Microwave Popcorn Without Using a Bag

Kernels nuked with butter and salt

I like a crunchy accompaniment to my lunch. I like the convenience of microwave popcorn, and I try not to think about the chemicals in the bag. Recently, I came across a recipe to pop plain popcorn kernels in the microwave in  a glass bowl covered with a glass plate. The recipe stated you'd end up with a bowlful of healthy, fluffy popcorn.

1/4 cup popcorn in a microwave safe bowl covered with a microwave safe plate. Nuke for 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

I ended up with a half dozen fluffy kernels and a whole bowlful of unpopped kernels. Unlike the commercial microwave bags, the beauty of this recipe is you can re-nuke. I got a few more fluffy kernels which tasted like Styrofoam packing peanuts, and the bowl and plate were wicked hot.

Another search turned up a recipe that made more sense. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the bottom of a microwave safe bowl. When the butter is melted, stir in salt to taste and 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels. (I used 1/4 cup because I wasn't convinced I'd get any better results.) Instead of covering the bowl with a glass plate, this recipe said to use a vented microwave cover. The reason is steam pressure will build up under the glass plate and there's the potential for the plate to crack. Makes sense. I used plastic wrap and poked a few holes in it.

The problem with these recipes is microwave wattage varies and none of the recipes indicated how many watts the microwave used had. I used a 1,000 watt oven. 2 minutes and 45 seconds wasn't long enough to pop all the kernels but the result was better than the plate and bowl method. Nuked again for another minute. Got more kernels. There were still unpopped kernels, but didn't seem to be any more than in a commercial bag.

Recipe pro: You pop and eat out of the same bowl. No bag to throw away. You control the amount of butter and salt and no nasty chemicals.

Recipe con:  A real trial and error method. Your mileage will vary.