HEALTHIER HOME/MOVIE THEATRE SNACKS
Updated 9/15/08
Like most people, I was getting all my popcorn from the microwave, until sometime in the mid-nineties, while I was working on audience coordination for a TV sitcom. Behind the set was the usual craft services table, set up with a variety of the usual foods. Among the snacks was something unusual... but vaguely familiar. A bowl of white popcorn - that clearly hadn't come from a microwave! One nibble led to several, and it reminded me how great real popcorn could be, with none of the nasty hydrogenated gunk found in those dry microwave bags...
Stirring, like the big machines at the movies, is a key to better popcorn. It makes the popcorn less likely to burn, and it coats the kernels evenly so you need much less oil. I found a stove-top popper with a stirring handle. There are a several brands of stirring poppers around for about $20, and I've gone through nearly a dozen in about that many years. I bought a pricey mechanical model called "Stir-Crazy" that didn't reach the right temperature and the stirrer itself made an annoying noise as it scraped much of the nonstick coating off. I'm back to the stovetop kettle, which works better on an electric stove because of the ability to maintain...
The right popping temperature. Another key to good popcorn. Medum-high gets the best results: fluffy, butterfly shapes. Too much heat produces round, ball-shapes that are tough and chewy. Theatres like the butterfly shape, not just because it tastes better, but because the butterfly kernel shape takes up more space in a container when sold, ensuring a higher yield on their investment.
The popcorn itself. Boy, just try to find loose popcorn kernels in a store these days! Ask for it, and most people don't even know what you mean. The cheap stuff in bags at the grocery store is fine, but I gotta tell you, the premium hybrid popcorn from Orville Redenbacher's is much better. (many cinemas use it, too.) It's hard to find jars of Redenbacher's popcorn kernels at a good price. Their small jars in grocery stores are really expensive. Target and K-Mart used to carry a larger jar of Redenbacher's for about $2.50-$3. Target discontinued it a few years ago, and my local K-Mart stocks it occasionally, but the price has nearly doubled. I would call ahead to make sure K-Mart has it in stock, and buy several jars at a time. The new Fresh & Easy stores now carry the smaller jars for about $3, but unlike many of F&E's prices, this one can be beat... for another 50 cents, you can get a jar twice the size at a big controversial chain-store (that's also the main competitor for for Fresh & Easy's Tesco). That means I can travel and save, or walk to the corner and pay more, but at least it's accessible. The jars are now finally available on Amazon, in quantitles of 4, both the familiar yellow hybrid and the gourmet white kernels. However these are the standard 30oz jars, priced the same as the bigger 45oz jars would be at K-Mart, plus a whopping $15.30 for shipping
Butter/Salt. Most commercially sold popcorn/oil/seasoning packets contain pretty much the same orange salty powder used in theatres. In fact, years ago, when I worked at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, those packets were exactly what we used. These days, theatres use orange colored oil with orange colored seasoning. That orange stuff has additives that make the popcorn look and smell more appealing, but it's a little heavy for my taste, and not the healthiest choice.
Topping. Most cinemas that advertise real butter are using Odell's Anhydrous Butterfat, a product that goes all the way back to the old Buttercup brand we remember from the sixties. This company has been making popcorn-related products for decades. Their Anhydrous Butterfat topping is real butter, minus water and milk, and it tastes great. But there is a substantial amount of (non-trans) fat in there, so for me it's just an occasional treat.
Healthier options. I tried a variety of oils before finding the perfect solution: Smart Balance - A vegetable oil blend with Omega 3, specially formulated with your health in mind. Popped in Smart Balance oil, Popcorn can now be a guilt-free, and even healthy snack! I was delighted to make popcorn that doesn't pad the waistline. But what about the flavor?
Smart Balance makes a spray called Buttery Blast. It tastes buttery and light - with NO calories or fat! The big problem here is that Smart Balance products are hard to find. I talked a little store in my old neighborhood into carrying most of the line, and they have, but suddenly they have nearly doubled the price! The most expensive market chain in SoCal is Gelson's and though they have recently stopped carrying Smart Balance Buttery Blast, even they didn't charge as much for it as this little neighborhood grocery. Time to speak with Smart Balance and lobby all our local chain stores to carry the stuff. I have been relentlessly asking for Fresh & Easy to carry it, but it doesn't seem to be high in their list.
A company in Canada called Schneider's Gourmet World makes several tasty popcorn flavorings, including one they call "Theatre Spice." This is a yellow (not orange) superfine popcorn salt that you put in the kettle with the popcorn and oil. It mixes with the oil, leaves a light buttery/salty flavor, and seems healthier than the orange stuff.
Once accustomed to Redenbacher's popcorn, stir-popped in Smart Balance oil, with Schneider's Theatre Spice, I sometimes found that the heavy flavored oil and seasoning used in many cinemas can make me nauseous.
Seasonings. If you eat popcorn often, eventually you get a little tired of the butter flavor. Schneider's Gourmet World has some powdered toppings, including Salt & Vinegar, Pizza, and Herb & Garlic. Kernel Season's makes several fine flavors to shake over popcorn, and they also have a butter flavor, which doesn't taste overly salty. It's a nice compliment to the Schneider's in-popper seasoning and Smart Balance Butter Blast spray.
I've sampled a couple new products from the Kernel Season's company, and it's changed my preferences for popcorn, but it's also brought back some frustration about the good stuff being somewhat out of reach...
Kernel Season's has introduced their own variety of popcorn, and I have to tell you, it's my new favorite! This stuff pops bigger and tastes better than any other popcorn I know of, and I would be happy to switch over and never look back, but it's only available in little bags at $4 a pound, plus shipping charges, which make popcorn an expensive commodity. I am now saving the remainder of my first package of KS popcorn for special occasions.
Ditto Kernel Season's' other new product: Popcorn Spritzer, a buttery flavor spray that adds a substantial amount of good taste without calories, fat or carbs, and it also makes the Kernel Season's flavorings stick. The same drawback as the popcorn, however, is that it's $4 for only a 2.5oz aerosol can, as opposed to my usual Smart Balance Buttery Blast spray (around $2.50 - $3 for 8oz, in a plastic pump spray bottle). Also, the Smart Balance has organic soy, where the Kernel Season's Spritzer butter is a blend of sunflower, canola and corn oil. The price vs. volume statistics here make Kernel Season's Butter Spritzer an extravagant luxury.
I can only hope that Kernel Season's markets a bigger, more economical package of the popcorn, and maybe someday they'll repackage the butter spritz in something more cost efficient. I love the product, just can't afford to stock it. So for now I'm sticking with the Redenbacher popcorn and Smart Balance spray.
What I recommend as the best quality popcorn now would be Kernel Season's, (popped in Smart Balance oil) with Kernel Season's butter spray and shake-on butter flavoring. The final result tastes more buttery than salty, and is pure pleasure without much guilt. If you can afford to stock up on it, go for it, it's great stuff, just be sure to recycle the spray cans. If budget and logistics make that choice impractical, stick with Redenbacher's and Smart Balance and add any of Kernel Season's' flavorings.
Ingredients for guilt-free, healthier movie style popcorn:
Stove-Top Stirring Kettle.
Kernel Season's or Orville Redenbacher's Original Popcorn - loose kernels, not microwave.
Smart Balance oil, between a teaspoon and a tablespoon.
Schneider's Theatre Spice, about 1/6th to 1/4 of a teaspoon.
Smart Balance Buttery Blast Spray or Kernel Season's Butter Spritzer
Kernel Season's Butter flavor powder.
(Alternate flavors: Kernel Season's or Schneider's flavored seasonings)
Candy. There's a little East-Coast to West Coast debate: Twizzlers or Red Vines? I still have both now and then, but I'm partial to Cherry flavor Twizzlers - again, hard to find. I'm always trying to find lower-calorie or healthier options. I really like the Ginger Chew candy from Trader Joe's because ginger is good for digestion, and it just feels healthier. it's the closest thing to guilt-free candy that I know.
Sodas: There are now many brands of of flavored seltzer waters, with no sugar, and no calories. The brand I like best is Cascadia from Shasta, because it comes in a good variety of flavors, and is sweetened with Splenda instead of Aspartame. When it vanished from the shelves at Ralphs, I contacted Shasta and found that they were now only sending Cascadia to US military bases. Recently I saw a good supply back at Ralphs, so it's still out there and worth the trouble to find.
Hansen's Natural Diet Sodas contain all natural flavors and have no sodium, caffeine, aspartame, preservatives, carbs - or calories! They are sweetened with Splenda, and it's hard to find all their diet flavors around my area. Fresh & Easy currently carries only two of the seven Hansen's diet soda flavors. If I could get access to all their flavors, I'd never drink any other brand.
I Wish: Having said all that, it would be nice if the cinemas offered this healthier kind of fare. Popping Kernel Season's or Redenbacher's popcorn in Smart Balance oil, seasoning with Schneider's Theatre Spice, topping with Smart Balance or Kernel Season's Butter Spray and Kernel Season's or Schneider's flavor powders... adding Hansen's diet sodas to the menu... all it would take is for a few forward-thinking movie exhibitors to give it a try. Smart Balance currently doesn't package its products for industrial use, but that shouldn't stop thoughtful cinema management from making the switch. I once spoke with a Smart Balance rep about that very thing, and I'm sure if the demand was there, the supply would follow.
A blast from the past: Does anyone remember "Intermission Popcorn Chips" - from the late 60s-early 70s? They came in a dark bag, decorated in a movie theatre theme. I used to love them, but no one has even heard of them today... Sounds good, though, doesn't it?
- TJ Edwards