I eat popcorn fairly often and I was wondering if I can improve on the taste with minimal effort. Do you guys know any good mix I could use instead of salt alone?

  • schreiblehrling@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I was about to scroll by because I have nothing helpful to add, when I saw the last few words „…instead of salt alone“. Salt? You guys are wild! The only thing that belongs on popcorn is sugar (and this way I‘m showing that I‘m German, I guess, while you prove to be from the US, I think. Taste is funny. Enjoy).

    • Haatveit@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Sugar is really the thing to add to popcorn over there? That’s wild. Here in Norway we’re all about the salt and butter also.

      • tsp@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Well, there are the few of us over here who like to enjoy salted popcorn. But I guess we are a minority…

      • schreiblehrling@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        In the movies they sell popcorn, everywhere. And 99% it’s sweet, in some rare cases they have both. But never, ever it’s only salty. Butter sounds nice, actually. I might buy that when I see it one day 🤔

    • tal@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      You can get popcorn with sweet stuff in the US. My dad used to carmelize sugar in a pan and make cracker jack. And chocolate-covered.

      But it’s more-frequently a savory snack.

      I didn’t know that sweet popcorn was a bigger deal in Germany, interesting.

      • schreiblehrling@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Chocolate-covered? I’m in! Never even thought about that, very cool. I wonder if a cheesy popcorn would be possible as well.

        Yeah, if you can buy popcorn somewhere (at the movies, in rollercoaster parks etc.), if it does not say otherwise, it is always sweet. Some booths have both salty and sweet, but not so often.

    • Linnce@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      Not from US! I’m from Brazil and sugary popcorn is very common here, I don’t particularly like it though.

      • schreiblehrling@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Hah, I guessed wrong then. To be honest, I only tried salty popcorn about 20 years ago, so maybe I should give it another chance. The idea to use bbq herbs or other stuff sounds cool, actually.

    • ukyo@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Sugar on microwave popcorn is super good. Tastes really close to kettle corn.

      • schreiblehrling@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        My microwave popcorn usually gets too dark and tastes a bit burned. Either I did it wrong or we just do not have good microwave popcorn here. The best is the fresh one.

  • forthefading@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I use Lawry’s seasoning salt (recipes are easily found online), Montreal chicken spice, taco seasoning, or seasoning mixes that duplicate potato chip flavours. My personal favourites of those are salt and vinegar, all dressed, and cheddar cheese. Or mix some liquid smoke with some salt and let it dry, and then use that for a smoky bacon/hickory sticks flavour (I have also used bacon salt back when I could find it cheaper). I make all my popcorn in a pot with some oil, so any powder sticks pretty well with not much effort.

    • ArtZuron@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I second this. I put garlic powder or flakes on basically everything. Garlic salt works well for this too

    • Zoop@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      This is exactly what I came to suggest! A good friend of mine turned me onto it and changed my life.

  • icy_mal@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Furikake and arare. The furikake for flavor and the arare for some nice variety of texture. You can find it as Hurricane popcorn all over Hawaii and I think Amazon as well at this point.

  • mizmoose@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I have heard people tell of using the seasoning packets that come with ramen noodles.

    I’m a purest. I generally just use butter and salt, but sometimes sprinkle on that fake-ish grated parmesan & romano cheese that you shake out of a canister.

    • spicy pancake@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Agreed, that’s the good stuff

      I grind the yeast flakes and salt in my mortar & pestle to get a fine powder that sticks much more easily

  • zibat@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I pop my own on the stove, and recently found that ghee is a great oil for that giving a light buttery flavor. I sprinkle on a bit of salt and King Arthur “Better Cheddar “. So delicious!

    • TiresomeOuting@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I have that and while it tastes good, some of it ends up airborne and I end up coughing or sneezing like crazy while eating it. Maybe I’m putting on too much?

    • KasanMoor@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      This is the way to go. Just recently got some and it’s perfect. Don’t follow the box amounts though because it’ll be too salty (imo), use about a tsp per cup of kernals

  • ArgentCorvid [Iowa]@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    I like Old Bay. But really, any seasoning blend works pretty good. If you have a spice grinder, you might consider grinding it finer so it distributes better.

    I have a WhirleyPop so making kettle corn is pretty easy, since you stir the whole time.

  • tal@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    If you’re willing to add some calories, oil. I got an oil sprayer. I fill it half with chili oil, half with olive oil; not too hot, but gives it a kick. Sprayed on, it doesn’t put nearly as much in as being drizzled on. It helps make powdery stuff adhere to the popcorn, too.

    I have a salt shaker of Flavacol, which is the “salt” part of what goes into movie theater popcorn.

    Movie theaters use (or used, dunno if this has changed) palm oil. This can congeal at room temperature, so may need to be heated.

    Powdered butter or powdered various sorts of cheese can be kept in the fridge and can just be sprinkled on.

    Cinnamon and sugar can be sprinkled on.

    • ArgentCorvid [Iowa]@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Actually, for popping they mostly use coconut oil. And some places use stuff that gives the popcorn a weird coconut flavor. The stuff that they put on at the end might be /probably is palm oil based though.

      • tal@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Argh, yes, you are right, thanks. Brain fart on my part. It’s coconut oil that does the room temperature congealing thing.