We have gathered three different recipes for you to innovate on movie nights. As a bonus, we also provide four key tips for the perfect popcorn, without the stress of a burned sauce pan or unpopped kernels.

Kettle corn

Serves two people

Difficulty: easy

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Kettle corn is a type of popcorn made with sugar and salt, which brings a mild sweet flavor balanced with a pinch of salt to finish.

Ingredients

1 & ½ tablespoons oil

¼ cup popcorn kernels

1 & ½ tablespoons sugar

salt to taste

Preparation method

In the popcorn maker, heat the oil and sugar and then add the popcorn kernels, mixing well so that all kernels are covered. Stir nonstop until the interval between one pop and the next is longer than two seconds. Turn the heat off and transfer the popcorn to a container. Add a generous pinch of salt and let it cool.

Indian popcorn

Serves four people

Difficulty: easy

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

½ cup popcorn kernels

½ tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon of butter

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon black pepper 

1 pinch of salt

Preparation method

In the popcorn maker, heat the oil and add the popcorn kernels. Stir, cover and place it over medium heat to pop. Turn the handle so that the kernels pop evenly.

When the interval between one pop and the next is longer than two seconds, turn off the heat and transfer the popcorn to a bowl. Melt the butter and add the curry powder, salt and pepper, mixing well. Then just drizzle the spiced butter over the popped corn. For an extra touch, add grated parmesan cheese!

Popcorn with powdered milk

Serves ten people

Difficulty: easy

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup popcorn kernels

½ cup oil

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered milk

Preparation method

Place the oil, water, sugar and popcorn kernels in the popcorn maker. Stir over medium heat until the popcorn starts to pop. Lower the heat and keep stirring nonstop until the interval between one pop and the next is longer than two seconds. The popcorn will be caramelized and sticky. Next, just add the powdered milk to the popcorn bowl and mix while still hot. 

So, how exactly does popcorn work?

The corn we use to make popcorn contains less water than traditional corn, and very hard outer layer. When it is heated in oil, this small amount of water turns into steam and expands the corn. In contact with air, the starch in these kernels becomes popcorn. It is for this same reason that some kernels do not pop – they may have damage on the outer layer and end up burning rather than popping. 

Four tips for the perfect popcorn

A lot of moisture

Leave the corn in water for about ten minutes: as we explained above, water is a key part of the popcorn popping process. By hydrating the kernels, you ensure that they all (or almost!) pop. 

Three kernels

Put the oil in the popcorn maker and spread three corn kernels on the bottom. When the last of them pops, take the popcorn maker off the heat, spread the rest of the corn evenly on the bottom of the popcorn maker and continue making your popcorn normally.

This process ensures that the sauce pan is hot enough to pop all kernels equally.

Without overpopulating

As seen in the preceding tip, it is essential for all corn kernels to heat up evenly. For this reason, do not add too many: arrange just one layer of kernels on the bottom of the sauce pan. If you want more popcorn, just cook up a second batch!

Prefer the popcorn maker

You have probably noticed that there is a science behind popcorn. For this reason, there is nothing better than using the most suitable sauce pan to prepare it. For this moment, we do not recommend using a thick-bottomed sauce pan, because it takes longer to heat up, which can cause the kernels to pop unevenly. Tramontina popcorn makers feature the ideal thickness and depth.

Its Starflon Max coating is nonstick, easy to clean and not harmful to health.

Are you ready to enjoy the best movies with some popcorn?