Our healthy homemade popcorn tastes amazingly just like the theater — but without any of the guilt! Not a highly-processed or trans-fat vegetable oil to be found.
For popping oil, I use the traditional red palm oil, an oil similar to olive oil. It contains vitamin A & vitamin E and is about 50% saturated fat (don’t be scared) — yet unlike olive oil, the smoke point is high, which means it doesn’t smoke or burn when making popcorn.
Enjoy the free weekly video, which my son and I made last week. He did all the work!
Looking for the popcorn instructions in print form? I dug them out of my archives and here they are (just for you).
How do you make your popcorn? What are your favorite toppings?
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About Wardee Harmon
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Oh I am definitely a popcorn fan but don’t eat it very often. Normally I use coconut oil to pop it. What does the red palm oil taste like? I think I’d like to give it a try one day.
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Soli – Well, unbelievably on popcorn it makes it taste just like the theater. When I use it to refry rice or quinoa, it is a bit spicy and fragrant, but not overpowering (to me). I’m not so good describing flavors. I can’t imagine anyone not liking it!
Now I just need to find a source for it I can afford. Since it’s only two adults in my house a big tub like yours doesn’t make sense.
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What a darling video! C. is so cute, as always( and you too of course)! His hair is very healthy, and growing again so fast! Love you, Mom
I would also like to know what the red palm oil tastes like. Also, where did you get the little pot you melted your butter in and the big bags for the popcorn?
Valerie — I described the taste as best as I could up in my answer to Soli.
The little pot was a thrift store find of my mom. It is a Dansk ceramic coated iron pot — so cute! I’d say it holds 2 cups? And the big bags are paper sacks from the grocery store.
Great video!
That popcorn looks so good C.! I’ll have to try your recipe!
Pam
Oh Wardee – great video, thanks! C. is so cute!!!
I want to try this out soon – I have trouble with popping corn. I use coconut oil (but now want to try the palm oil!), and like the idea of covering with a towel. What kind of popcorn do you use – anything specific? I have a hard time getting my kernels to pop, I thought maybe it was the dry climate? I’ve used a variety of different kernels, too. Thanks! 
I use coconut oil … tastes yummy … not sure how healthy it is but we like it as a treat.
I use a combination of coconut oil and ghee when I make popcorn, and it’s the best popcorn I’ve ever had, even better than “movie theatre butter”. I don’t put any extra oil/butter on afterward because it makes it soggy. Even still, the popcorn tastes terrific because I used a lot of the oil in the beginning and that seems to coat all the kernels with a nice, buttery flavor without the sogginess. This is a tasty way to get the good fat into your diet.
I’ve been wanting to try palm oil for a really long time. I just bought a big tub of it and can’t wait to use it woo hoo! The palm oil popcorn totally looks like the movie theatre too!
That looks SO GOOD! We love popcorn here, but I use a hot air popper then drizzle some of my raw milk butter and salt. I had some red palm oil once upon a time and didn’t use it much. Do you know what the shelf life is for this oil?
Wardee and C.,
I love the video! I want to try the red Palm oil now too!
I found a Whirly Pop at a garage sale one day and have grown to appreciate it sooo much. No need to shake the pan anymore… the little mechanism inside you simply crank while the pot is on the heat keeps the kernels coating and moving so you never seem to have any burn. It’s fantastic and it is still very friendly to our traditional mindset since there is no electricity needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXDFAKDeDIw
The above vid is a bit long (about 7 min) but it might be fun for some of you to watch. I recommend it whole heartedly as it makes popcorn night worry free and we have never gotten a bad batch. It’s practically effortless.
I use coconut oil too but have never tried palm oil. I will definitely give it a try.
Thanks for the fun video!
Maureen
This looks great. I need to try this the next time we’re in the mood for “butter” popcorn. I didn’t think about putting it in a paper bag either. Btw, has anyone tried making kettle corn using coconut oil and coconut sugar? Was wondering if it makes a good kettle corn. I think I may experiment and give it a try.
I use a hot air popper, then melt a small amount of fresh made butter/ coconut oil ….about 1/2 of each; when i want a sweet treat, just put a couple of tsp of maple syrup in the melted oils…….yum
maple syrup is a great idea!!! really creative.
Wonderful video! C. does such a great job. Thank you for making this!
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Hi Wardee and C.. Great video. I’ve always just used butter to pop our corn but it does tend to burn. The only question I have is about Palm oil. It’s quite a big deal here in NZ because our farmers use a lot of Palm Kernel Extract (PKE) to feed their cows. This is the ‘waste’ after extracting the palm oil. My understanding is that the palm oil industry is leading to widespread deforestation of tropical rainforest so I have gone right off using it, not wanting to be responsible for destroying someone else’s ‘place’. Sorry to sound negative when I do love your approach to all that our creator has given.
Sue
Sue Rine — That’s really interesting. And sad. I’m glad you pointed that out.
When we first got red palm oil from Wilderness Family Naturals, I contacted them to find out the source of their oil. They assured me they were acquiring oil from small family farms that were not contributing to rain forest deforestation. I have no reason to doubt WFN as they’ve shown themselves to be a trustworthy company — however, it would be good to verify the ‘source’ of whatever oil one chooses to use!
Hi again,
That’s good to hear. Some years ago I bought 25kg solid white palm oil from the place I get my other organic supplies. I’ve been scared off since all the publicity about it, but I guess I should check their exact source. It was from Columbia but I need a bit more info. Thanks for your response. I certainly liked the results of baking with Palm oil. Even better than butter.
I’ll have to try the red palm oil. I actually found that if i put the salt in the oil in the pan with the popcorn, it distributes it quite well.
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That’s a good idea, DeDe. I’ve always wondered if that would work. How much salt do you add to how much oil/popcorn?
Yay! Loved this video. We have made popcorn on the stove since I was a child. Love to see the traditions being passed down to other generations. Nice job C.! I am also going to give the palm oil a try. Is there a reason you don’t use a local source for your oils? Mountain Rose Herbs is in Eugene, although I am happy to find another source to buy our oils from as well. I just wondered and didn’t mean any disrespect with the question
Thanks for this website! I’ve been looking for a place where God is given the glory for a natural lifestyle!
This is the ‘waste’ after extracting the palm oil. It is a Dansk ceramic coated iron pot — so cute!
Thanks for the video! My 7 year old nephew and I made some this weekend- when I told him what we were having for a snack he said ” But where is your microwave?” I told him I don’t have one and we were making it on the stove the old fashioned way! We used organic white corn popped in organic coconut butter, topped with melted butter and himalayan pink salt….amazingly good! My nephew got a real kick out of it. He measured the corn, poured it in the pan, I worked the pan on the burner. My stock pot has a clear glass lid, so it was a treat being able to watch the popcorn pop!
Ooops, I mean coconut ghee
The oil I saw you (red palm) was liquid. Mine is solid. I have to melt it when using. Then when it cools for awhile it solidifies again. Is there a difference?
Wendy — If the room temp is cooler, this oil will be solid. I hope this helps. Enjoy!