Making the best Popcorn

[Darin Steffl]

Just replying here after we switched to SupurKist a few weeks ago. We were using Louana and Funtastic Buttery flavored topping before.

My opinion is that Supurkist has an amazing aroma and taste compared to the other two we used. The others had almost no aroma and I couldn't taste anything while it was on the popcorn or if I just put some on my finger and licked it.

With Supurkist, the smell and flavor are rich and addicting to me. I've asked some others if they noticed a difference and they claim it's much better. My thoughts are the other topping we used were just for appearance because they didn't do anything to help the taste or smell.

So we are sticking with Supurkist unless something even better comes along.

[Jesse Crooks]

Since there hasn't been much mention of it thus far, I would add that you need to thoroughly clean your kettle on a regular basis. If the bottom of your kettle is black from scalded oil, it needs some help.

[Mike Blakesley]

^^^ True -- you would think that would go without saying, but I have seen many a machine over the years that has caked-on scum.

We have a pretty iron-clad cleaning regimen for our machine -- mainly the kettle must be cleaned and shined every night before the concession crew can leave. The rest of the machine is wiped daily and every Wednesday we "deep clean" it, discard all the old maids and what-not. If you wipe the kettle down good every day while it's still warm, then the oil and crud won't build up and you'll have a shiny machine for many years. (NOTE: We use coconut oil, I'm not sure if the above procedure would work as well with other oils.)

[Marcel Birgelen]

Most oils are still liquid at room temperature, so wiping them down should be easy. Coconut oil melts at 78F/26C, so in most cases it will be solid at room temperature. Keeping your kettle clean is elemental to avoid burning your corn, especially if you're making sweet corn instead of salted popcorn.

[William Kucharski]

What I get a kick out of is "large sized" people asking for "extra butter" on their jumbo popcorn, but then they buy a small Diet Pepsi.

Jokes aside, this is often an issue for diabetics, either type I or type II.

Diabetics don't want the massive amount of sugar in regular Pepsi or other sodas, but are prepared to deal with the carbs in the popcorn.

Though butter is caloric, it has zero carbs and won't affect blood sugar levels, so yes, extra butter on the popcorn and a large diet soda actually does make nutritional sense for some.