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Kettle Corn


Malawry

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I love kettle corn. There's a vendor just down the road from me on weekends, and during my pregnancy I visited him often.

How do I make my own?

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I love kettle corn. There's a vendor just down the road from me on weekends, and during my pregnancy I visited him often.

How do I make my own?

If you Google "kettle corn recipe" with the quotation marks, you get lots of choices. Looks pretty easy - might have to try it myself!

Cheers,

Carolyn

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

J.R.R. Tolkien

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I didn't know about the concept of kettle corn until a couple of years ago, when I read about it on egullet (I'm Canadian, so maybe kettle corn is an American thing?) I liked the idea. I like salty/sweet combinations, and I love popcorn. I am sure that I would love kettle corn.

So, I googled some recipes and started trying to make kettle corn. The problem I've encountered is that I've never managed to keep the sugar from burning before the popcorn is popped. One method that worked a bit better was to open the lid a crack towards the end of the popping and toss in some sugar. I still got some burning.

Now, I just grind salt and sugar together in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder (sometimes I add other stuff like paprika and lemongrass powder, but I guess that's not a different story), and toss the powder with the popcorn AS SOON as the popcorn stops popping. The sugar tends to dissolve and forms a light coating on the popcorn. Sometimes there is slight caramelisation (depending on how much contact I let the sugar/salt get with the hot pan). However I have no idea if I'm making kettle corn.

Edited by Khadija (log)
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I didn't know about the concept of kettle corn until a couple of years ago, when I read about it on egullet (I'm Canadian, so maybe kettle corn is an American thing?)  I liked the idea.  I like salty/sweet combinations, and I love popcorn.  I am sure that I would love kettle corn.

So, I googled some recipes and started trying to make kettle corn.  The problem I've encountered is that I've never managed to keep the sugar from burning before the popcorn is popped.  One method that worked a bit better was to open the lid a crack towards the end of the popping and toss in some sugar.  I still got some burning. 

Now, I just grind salt and sugar together in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder (sometimes I add other stuff like paprika and lemongrass powder, but I guess that's not a different story), and toss the powder with the popcorn AS SOON as the popcorn stops popping.  The sugar tends to dissolve and forms a light coating on the popcorn.  Sometimes there is slight caramelisation (depending on how much contact I let the sugar/salt get with the hot pan).  However I have no idea if I'm making kettle corn.

I use my deepest pasta pot and don't make very big batches so that I can stir the whole time. All the kettle corn makers at fairs around here stir the corn in big cast iron pots with long-handled, wooden instruments that look like skinny pizza peels. The stirring will keep the sugar from burning if you let it <i>just</i> melt into the oil before you add the corn.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." - Frederico Fellini

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Here's my recipe: clickety

Sometimes I get a few clumps of sugar, but it is still really good.

I tried this recipe. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. However, it was WAY more sugary than I expected.

Popcorn is my go-to snackfood. I usually just toss a teaspoon of sugar (or less), so the popcorn comes out slightly sweet and balances out the saltiness. I will make the recipe again, but not regularly.

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get a popcorn maker with some sort of paddle inside, like the back to basics model. Only add your sugar and salt after the popcorn has stopped popping, and then turn the paddle very fast over high heat for about 20 seconds. The residual heat in the kernals and from the fire will just melt and carmelize the sugar. If you add sugar before popping or during popping it will burn, and your popcorn won't pop all the way.

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