Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser? Does it work? This is the place to find out! Each Monday I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It’s like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!
This week I am testing two coordinating Pins:
THE TEST: Does it work to pop popcorn in a brown paper sack in the microwave?
So this Pin says that you can just throw some kernels into a brown bag and pop them in the microwave without any oil, no air pop machine needed. I was skeptical, but my husband was even more skeptical. He swore this wouldn’t work…something about the science behind popping and how you need to oil to make the kernels pop correctly. It took me some serious convincing to get him to even try it!
Guess what? It worked like a dream! And we’ve made several batches of popcorn lately… to test out the method, of course. Ahem.
THE RESULT: Perfect popcorn without any added oil—and it’s much cheaper than buying popcorn in bags.
Now for the next Pin which will totally undo the benefits of popping the popcorn without any oil.
THE TEST: Marshmallow popcorn recipe. Any good?
Marshmallow Popcorn
- Two brown paper sacks of popcorn (1/2 cup kernels)
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 bag mini-marshmallows
Pop popcorn. Remove seeds. Melt butter, brown sugar and marshmallows in microwave. Stir well, then pour over popcorn. Enjoy a little bit of gooey marshmallow heaven!
THE RESULT: If Rice Krispie treats and caramel corn had a baby, this is what it would be. And the dangerous thing is that the ingredients are cheap and it only takes about ten minutes to make. What more could you want in a recipe?! Yummy!
Comments & Reviews
Just thought I'd let you know, I love your pinterest tested posts. I'm trying these ones soon! Maybe FHE tonight?
I love your pinterest tested post! Can I send some your way? 🙂 We had that same marshmallow popcorn a while ago and it is YUMMY! Excited about the popcorn in a bag because I make flavored popcorn frequently enough that buying the bags gets pricey!
I've been enjoying brown bag popcorn for a couple of years. It tastes much better than air-popped, and the bonus, beside saving money, is that I don't have another appliance cluttering my cabinets.
I doubt that I will try the marshmallow popcorn as it looks too rich for me.
Thanks for the post! I am going to try it. (the popcorn with oil that is)
Keri- I would love suggestions for Pins to test!
And Nancy, I totally agree about not having another kitchen appliance. My kitchen is crowded enough!
Thank you for doing these pinterest tests! Snopes needs its own section for pinterest "truths"! I can't wait to try the marshmallow variety!
I love you so much for these Pinterest trials, because yeah, sometimes I see things on there and think "really?" I'm putting you in my reader, can't wait to see more. Those choc cookies look soooo good.
Ha! You are so funny. I want to eat this baby of rice krispie treats and caramel corn. YUM!
I tried out that popcorn scheme myself and we haven't looked back. It changed our lives! (As much as popcorn can.) Now I just need to add all that sugar and fat to our air popped kernels and we'll be in heaven.
P.S. My husband just couldn't believe in the magical science and tomfoolery of brown bag popcorn either, until I worked my button pushing magic. Those men and their science. We sure got them!
Initially cheaper yes; long term NO! Microwave popcorn is actually a curse to microwaves, because you need a little moisture for the molecules to move about. Popcorn has very little moisture and is VERY HARD on your megatron tube in your microwave, BTW the most expensive part, I know from personal experience.
If you have a cheap counter microwave, pop away, if IT'S an expensive over-the-oven type, I recommend not [again from experience]!
This is AWESOME! I always have this question after trying a few flops from Pinterest. Thanks for such a cool section. I will be pinning your blog and this idea! Hope you get lots of traffic.
-Kay
How long about do you put the popcorn in the brown paper bag. The same setting as your normal popcorn in a pouch that you buy? Thanks
My great auntie taught me how to make popcorn with the paper-bag-microwave-method in the late 1980s! Worked brilliantly then, works brilliantly now – but I'd totally forgotten about it over the years. I'll have to teach my kids now, they go through popcorn like CRAZY. 😀
I pop mine for 1:25. It's about the same time as suggested on the bags from the store. Just listen as it pops and when there is two or three seconds between pops, the popcorn is done!
I tried this a year ago and was really excited, until I read that lunch bags have nasty toxins in them which turns a good idea into a bad one. I wonder if this would work in a glass bowl instead?
How much popcorn are you supposed to pop for the marshmallow popcorn? What is the right amount per paper bag? Thanks!
Anonymous,
I put between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in a paper bag at a time and I pop two bags to make the marshmallow popcorn.
I know this was a year ago, but I wanted to share some cautionary thoughts.
I too was thrilled by the brown paper bag popcorn instead of nasty, chemical store-bought microwave popcorn. So easy! No chemicals! Yay!
Sometime later, I found out that the brown bags I was using are NOT considered microwave safe. Mostly because the USDA is unclear on what the bags are composed out of, (given that they are a mix of recycled material) and what can leech out of them when heated in a microwave.
The FSIS also cautions against using brown paper bags for microwave cooking.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/home
I'm sure it's mostly a precautionary suggestion, but I do most of my popcorn cooking in a covered, microwave-safe glass bowl now. ;D Still loving my chemical-free popcorn!