Nobody Needs to Know You Used a Hot Air Popcorn Popper

The first thing a lot of people do when you tell them they should get a hot air popcorn popper is turn up their nose. They’ve heard all the stories about how popcorn popped in a hot air popper is dry and flavorless and they want no part of it – not even willing to give it a try. But the thing is, those stories all come from people who are used to eating either that horrible microwave popcorn that’s loaded with sodium and a whole bunch of chemicals that are supposed to resemble butter, or movie popcorn which really IS drenched in salt and butter. So they have no idea what the actual popcorn tastes like anyway. They just assume that because it’s popped in a hot air popcorn popper, using air instead of oil to pop the corn, that it must be healthy, and therefore – tasteless.

Yes, popcorn popped in a hot air popper IS healthier for you than popcorn popped in some type of oil. But only to a certain degree. The one or two tablespoons of oil that you use to pop popcorn aren’t really going to kill you and there are certain oils you can use that are healthier than others. But still, it’s oil and we all know what a bad rap oil gets these days. Which is why most people WANT their popcorn to be popped in oil – it’s a rebel thing, OK? If you’re going to have popcorn for a snack the least you can do is be a little bit daring and pop it in oil.

If you were to compare plain popcorn – with no butter or salt or any other type of seasoning – just popcorn to popcorn, you would notice a difference in taste between popcorn popped in oil and popcorn popped in a hot air popcorn popper. The popcorn popped in the hot air popper tastes like pure, unadulterated corn. It’s light and airy and you taste corn when you eat it. Popcorn popped in oil has a slightly heavier texture, somewhat chewy, because it’s absorbed some of the moisture from the oil. Not to mention you get a little bit of the oil taste and, depending on the type of oil you use, that can be quite a difference.

But here’s the thing – nobody eats plain popcorn, no matter how they pop it. Once it comes out of the popper it’s game on! Out comes the butter, the salt, the cinnamon and sugar, the caramel topping or the ranch dressing, even peanut butter or chocolate. And that’s where the taste difference comes in. It’s what you do to the popcorn AFTER you pop it – not HOW you pop it – that makes the difference.

So if you’re going to drench you popcorn in calories and cholesterol before you eat it anyway – and who doesn’t! – then why not start with a healthier base and pop your popcorn in a hot air popcorn popper? You’ll save a few calories anyway, and a few grams of cholesterol, and you’ll be starting with a popcorn that just plain tastes better before you even put all that other stuff on it. If you’re going to eat chocolate coated caramel popcorn you owe it to yourself to eliminate all the calories and cholesterol you can. Just leave the bottle of oil on the counter. Nobody has to know but you.