray the surface with Pam cooking spray. No, really. It's just canola oil (a very healthy oil) with a little alcohol as propellant. Then lightly sprinkle with "Butter Buds," a fake butter that's mostly maltodextrin, salt, rice starch, and soybean lecithin. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Then stir, and repeat once more (or until it tastes right).
These three ingredients are remarkably non-bad for you, non-fatty, and non-calorific. The Pam spray ensures that the butter-flavor and salt will actually stick to the popcorn, which is always a problem when you can't use real butter.
Enjoy your popcorn. We'll certainly enjoy ours!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
owling
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Member: Heather Grove
Location: Maryland, USA
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