One of my favorite snacks throughout my life is popcorn. And I’m not talking about movie popcorn or microwave popcorn. I’m talking about the stuff you make yourself either over the stove or in an air popper.
Whenever I eat popcorn I think of my family and my childhood. Every Friday night growing up, my parents would make a big, red, plastic bowl of air popped, lightly buttered and salted popcorn that we’d munch as we watched The Dukes of Hazard followed by Dallas (well, my mom watched Dallas…I don’t think us kids were allowed to).
And whenever we’d visit my Grandma Rose at her ranch in Sheridan, Montana, she’d make piles of popcorn for everyone and serve it to them their own personal bread pan, liberally salted and drizzled with loads of tangy butter that came from her very own cows. It was the height of down home decadence for 9 year old me.
I have so many fond memories of popcorn, yet Jake and I rarely eat it. I think it’s because “popcorn” has become so closely associated with the highly processed caloric bomb you get at the movies or the tinny tasting microwave variety that the very name sounds less appealing.
But my friend Accacia, an avowed popcorn lover who makes hers in a classic popcorn popper, reminded me again how much I freakin’ love popped corn.
She asked me the other night what brand of corn we eat. I confessed I’ve always thought of popcorn kernels as innocuous and generic as table salt — does it matter what brand we eat? We eat the same air popped brand as everybody else: Orville you-know-who (he only has the most amazing name ever).
She got up, walked over to her cupboard and brought back a bag of Hulless Amish Country Popcorn, and said, “Here, try this. You’ll never eat any other brand of popcorn again.”
Intrigued by this sweeping declaration, I cooked up two batches of the different popcorns the other night in order to perform a little taste test. (I wanted to include a third variety but it appears Orville holds the monopoly in my town).
I made them the exact same way using my Cuisinart popcorn maker and the following ratios that make a nice smallish batch of popcorn to split between two people:
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
I didn’t bother buttering or salting (I ordinarily consider this sacrilege) because I wanted untampered flavor.
The first thing Jake and I noticed was how white the Amish corn was…almost blindingly white, while the Orville corn had a yellowish hue.
We then tasted the Orville. The flavor was nice, mellow, corn-y (is that a word?), benign. It was perfectly acceptable and agreeable. Then we ate a handful of the Amish corn. It too had a pleasant corn flavor — how else to describe the flavor of popcorn?
The key difference was the texture. The Orville corn was super chewy and got stuck in my teeth. While the Amish corn was light and crisp, almost like a potato chip. Compared to the Amish brand, Orville tasted like styrofoam!
I will never think of popcorn brands as interchangeable again. Thank you, Accacia, for showing me the error of my popcorn making ways.
And I know what I’m getting my popcorn-rabid family members for Christmas!
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Jessie, I see the bag says Hulless. Is it really? I will buy it in a second if that is the case. Where did she get it?
CLick here: http://www.amishcountrypopcorn.com/hullesspopcorn1.html
Thank you!
I make tons of popcorn, but have never heard of the Amish popcorn. Are there stores that carry it? an online order?
Go to the website I have linked to!
We love popcorn, too. It is an excellent source of fiber. I grew up eating what my Dad made the old fashioned way, but confess I’ve become addicted to making it in the microwave. I tried an air popper, but salt and other seasonings don’t stick to air popped corn.
For me, the pleasure of relaxing with the popcorn would be spoiled knowing I still had to go clean the greasy popcorn making equipment before going to bed.
Paula, I use an air popper and drizzle melted butter over it. The salt sticks great. Not overly so but enough.
I should have mentioned this was when I was trying to not use butter on it.
We always use a whirlypop, and now microwave popcorn tastes wrong to me. (I’ll eat it, though.)
Thanks for the link to the better brand, btw.
Two issues. I worked at a small movie theater in town. When I made the popcorn I cut back on the cup of salt/flavoring per batch, I just liked it better that way. The customers that like salt hit the salt shaker heavy before ever tasting it; I had a couple of older folks mention they liked the lighter-salt taste, no one else said anything.
Anyway, we used that Orville brand, and popped it in coconut oil, and I think that made the difference. Popcorn from the other theater in town makes me ill, each and every time I eat more than a small bit, but I loved our popcorn. The coconut oil really makes a difference in flavor.
The other thought I had was moisture in the corn. Dad kept his popcorn in a sealed jar, and added a teaspoon or so of water to each new bag. I think he could adjust the water according to the texture of the popcorn, but I am fuzzy about that, and haven’t mastered that step for myself. I just dump the bag in a re-used peanut butter jar, add a teaspoon of water, and shake. A day later and the popcorn pops nicer in the air popper or in the oil.
Oh, and Walmart carries Morton Salt’s “popcorn salt”. The same salt, no flavoring, but ground finer for a lighter, stronger salt flavor without adding as much salt.
Enjoy!
We love “Farmer Steve’s Popcorn” grown right here in my town, but still available. I still remember the delicious flavor and texture the first time I ate it. Who knew popcorn could be so different?
I meant, “but also available online.”
I wonder if I can find this in Montreal? It’s a pretty big city, but i don’t think we have any Amish nearby.
Anderson’s market near Madison Height’s carries it. https://www.facebook.com/AndersonsMkt
maybe the Cheese Shop in Stuarts Draft too??
I love popcorn. My idea of a relaxing evening is a good book, glass of wine, and a book. I grew up having popcorn for dinner every Sunday night. My dad would make it on the stove which is how I continue to make it today. I send it to school with my kids for a classroom snack, take it to parties, serve it to my family for dinner.
By the way, I live in Amish country in northern Indiana and certify it is the best tasting stuff out there.
I’ve never heard of the Amish popcorn, I have to give it a try as it’s been ages since I’ve had popcorn.
My husband lives for popcorn. He makes it in an 8qt. Calphalon dutch oven with a really heavy bottom right on the stove.
He’ll be happier than a pig in you know what if I get him a couple bags of this. Thanks a million!
Jess, I have been off my blog reading the last 6 months due to some tendonitis in my arms that gets aggravated by using my computer. I just wanted to say I got my Ladys home Journal in the mail last week and I was flipping thru and I was looking at your family picture before I started reading and I was like… I know that Baby! I have looked at so many pictures you have posted on your blogs in the past I recognized her before you. Then I began to read the article and I knew I had to congratulate you and your family for getting your dog. I hope that is going well. And of course congratulations for making the Journal! That had to have been awesome. Good luck to you.
Does anyone have a link to the Ladies Home Journal that I can read online, by any chance?
and a note on amish popcorn, being from NE Indiana living in Amishville you should also give Yoders a try from Shipshewana. http://www.yoderpopcorn.com/ Its known for being the best around these parts.
Jessie, if my body could sustain itself on popcorn I’d be happy to have it three times a day. Maybe sprinkled with bacon, too. Thanks to your post I’ve learned of better popcorn and will be using Brad K.’s advice, too. Mmm.
this Wabash popcorn is available at Williams Sonoma (I work there) and there is also a confetti mix available from the same grower with different colored kernels, it has an almost nutty taste, really wonderful. I have lately been buying a commercial popcorn called mushroom popcorn that pops HUGE and makes the best kettle corn in a whirly pop. Just Poppin has a great variety and good advice!
Nevermind that Orville whathisname’s corn is probably GMO. Please correct me if I’m out to lunch. Amish all the way, baby! Or Organic, if there is no Amish in sight
Are you comparing apples to apples? Orville distributes both a yellow and a white popcorn. It appears that you’re comparing the yellow Orville to a white Amish, rather than comparing the white Orville to the white Amish. If that’s true, it makes perfect sense that the Orville would be yellower.
I always buy the Orville white variety, and it delivers results more similar to what you show for the Amish brand.
Good to know. I didn’t realize there were different colors. THanks for pointing it out.
I just happened to see some Amish popcorn this weekend while picking pumpkins on a farm. I don’t have a popcorn maker, but my mom does so I convinced her to buy some for herself (I would have bought it for her for Christmas but there was no way I could make a purchase in this tiny farm store without her noticing and there is also no way she would let me pay for something while she’s standing right there)!