I love the prepacks for at home, but my wife volunteered me to pop popcorn for my oldest daughter's theater shows this weekend and next (yeah
).
Anyway, I want to get some bulk popcorn and oil, but I have no idea how much of each to use in a 4oz popcorn popper, and of course, I can't find the manual for it. It is a Paragon Contempo, if that makes a difference.
Please help!
Can't you just make one batch like you do for when you use it normally, see how much it makes, estimate how much will be eaten based on the kids coming over, then multiply the ingredients times that number? Heck, if you have extra, I'll stop over and eat some. lol
I don't need to estimate how much to make, but how muck oil to unpopped corn to salt mix to put in my 4oz popper. There are 4 shows this weekend, and another set of 4 next weekend. The place seats about 200, but not everyone will get popcorn. Even so, I don't want to use my pre-packaged portions, but would rather use bulk.
I may have to just cut open a pre-pack and measure the corn, oil, and salt. I've got the Flavacol salt, and some good ol' Iowa grown popcorn. I just need the coconut oil, but need to know how much to buy so that I am buying enough, but not too much. If I can't figure out how much a gallon of oil will make, then I don't know how much to get...
ARG!
I misunderstood, when you said your daughters theater shows, I just figured she was having some friends over for a movie night or slumber party.
Your an IT guy, come on man figure it out......
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Your an IT guy, come on man figure it out......
Shhh about that... his family thinks he's a pimp and a drug dealer, he couldn't find a way to explain to his family he was in IT.
(to resurrect an old joke)
Bren R.
1/6 of a cup for 4oz of popcorn. You owe me a bag.
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1/6 of a cup for 4oz of popcorn. You owe me a bag.
Is that popped?
I was thinking that it would be more like 1/3 cup of unpopped corn = 4oz of unpopped corn... 1/6 seems like not enough.... Hmmm.
1/6 of a cup of oil for 4oz unpopped corn. 1/4 cup oil for 6oz unpopped and so on. That's what we use per instructions on our popper, works great. You could always try a batch first to see if that works with your machine.
I am so glac we started a "Water Cooler" section, this stuff just kills me.
It's all helpful though.
I'm still waiting for the "Urgent -- do I cut the red wire or the green wire ?" post
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I'm still waiting for the "Urgent -- do I cut the red wire or the green wire ?" post
But it's so simple. All you have to do is divine from what you know of the bomb-maker: is he the sort of man who would use a red kill wire or a green one? Now, a clever man would use the green wire, because he would know that only a great fool would cut the red wire. Since Axiom posters are not great fools, they would clearly not choose the red wire. But the bomb-maker would know Axiom posters are not great great fools, he would have counted on it, so you can clearly not choose the green wire.
... and if the bomb-maker owns a Bose system, all bets are off ?
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But it's so simple. All you have to do is divine from what you know of the bomb-maker: is he the sort of man who would use a red kill wire or a green one? Now, a clever man would use the green wire, because he would know that only a great fool would cut the red wire. Since Axiom posters are not great fools, they would clearly not choose the red wire. But the bomb-maker would know Axiom posters are not great great fools, he would have counted on it, so you can clearly not choose the green wire.
INCONCEIVABLE.
You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched wires when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...
[BOOM!, fall to the right]
Rich (Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die)
What a classic movie, I may have to break out the DVD this weekend.
A number of years ago, I attended a live Mandy Patinkin concert (very entertaining. He's a wonderful performer). At one point he asked for a volunteer from the audience. Though I failed, I made a strong effort to be the one picked because I knew that he would ask that person for their name (which, of course, he did), and I was all prepared to say "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die."
I suspect it would have cracked him up and brought the house down. Alas, it was not to be.
OK, after some testing (all of 1 batch). I have confirmed the following:
A 4oz Prepack contains a little more than 1/2 cup of unpopped corn (I had it heaping as much as popcorn would "heap" and still had a little in the packet)
2 heaping tablespoons of the oil (coconut oil is a solid at anything cooler than 76 degrees F)
1 (barely) level tablespoon of Flavacol (seasoning)
I also stopped by the Paragon (makers of the popular Theater Pop popcorn machine, and my Contempo version) factory today to get the "good" oil. 1 Gallon was like $21 plus tax (yikes), but it will last a LONG time. They also are making the Star Wars (maybe others) popcorn machines for Snappy as well. They said to NEVER put more than 4oz of popcorn into a 4oz machine. Extra oil is fine, but not extra popcorn. They claim that it will ruin the kettle. Hmmm. I know a lot of people say that they put in the prepacks made for 6oz poppers into a 4oz machine. Who knows.
Rich, you crack me up.
I love that movie.
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but it will last a LONG time
If you can vacuum seal it, the oil will keep it's good taste until all is used
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Your an IT guy, come on man figure it out......
That's bad juju. You don't want that. Getting IT guys to figure something out involves a painstaking process of arcane mathematical formulas, flame wars, ego-bruising hissy fits, and results in an elegant, simple, efficient solution that can only be used or understood by IT geeks.
I hear that. No way am I doing an RFP for popcorn.
That's amazing that it only takes two tablespoons of oil. Ian's famous for his popcorn around here 'cause he makes it stovetop (this fascinates younger members of our family who have honestly never had anything but microwave). At any rate, you just pour enough oil to cover the bottom of whatever saucepan you're using, and then do a single layer of kernals on top of that. But I'm sure we must be using more than two tablespoons to cover the bottom of the pan! How much will yours make?
My uncle grew "strawberry popcorn" when I kid, which would pop up so much whiter than Orville Reddenbachers. Very fun.
I'd love to see theme popcorn makers - what a great idea!
I think my Dad does a tablespoon to a half cup for stovetop.
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Rich, you crack me up.
I love that movie.
Tom, that's very kind of you, but let's give credit where credit is due! First Bridgman introduced the amusing "how do I disarm a bomb" tangent. Then Peter thought to interject the hysterical "Princess Bride" allusion into this! I caught it immediately, and it literally made me spit water all over the keyboard & table! Therefore, I had to respond appropriately!
A 4oz popper makes about the same as 1.5 large bags of microwave popcorn per batch. Once the popper is warmed up, it can pop great popcorn very quickly, and it tastes so much better than the microwaved stuff.
Amie - quit letting Ian deep-fry the popcorn.
Popcorn on the stove top is an art. One I never learned, though I'm one of the few that can pop it over coals or a BBQ and not burn it.
Bren R.
Do they still make Jiffy Pop? The hardest part to stove-top popcorn is remember to turn the butter on first. Otherwise you're staring at that big, salty bowl full'o'fun getting cold while the butter slowly liquifies . . . So, what's the key to campfire popcorn - constant motion? High grille? Or going to the grave with you?
Lots of airspace, keeping it moving, using FRESH popcorn - what will pop in an air popper might not still be good for the fire - and knowing by how fast the kernals pop how high to hold it.
Bren cook outside on fire. Woman cook inside with magic. Unga-bung.
Bren R.
The secret to all popcorn is to keep the kernals covered in oil and as evenly heated as possible. Microwave popcorn is different in that there isn't a single heating surface like a stovetop, or fire.... So you should always keep popcorn moving over the heat/oil.
I am sure that there are other tricks to doing it over a campfire. BrenR?
[EDIT: Just saw that BrenR replied while I was typing mine.]
Bren,
You are correct. Popcorn on the stove top is an art which my wife had mastered. We recently purchased new appliances and the cook top is all glass. No more cooking popcorn on the stove top as you can't shake/rub the pot over the surface
Could you if the bottom of the pot was smooth, instead of ridged? I just got a new flat top and I thought you could shake away if it was smooth-bottomed pan.
Hi Amie,
We haven't tried this even though most of our pots have relatively smooth bottoms. The Whirlpool representative didn't recommend doing this. Also, you have to be careful not to spill certain cooking ingredients such as sugar on the hot surfaces otherwise they will "pit" the glass. It has made us wonder if we should have purchased the traditional cook top with the removeable elements. In summary, the stove/cook top is a fantastic appliance even though we eat microwave popcorn now.
Cheers,
Shaun
The in-laws had a modular one that was pretty cool... could pop in whatever you wanted in three strips across the top... left, middle and right... they could put on a flat grill, a scalloped (that the right term?) griddle, the radiant glowy red things, traditional elements, down draft fans, I'm sure there were fondue heaters and autoclaves available.
Bren R.
By the way... if this thread gets a star, I quit.
Bren R.
Here is the response I got back from Paragon. Looks like more corn is OK, but just makes more old maids....
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I talked the operations manager and he said that you can use more popcorn in your machine and it shouldn’t hurt your kettle but you will have more old maids in the batch. We had gotten some wrong information given to us. Sorry.
Have a great day.
Thanks,
Debbie Erickson
Customer Service Rep., Sales & Marketing
Paragon International
731 W 18th St
PO Box 560
Nevada, IA 50201
(T) 800-433-0333
(F) 515-382-8001
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Does anyone know how to make Kettle Corn? I love that stuff. I put on a good five pounds every year the fair comes around just eating bags and bags of that stuff.
…….hmmmm maybe I better not figure out how to make it.
I have wondered that myself (how to make kettle corn). Someone once told me to "just add some sugar", but I don't know if that really works, or if it will make a mess.
Oh, and BrenR, it looks like someone rated this thread with stars.
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Oh, and BrenR, it looks like someone rated this thread with stars.
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By the way... if this thread gets a star, I quit.
Bren R.
Just to annoy you, Bren, I gave this thread 5 stars! 
Hey...I happen to like popcorn!
Oddly enough, was just thinking about you... listening to "Big River" in the car, when Johnny was singing about his dream cavorting in Davenport... couldn't remember who I knew there. Now I remember. You, the star lady.
Bren R.