Take the jug into the shower with you and watch your wife's reaction.....

OK, but just on Valentine's Day assuming she joins me.

Yikes!
Just got my 50# of corn, gallon of oil and flavocol to build my own kits...

what is the preferred ration of flavocol to corn?

(I have a 6oz machine- GM Antique 60)

I search online and found reference to both 1tsp and 1 TBSP !!! Both can't be right!

Im using 6oz corn, 2oz oil and_________ flavocol?

Try 1tsp and see how you like it.

Put it in the coconut oil, don't put it directly on the corn.

Thanks for the quick response!

I impatiently tried a batch with 1 TBSP already.... too much!

I knew as soon as I dumped the flavocol into the oil it was the "wrong consistency" - at least compared to how it used to look when I used the premade kits.

Now I need to find some 2oz ice cube trays to make my "oil bars"

If anyone is looking for some good popcorn bags, I recently picked up some of these laminated ones made by Gold Medal. They are very high quality, will hold butter without it soaking through, and are the perfect size for movie night with the family ...

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/gold-medal-laminated-popcorn-bags-2-5-oz/197132.ip?origin=item_page.rr1&campaign=rr&sn=ClickCP&campaign_data=197133

If you don't want to buy 1000 of them, you can pick up a pack of 60 on Amazon for $14 ...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WF6ATDA

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I have a 6oz popper (I always put 8oz of corn in) and I use 1/2 to 3/4 TBSP of Flavocol depending on how dry I want my mouth after....

Tip I was told: Put in your oil and Flavocol and 3 kernels, wait for all three to pop then you know your oil is hot enough. Then pour in the rest of your kernels and you should have less un-popped kernels in the end.
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From the carton:
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Interesting!

The flavcol carton I have has a significantly different recommended dosage!

btw- based on my experimentation- I think YOUR label is closer to the right amount.

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Wow, that is odd! I will have to note that for my next order.....

One more tip for everyone - Don't forget about your popcorn popping while you are playing pinball! I made that mistake about 2 weeks ago and I'm still paying for that one...

I think the "Better Butter" tastes better than regular Flavacol, but try 'em both and decide for yourself.

Cheap risk for $4

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100% +++ Real Coconut Oil with the high temp Flavacol Salt in the cooker and you have movie quality popcorn heaven.

Dont forget good fresh popcorn (that still has moisture inside) old popcorn is awful.

LPT-----If you don't have a machine a Whirly Pop is a good temp solution..

http://www.whirleypopshop.com/

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Does anyone have a recommendation on the oil, i know coconut, but any brands etc...

For you; Detroit Popcorn Co. brand is the best. They also have their own popcorn farm where their private label popcorn is grown.

Stop by their store on your next Detroit area visit (even open Saturdays until 2:00). If you don't get over this way, they will ship cheap to the West side of the state. If you're heading to the VFW Showcase or MPE, that's a perfect time to stop in.

I have been experimenting with the salts, picked up the pack of 3, premiere, better buttery, and the orange box. Just the orange box is great on its own. However, so far my favorite is to mix equal parts premiere and better buttery. So great!

Wanted to experiment with moving away from the prepackaged kits:

Bought a gallon of oil....50# of corn.

Decided I'd try to use an ice cube tray to make proportioned "oil cubes"

Lol- what a mess!

The amount of oil is not critical enough to even worry about.

Scoop it up in a measuring spoon and scrape it into the kettle.

A little over or under will not matter, it will pop.

You see the kids at the theater making the popcorn, they are not carefully measuring it.

(The really nice machines draw up and measure their own oil)

This thread always gets me to make popcorn.

No lie- it's one of my favorite threads on pinside.

Doh! Now you tell me!

Well, I do now have the ability to create perfect 2oz oil bars... Though whether I ever do it again is debatable

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Those are nice looking bars!

Thanks .

Think theyd dry out if I left them in the fridge?

Just use the Save N Seal to seal 'em up.

They don't actually need refrigeration.

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Great deal on Amazon on a popcorn machine... $129. All time Amazon low. Jump quick.
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Northern-Popcorn-Lincoln-Antique/dp/B000QWCAB4

Similar unit at Costco is $169.99.

Edit to add commentary
I have the Costco unit and it's nice. Wish it had a bigger compartment but glad it doesn't since it's nice and small. It's no Gold Metal or Paragon but it's also not priced like one.

A lot of 'mom&pop' bars have those Lincoln Poppers.

Not commercial duty, but they seem to hold up to nightly use.

I have a similar Great Northern. the only thing I wish was the kettle was a little deeper, I think you'd get less unpopped. I seem to get a lot thrown out when the popped shoots out.

As do I. This and I wish it had a bigger interior without a bigger exterior (impossible I know).

Since I was making and eating the 8oz kits by myself (with the intent of eating some and dumping the rest) I went ahead and ordered some 4oz kits so I eat less. Almost no unpopped kernels. Wondered about "saving" the unpopped ones and adding them to later batches or making an unpopped kernel batch. Thoughts?

It is kind of hard especially with the scoop it comes with, to get some corn and try to get it in the bucket or bag, without dumping some on the floor.

Good point. Has anyone found a better scoop. That could make it better.

Your local Gold Medal distributor has the good ones. Or go to Gold Medal direct. I'd support a distributor. Best place to get fresh popping supplies. I use Detroit Popcorn Co.

The back end of the scoop is like a funnel to put the popcorn into bags/cones.

Watch at the movie theater to get an idea why it's shaped that way.

I use this scoop. It works great!

http://www.amazon.com/Benchmark-42030-Aluminum-Speed-Scoop/dp/B005H8YMYU/ref=lp_2583165011_1_1

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Just when you thought it couldn't possible go any lower, they knocked it down to only $119.95. This is an absolute steal ...

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Northern-Popcorn-Lincoln-Antique/dp/B000QWCAB4

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The light bulb in the popper (Great Northern) is it a special bulb? Mine went out.

i wouldn't think so, mine just looks like a spotlight bulb. But wait until someone more knowledgeable than me to chime in.

It's probably a R30 reflector bulb 60W - common bulb at any hardware store.

Unscrew it and the watts are printed on it somewhere.

60W

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Dang it pinside! Just got done reading up on this thread, cost me 160 for the machine, premade packs and a scooper. Hopefully nobody starts a Tesla thread.

Freethinkers unite!

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Can we add a poll:

"How many pinsiders bought a popcorn machine BECAUSE of this thread?"

*raises hand*

great thread....

*also raises hand*

Guilty. It gets a lot of use too. Yesterday I had popcorn for dinner... No joke...

Not sure how well this works. Popcorn 'pop's because of the moisture in the seed. You'd think that the heat from the first batch would dry out the kernal. Low moisture might be the reason why it didn't pop in the first place.

Throw the unpopped kernels out to the birds.

Even if you soak them in water to re-hydrate them, they pop into a turd.

Nope already had one. But after reading this thread, contemplating buying a larger one. It takes a long time to pop a decent amount in a 4oz popper.

Having a big machine is great.

I always bring a garbage bag full of popcorn to Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter and everyone goes crazy "OMG, I love REAL theater popcorn!!!!".

They cry like bitches when I forget. I have to laugh because there are lots of delicious appetizers that took hours to prepare sitting around and everyone wants chemical popcorn.

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The old Tiger Stadium "Popcorn factory" was awesome. Complete with a conveyor system.

Do you leave the doors open when your poping?

i have one door closed and one door cracked open about an inch to allow steam to vent

Mine is a single door, which I leave closed, but there is a good size space at the top of the door to allow steam to escape.