1/4 cup unpopped popcorn
1 lunch-sized brown paper bag
1 stapler
1 microwave
Put the unpopped popcorn into the bag. Use 1 staple to close the bag. Put the bag in the microwave. Nuke it on high for 3-5 minutes, depending on your machine, or until the pops are 3-5 seconds apart.
Easy isn't it? Most people will have objections to this, though, so I'll counter as many as I can think of
Both are true. However, the staple is actually SHORTER than the wavelengths of the energy put out by the microwave. [Techspeak: A microwave generates radiation with a wavelength of approximately 4.10 inches (122 millimeters)]. So long as you use only 1 staple, you're not going to cause any arcing or ruin your microwave.
2) I don't microwave popcorn because it burns easily.
True, but only if you buy microwave popcorn. In "store-bought" popcorn, there is a good deal of solidified oil (i.e., fat) in the bag along with the popcorn. That's why it doesn't rattle when you shake it. Microwaves heat fat and water molecules much more efficiently than starch molecules. [Techspeak: The polarized molecules absorb non-ionizing microwave radiation using dielectric heating, and the molecules rotate and vibrate to align themselves.] In a bag of "store-bought" popcorn, you are heating the oil, which in turn heats the popcorn to make it pop....but the oil stays hot. This is what makes store-bought popcorn burn so easily.
Since there is no oil in this bag of popcorn, though, this can't happen. Instead, the microwaves are exciting the water molecules trapped inside the popcorn kernels. When they pop, the water immediately evaporates. Since starch molecules do not heat as easily in a microwave, they will not burn easily. It's possible to do so, I guess, but I've not yet done it.
That's because there's no oil in this bag. Also, there's a lot less popcorn in this bag. Look at the nutritional information on the bag of Orville's. You'll see that there's 3 servings of popcorn in that bag. When was the last time you ate 1/3 of a bag of microwave popcorn?
Look also at the calories. You're getting 230-250 calories per serving. Multiply that by 3, and you're getting around 690-750 calories in that bag of Orville's -- most from fat. I hope you skipped a meal or two, because the average adult needs 2,000 -- 2,500 calories per day. Congrats, you just ate about 1/3 of your daily calories.
This recipe, however, using Orville's popcorn that you'd pop on the stove or in an air-popper, is about 160 calories for the WHOLE RECIPE. Technically, the recommended serving size is 3 Tbsp unpopped (a 1/4 = 4 Tbsp), but I like popcorn. It's also a heck of a lot cheaper this way, costing only a few cents to make mine vs. more than dollar per bag for most microwave popcorn brands.
If you want to add a little salt, herbs, olive oil, butter, etc., to flavor your popcorn, go ahead....I like my popcorn naked, though.
