I’m not a huge fan of popcorn, but once in awhile I make it to satisfy a curious craving. I’ve tried for years to duplicate the taste of popcorn sold in movie theatres and was disappointed in the results.
I’ve tried popping it on the stove with oil, in hot-air machines, in ready-to-pop prepackaged microwave bags, and in a reusable microwave cooker specifically designed to pop dried corn kernels. This latter method is how I make popcorn now, and I don’t use any oil in the container during popping, though the container’s instructions indicated it was permissible to add oil if desired.
I’ve tried various oil toppings, including butter-flavored oils said to be specifically for popcorn, and still was disappointed, it never tasted like what they sold at the theatre. Popping the kernals using an oilless method led to the problem of getting salt to stick to the popcorn, and clearly, the theatre popcorn seemed to have a butter flavor. Cooking popcorn in butter never worked for me, the temperatures involved burned the butter. So, after using the oilless microwave method, I’d drizzle a small amount of gently melted butter on the popcorn after it was popped and stir it thoroughly. After this I’d sprinkle it with table salt to taste, stirring the pocorn several more times. It didn’t taste like theatre-quality popcorn, but it was the closest I’d found.
The other day, browsing one market’s eclectic products, I happened across some Flavacol. At first I was confused as to what precisely was in the carton, but after reading the label and noting the price, I purchased some to satisfy my decades long quest of homemade theatre-grade popcorn.
An Internet search lead me to various popcorn supplies, caramel, kettle, and cheese corn, various flavors of glaze pop, and some savory shake flavors. Finding a retailer that stocks them at a reasonable price is the challenge, the store where I bought the above-pictured product sold only this one type of flavored salt on the popcorn aisle. After making a batch of popcorn and sprinkling some Flavocol on as a final step, then tasting it, I believe it’s likely one secret of movie theatres’ popcorn! It seems to need less butter for a butter flavor when using Flavocol: ‘artificial butter flavoring’ and ‘real butter’ don’t have quite the same flavor.
I also learned from the Internet search that it’s not much of a secret anymore. Hydrogenated coconut oil with artificial butter flavoring is typically used to pop the kernals, and there’s an artificial-butter-flavored topping available that is composed largely of hydrogenated soybean oil, both of which include beta-carotene for coloring, according to their respective ingredient labels.
A search for the label ingredient “artificial butter flavoring” is revealing, it seems one should not deliberately concentrate and inhale it, some workers in popcorn production plants appear to have had lung problems.
Added on 2/16/06:
For my future reference, I’m adding a link or two regarding various cooking oils’ critical temperatures, otherwise known as the ‘smoke point:’ http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article.php?id=50 http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Smoke_Point
Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, and so is butter. For those of us who try to improve the health of our diets, any type of hydrogenated oil should probably be avoided.
It might be interesting to try popping corn using an extra light and highly refined olive oil, or some other less flavorful oil (with a high smoke point) as a method of further reducing the real butter added. Avocado oil would be interesting to try because it seems to have the highest smoke point, but I wonder about its cost and availability. Peanut oil might be good to try except for the people who are allergic to it. Fully refined soybean oil (the non-hydrogenated variety) is another.
edited on 2/22/2008
Pingback submitted 12/18/2009 at 7:41 am
Old-fashionned movie popcorn « The Waffle says:
[...] that effect on popcorn and while it doesn’t taste like butter, the popcorn does, thanks to a secret ingredient. Since most movie popcorn is popped in coconut oil, well, it is not low in [...]
Comment submitted 12/20/2009 at 11:35 am
Nicholas says:
Flavicol is great, but not very good for you. i find added a little salt to the oil does almost the same thing.. I have to show off a bit, I just got my movie theater popcorn machine. Click here to see it at nowpopping.com.
Comment submitted 12/22/2009 at 10:57 am
Joe says:
Good info. But what brand of corn is used for a big popped kernel? I have a local popcorn store near me. They wont tell what brand they use, except that you have to use a different corn if you are going to put Carmel or cheese flavoring or butter.
Comment submitted 12/24/2009 at 3:06 am
Riley says:
Can i buy coconut oil and flavacol at meijer gaint eagle or kroger?
Comment submitted 12/26/2009 at 3:56 pm
Anonymous says:
I just called up the movie theater that I go to and asked them what products they use in popping their popcorn and have been making popcorn that way ever since…I must be some kind of genius or something to come up with that idea lol
Comment submitted 1/6/2010 at 8:09 am
Martinize says:
No, Anonymous: a ‘genius’ would have shared the answer with the rest of us.
Coconut oil can indeed be found at Kroger. The yellow-orange brand I buy, specifically for popcorn, was nowhere near the popcorn, but in the oil section. And Orville Redenbacher’s Buttery Popcorn Topping is a good approximation of what the movie theatres use. It’s sometimes cheapest at Walmart.
Comment submitted 1/13/2010 at 9:06 pm
John says:
If you are really wanting to pop theater quality popcorn at home it is a fairly simple process. first get a real popcorn popper not a microwave or hot air machine. a real popper will have a kettle with a stirring arm built into it and the cabinet will have a heater in it. I use the Premium America brand sold by Great Western Products. everything you need is in one package with this stuff. Warm up the kettle for around 5 minutes and then dump the oil into it. let the oil heat up for 3 to 5 minutes more and then dump the corn and salt into the kettle. the popcorn pops up light, fluffy and crisp with a yellow color to it. i don’t add anything else to it myself but my wife likes to add snowcaps to hers. you can buy the Premium America popcorn through a bunch of places online and in some rental stores but i found it is cheaper to just call the 800 number on their website and have it shipped to the house. the site is www.gwproducts.com the 800 number is on the contact page.
Comment submitted 1/13/2010 at 9:11 pm
John says:
if you want to do the caramel popcorn thing. you need to get what they call mushroom corn for that. regular popcorn will just crumble into little pieces but the mushroom corn is a lot tougher and won’t break. the problem is that if you get tired of the caramel popcorn and want some plain old salted popcorn … the mushroom corn is a lot tougher and not as enjoyable without the caramel. hope this helps!
Comment submitted 1/23/2010 at 1:03 pm
Henry says:
I have found butter flavor Flavocol and peanut oil make the best popcorn… bar none. I have a Gold Medal popcorn machine. I found the cococut oil (though reccomended) gave the popcorn an odd taste. Peanut oil takes the heat and imparts a fantastic flavor. Just be careful of people with peanut alergies.
Comment submitted 2/25/2010 at 1:43 pm
John says:
I’ve been trying to make movie theater popcorn for a long time now, but haven’t quite gotten the right formula. I have flavacol, orville seeds, coconut oil, and a whirlypop popper. It usually tastes too salty and not buttery enough. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but it just doesn’t come out like the movie theaters has. I have used different toppings but none really seem to add anything to the popcorn. Has anyone successfully gotten movie theater quality popcorn?
What products do you use, and amount of ingredients do you use? Help!