The Secret to Theater-Style Popcorn Is: COCONUT OIL

I love popcorn, always have, always will.  It's one of my favorite things in the world.

Most of the time I pop it with an air popper because it's healthier than all the saturated garbage in the microwave bags and nobody has time to cook it in hot oil anymore.

That's a shame, because hot oil is the best way to make popcorn.  Sometimes you just can't beat it.  But have you ever wondered what the secret is to movie theater popcorn?  It's got to do with popping in oil, but there's more.

The truth is, there are several different kinds of oils you can try.  Most people have vegetable oil or corn oil around the house, and it does work just fine for popping popcorn.  You can try olive oil; you may find yellow goop sold for popcorn that is actually soybean oil.  Some stores even sell peanut oil as what you need for gourmet popcorn.  In a fit of desperate creativity I tried everything, including vanilla (hint:  it doesn't work and turns into caramel).

But the stuff that is the real deal, the stuff the theaters use, is coconut oil (or used to use before the hippies at the Center for Science in the Public Interest got it banned -- ironically, it is now considered healthier than other oils and is actually sold at health food stores like Whole Foods).  And good luck finding it in a store; I looked all over creation for months and couldn't find it even in the most exotic specialty stores. 

So if you want to make the best popcorn you can, here's what you need.

Coconut oil.  Yes, it comes in a paint can, and when you open it up it looks like wax.  But trust me, this is the real deal.  You won't regret it.

Stovetop Popper.   Sure, you can just use a pot, but these poppers have agitators you turn by hand, and it makes a world of difference in popping the corn quickly and efficiently.  Don't do the jiffy-pop shake-until-your-hand-falls-off method.









I buy from Amish Country Popcorn.