Tasty Microwave Popcorn Popper - A Product Review

One of the gripes I have with microwave popcorn is that even with the fat-free or light versions, it's more calories and popcorn than I want to eat by myself and I don't always have someone to share it with. While shopping at Walmart the other day (she cringes because she hates Walmart but needed a fast place to get a lot of things,) I happened on this very cool snack-size microwave popcorn popper. It was only $8 and change so I decided to spring for it on the chance that it might work.

The popper has a maximum capacity of 1.5 quarts. The directions say to fill the silicone floppy lid to the line with kernels, then dump them into the popper, but I only wanted a 60-calorie snack. I had regular Orville Redenbacher popcorn kernels in the cupboard and the nutrition info for it says that 3 Tbl of unpopped kernels is 120 calories. So I took 1-1/2 Tbl of kernels, put them in the popper, put the lid on and stuck it in the microwave. No oil, no butter, nothing but popcorn. I set the microwave on the popcorn setting (our microwave is 1100 watts) and watched and listened. It took almost 2 minutes for it to slow to the recommended 2 second between pops. It would take longer with a smaller microwave. The popcorn was delicious. I did end up with a little more than a 1/2 tsp of unpopped kernels which would reduce the calorie count some, but I attribute this to the fact that this jar of popcorn has been in the cupboard for awhile. The lid has little holes in it so that if you're splurging and want buttered popcorn you just put the butter in the lid and it melts as it pops, dripping perfectly into the popped corn.


The features that I like the most about the popper:

• It's perfectly sized for a snack and I can control the amount depending on how many calories I have in my calorie budget that day
• You can use plain, organic kernels so you don't end up eating a bunch of chemicals that are in normal microwave popcorn or even bagged popcorn
• It's easy to clean
• It has silicone around the glass, on the handle, and the lid so it's easy to handle getting in and out of the microwave

In short, it's a 5-star score!

Tuesday Tips #11 - Popcorn

On the subject of limited space...one of the difficult things to try to stock up on when we go to the Bahamas is chips. For the most part, we don't stock up on a lot of things before we go because we try to support the local economy since we're using their resources. There are a few exceptions to this rule though, as some things are just too expensive over there to justify buying and chips is one of them. A bag of Doritos that might cost you $3.79 here in the States is going to set you back about $8.00 over there. And beer? It will set you back between $3.00 and $4.00 per bottle. Some things are just non-existent like good decaf coffee and Fair Trade chocolate, so we stock up on just those few things.

For a while we solved the chips problem by buying Pringles but, let's face it, Pringles are OK for a minor diversion, but when you want a good potato chip they just don't cut it. Don't get me wrong - the packaging is great for boats since they can't crush and they take up a fraction of the space of a bag of chips. They just lack in the taste department.

The last time we went over we decided to go a whole different direction and buy popcorn. We don't have a microwave on Kintala, so we buy the regular organic unpopped popcorn kernels that come in a big bag for just a couple bucks. You get an incredible amount of popcorn for the money. And if you want it flavored? We buy this cheddar powder and butter powder which keep really well in the cupboard. Price wise - one 15.75 ounce bag of Lay's Classic chips has about 13 cups of chips in it for around $4.00. One jar of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn kernels costs about the same amount and it makes 240 cups of popcorn. To make it even more of a contrast, I usually buy the store brand of popcorn which is usually at least a dollar cheaper. Easy on the budget and easy on the storage space. It's a win-win.