We had one of the original electric popcorn machines when I was a child in the 1950s, but at the dawn of the Space Age, a chemist in Indiana named Frederick Medden made history by inventing a product that exemplifies American ingenuity: a disposable aluminum pan that we could slide back and forth above a gas stove fire to create a veritable futuristic silver dome filled with delicious, buttery popcorn: Jiffy Pop.
American Home Products purchased the rights to Jiffy Pop from Fred And as befitting such an American success story, upon introducing the product nationally in 1959, AHP was immediately sued by Taylor-Reed, which had introduced a very similar product called E-Z Pop five years earlier. It had been invented by Michigan's Benjamin Coleman, another household name in inventions along with Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin and the aforementioned Fred.
Not to be outdone, American Home Products appealed and, in fashion that would make my patent-attorney nephew Brooks proud, the district court overruled the original finding that E-Z Pop and Jiffy Pop were similar products.
However, as I actually think back on it, I believe my family often bought E-Z Pop, which I think was a little cheaper and really was a very similar product.
There never has been a more fun way for a kid to make popcorn than that. It had everything: built-in ingredients including corn and oil, buttery flavor that probably is still embedded in my arteries from the '60s, fun-looking visual confirmation of when it is done, and a chance to play with fire without actually destroying anything.
Nonetheless, even the cheapest brand wasn't cheaper than popping corn the old fashioned way. However, as happens in the modern age, once we had a faster, quick-clean method of cooking, the old fashioned method no longer seemed worth the effort. It's a risk I'm willing to take each time I share a recipe, and a burden I do not carry lightly.
Well, maybe it didn't completely replace old fashioned pop corn machines, but at least that's what happened in my house. It was E-Z (or Jiffy) Pop, or go to the movies.
My old friend Chris Crabtree, however, seemed to be downright primitive. His family would put oil and popping corn in a covered pan and pop it over the stove. It still tasted good, and I didn't have to clean the pan and lid, so who was I to judge?
In the 1970s, American Home Products hired magician Harry Blackstone Jr. as a spokesman for its magic disposable popcorn maker, Jiffy Pop, but a new fad was about to sweep the nation like disco: air poppers. With these machines, we could drop a small scoop of corn into the top and presto: a minute later hot popcorn shot out the front into your giant bowl. There was even a slot on top in which to put butter to melt, but most of us didn't use that, because it made a mess and, in an age before obesity became epidemic, we were all told that fat and particularly butter should be avoided.
Coincidence that obesity became more prevalent after attempting to eliminate fat from our diets? I don't think so. Fat in our stomachs makes us feel full, thus suppressing the urge to grab another handful of granola while watching TV, but I digress.
Nothing could ever take the place of this relatively inexpensive kitchen appliance, the hot air popper, right? Those of you who don't own a hot air popper may see a flaw in this logic.
Increasingly affordable microwave ovens had begun to become standard kitchen counter appliances, and in 1981, General Mills introduced the first microwave popcorn under its Pillsbury brand. Pillsbury's popcorn had to be stored in the freezer to keep the ingredients fresh.
James Watkins, an engineer on the Pillsbury popcorn project, left GM to start his own company, which produced a rip-off popcorn called Act I. When Watkins figured out how to make the popcorn and oils shelf-stable, he patented the process and released Act II, the first microwave popcorn as most of us know them. And all this time you thought generic-looking Act II ripped off that nerd Orville Redenbacher.
Flash forward to a few days ago, when I was researching cruises for a customer with the TV running in the background.
For some unknown reason, Dr. Oz was talking to some guy about microwave popcorn. I have no idea why the TV was tuned to whatever channel that was, much less to a show I never watch, but like some great popcorn pioneers before me, I had been tapped on the shoulder by fate.
Dr. Oz and his guest were rattling on about microwave popcorn being unhealthy due to the nonstick lining of the bag that gets into our digestive systems when we eat the popcorn. Julie and I eat microwave popcorn enough to be on a first name basis with Mr. Redenbacher, making me wonder how much of that junk I had inside me.
The guest proceeded to give the exact same instructions for making popped corn in a brown bag that I'm about to share in this next paragraph.
Put a quarter cup of popcorn in a plain paper bag (like many kids used for school lunches). Fold the top of the bag over about a half inch, then fold it over two more times in the same direction to loosely close the top of the bag. Put a little piece of tape in the middle of the fold to keep it closed, but definitely nothing close to sealed. Put the bag in the microwave sitting on its bottom (just as if it contained your lunch in fourth grade) and cook it for 80 seconds (more or less depending on your exact microwave), but be sure to turn it off before the popcorn stops popping and burns.
Besides, I have a few words of wisdom that will keep you from making mistakes I made. First, try to find some decent bags. The ones I got at Target were cheap ($1.87 for 100), but they are so flimsy that my first batch of popcorn shot out the bottom. I'll be buying new ones...about 90 bags from now.
I think I probably had a little more than a quarter cup in the bag, adding to the strain on the bottom of the flimsy bag, which leads me to my second breakthrough idea that should qualify for a utility patent: use a little less than a quarter cup of popping corn, and try to be consistent with your measurements. My measuring cup is actually double sized, and it is hard to see how much a quarter cup is when inside a 2 cup container. I now measure popcorn using an ice cream scoop, coming to the conclusion that the right amount of popping corn was 1 1/2 ice cream scoops, although I don't think all ice cream scoops are the same size. You don't need to buy one. Just find something you can use for a consistent measurement of a little under a quarter of a cup.
Third, don't over pop the corn. We've all read the instruction on microwave popcorn about cooking until it is almost done popping, and just as with microwave popcorn, trying to get every single kernel to pop will result in throwing away the whole burned bag. In the case of the flimsy bags I bought, it could be a real disaster.
The biggest problem with popcorn not cooked in oil is that it is too dry to hold salt, but I have the solution. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray or a reasonable equivalent works pretty well to prepare the popcorn for salt and, if you're feeling wild, maybe pepper or cinnamon.
There you have it. You can make a healthy snack in no time with zero cleanup, although I personally like eating it in a bowl, which is easily rinsed and dried after use.
*Not affiliated with Pirate's Booty, Pirates of the Caribbean or Royal Caribbean, but you can pretend it is if you want.
