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Fresh kettle corn is super fantastic made by using the simple, top Google-result recipe below. The methodology was to use the basic recipe as a starting point and then look around the kitchen and think, "Maybe that would be good in kettle corn". From here, a series of kettle corn experiments were conducted which yielded 6 yummy variants, plus 2 that bombed (maybe you'll be able to do something with them).
Basic Kettle Corn Recipe
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup canola oil
Tools
Saucepan with lid
Wooden spoon (no exceptions!)
Baking sheet
Silicone mat
Safety First!
Precautions should be taken when working with melted sugar and/or hot oil. Make sure you have a clear working area, wooden utensils, kids and pets are not underfoot and any pan used has a lid that fits well. Kettle corn has the extra risk of hot-sugar covered projectiles, so be super-extra-careful!
Directions
Successful!
Mixing any one of the following into the sugar before adding it to the saucepan came out great!
Not so much...
These combos didn't go so well for me, but the concepts may work with some modifications.
Basic Kettle Corn Recipe
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup canola oil
Tools
Saucepan with lid
Wooden spoon (no exceptions!)
Baking sheet
Silicone mat
Safety First!
Precautions should be taken when working with melted sugar and/or hot oil. Make sure you have a clear working area, wooden utensils, kids and pets are not underfoot and any pan used has a lid that fits well. Kettle corn has the extra risk of hot-sugar covered projectiles, so be super-extra-careful!
Directions
- Pour oil and corn into saucepan
- Turn heat to medium-high until the first bubble appear
- Add sugar (plus any additional flavoring) and gently stir just a few times with the wooden spoon
- Cover pan with lid
- Turn heat to high
- Once the first kernels begin to pop, lightly shake saucepan - just enough to keep kernels moving
- When popping reaches the most rapid point, turn off heat completely
- Continue to shake pan until popping stops
- Pour out onto silicone mat and spread out with spoon
Successful!
Mixing any one of the following into the sugar before adding it to the saucepan came out great!
- Ginger - 3/4 tsp ground ginger
- Cocoa - 1 Tbs cocoa powder
- Pumpkin Pie - 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- Matcha - 1 1/2 tsp matcha powder
- Sweet and Spicy - 1/4 tsp ground cayanne pepper
- Honey Mustard - 1 Tbs honey, 2 tsp yellow mustard powder
Not so much...
These combos didn't go so well for me, but the concepts may work with some modifications.
- Thai - 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp garlic, 1/8 tsp cayenne
- Gingerbread - 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp allspice, dash of cardamon
I am a KK concession owner and 99.999% of the recipes on Al Gore's interwebs are WRONG, wrong, WrOnG! You've got the recipe about right, but the process is totally wrong.
(justifiably, I've seen some folks doing it the way above at events too, but this is NOT how the original eqpt manufacturers taught us to do it., our process just makes a consistently better product)
Here's how we do it at the fair, carnival, ball games, etc (read this all the way through, THEN go try it)
Put the pot on the stove and heat the oil. When you heat ANY cooking oil it will reach a point where it looks like it's moving without you touching the pot.
(we call that 'roiling')
Maybe you've seen what I'm talking about. You can see the heat moving in the oil, when you see that, THEN add the sugar
(don't freak out yet, I've done this at least 11,327 times and it works)
As soon as you put the sugar in the pot stir, stir stir.
(I don't use a spoon at home, I just swirl the pot to keep the oil and sugar moving to prevent burning)
The sugar will go through several changes.
1st - it will just look wet, that goes away quickly.
2nd - it will look like it's crystallizing into a messy clump, don't throw it out, just keep stirring.
Last - the sugar will melt down into a syrup,
(we call that, The Slump)
As SOON as it does this, throw in the popcorn, and slam on the lid.
From there on out it's the same as any popcorn. Cook it, shaking the pot to evenly cook the popcorn. When it just about stops cooking, pull it so the sugar does NOT burn.
Dump your newly minted Kettle Korn into a bowl. If it's cooked right, the KK will slowly 'move' as the sugar sets up.
(we call that 'crawl' or 'crawling')
("...aw man, that's a GOOD batch, look at the crawl...") ("....be careful bagging that, it's still crawling!")
(OK, I'll admit it, I'm from KY..we actually say crawlin'...)
(go ahead and laugh, I did) (baaaaack to the KK...)
NOW add your salt, sprinkle it evenly over the top of the bowl, toss the KK to distribute the salt.
There it is friends, the concessionaires KK recipe that we've been using for over 10 years. It's a proven top seller, and NOW you too, yes you too Mr, Ms, Mrs Instructables Viewer can treat family & friends to top notch Professional KK!
Be Careful & Enjoy!
(obviously, you can massage this recipe, just like this author says...try a little chili powder mixed with some onion powder and garlic powder, it creates a kinda, sorta BBQ KK...and OMG is it good!)
(instead of regular salt, use onion salt...tastes like caramelized onions AND popcorn)
Sounds like a fun experiment!