Stove Top Kettle Corn

From the Kitchen of: Sarah Allred

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. canola or vegetable oil

1/3 Cup popcorn kernels

3 Tbs. granulated sugar

Kosher salt

Directions:

1.    Place a large stock pot on the stove top.  Set heat to medium-high.  Add oil. While your oil is heating (it won’t take long), measure out your popcorn into a small bowl.  Add sugar to the kernels.  When it’s time to cook, everything moves very quickly, so it’s important to have it all ready to go.

2.    Wait until you see your oil smoke.  This is one little trick that a lot of people overlook, but it’s important.  The smoke is very faint, but if you just stare at the pot (it helps to get down parallel to it), you’ll see little billows of smoke coming up.  That’s your cue! Pour popcorn kernels and sugar into the pot.

3.    Immediately stir using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, scraping sugar from bottom of pan.  This step should only take about 10 seconds.  Cover pot with lid.  You will need to shake the pot with your hands and you’ll want to make sure the lid stays on.  So I get a dish towel and drape it over the top.

4.    Hold the pot by the handles in a way that you’re securing the lid on as well.  Shake the pan side to side in all directions and up and down a few times.  Do this every 20 seconds or so.  It will keep the sugar from burning on the bottom and help the kernels to be evenly coated.

5.    After a few minutes you should start hearing the pops.  (If it doesn’t start popping after a few minutes, crack the lid to let some of the pressure out.  Chances are when you put the lid back on, it will pop away).  Continue the shaking every 20 seconds or so until you can tell almost everything is popped.  Remove the lid and stir immediately.

6.    Sprinkle Kosher salt to taste and then keep stirring.  You can eat it warm right out of the pan (Disclaimer: caramelized sugar is HOT so don’t eat it right away.) or let it cool completely.  It’s great either way!