7 common mistakes to avoid while making popcorn

Who doesn’t love a bowl of perfectly made buttered and salted popcorn while watching a movie?

But sometimes it becomes upsetting when they are not well made.

Well, that happens because of certain mistakes we make that we are pretty much unaware of.

Here we have 8 mistakes that we need to avoid while making popcorn:

1. Old kernels
The initial mistake we make while making popcorn is by not choosing the right kernels. Stale and old kernels often lose their moisture because of which the popcorn is just not well made. The kernels that we use should be sealed properly so that it doesn’t lose its quality and its shelf life is maintained.

2. The salt granules are too big
Have you ever seen grocery stores selling something called ‘Popcorn Salt’? There is a reason behind it. The salt granules we use at home for basic cooking are too big in size and they do not stick to the popcorn. However, it is not necessary that you buy separate salt for popcorn, you can also grind the regular salt in your blender at home to get fine granules.

3. You rely on a timer
The popcorn timer in your microwave might not be the best to rely on.Mostly all microwave timers are set for longer periods of time hence if you trust the timer you’ll end up with burnt pieces of popcorn.

4. You try to be too efficient
We believe that the more the popcorn the better it is so we try to pop every kernel in the pan but it is difficult to do so, because of trying to pop all the kernels we end up burning the ones that popped previously and end up getting either burnt or partially cooked popcorn.

5. You use the wrong oil
It pops only when the temperature of the pan you’re making it in is high hence we need to choose the oil we cook it in accordingly. For instance, if we use butter then we also need to know that butter has a low heating point so it can start burning and ruin the popcorn. Hence alternatively we can use sunflower, canola, corn and grape seed oil which have high heating points. If you love the flavour of butter in your popcorn ,you can add it once the popcorn is done.

6. You add too many toppings
Popcorn is a very healthy snack and is preferred by people who are calorie conscious. It has a nutty and salty flavour, which is reduced when too much extra toppings is added. This also increases the calorie count. Too much butter can also end up making the popcorn soggy.

7. You use too much oil
Now that we’ve talked about which oil to use we also need to take care of the fact that too much oil can also ruin your popcorn. Kernels that have too much of oil slathered around them are difficult to pop and they end up being soggy. In order to avoid this from happening you can use two tablespoons of oil for half a cup of popcorn.

8. You don’t shake the pot enough
Shake shake shake! Don’t forget to shake the pan you’re cooking the kernels on stove because if it sits for a very long time at the bottom of the pan then it might end up burning and you obviously don’t want that to happen.