The Fugue

I recently watched the Pop Culture (transcript) episode of Good Eats. I'm generally an AB fanboy, but sometimes I disagree, and I had to disagree with AB's equipment choice.

I know AB doesn't like unitaskers, and I don't either. But my Stir Crazy is an exception. I don't feel the least bit of shame for having and recommending a unitasker, and I know AB himself has done so on occasion too.

AB said,

[looks at a popper with a rotating bar on a flat pan] Oh, now that’s just silly. Even if all the kernels popped, steam condenses on the dome and runs back on the corn. Even if it worked perfectly, who’d want such a gigantic unitasker hanging around the kitchen? Well, not me.

I'll agree it looks silly, but it does work. Not all the kernels pop, but almost all of them do. (Have you ever seen all the kernels pop? Even an air popper has some duds.) I don't know where he's coming up with this steam theory, but it doesn't compute. There are steam holes in the top, which allow the steam to escape, and we've never had the least bit of problem with wet popcorn in all these years. What's more, I'm willing to bet that steam is more likely to condense on his tin foil hat and drip on the corn than on the plastic dome.

Back before my family got a Stir Crazy, we used to pop popcorn in a pan over the stove, just like he does on the show (except he uses tongs where we used a hotpad. I'd use my welding gloves today, and I'm surprised he doesn't suggest that because he's the one that told us to get welding gloves in the first place). We didn't use a bowl and take advantage of the concentration of oil in the narrow bottom, but otherwise it was the same. Regardless of whether you use a pan or a bowl, it's a royal pain. It's long, boring, tiring, hot, and no fun at all, and you get a lot of unpopped kernels. The Stir Crazy involves putting corn and oil in during a commercial break (and putting some butter in the microwave to melt), and unplugging it when the popping stops. No babysitting. No tedious shaking. No problem. Yes, it's bulky but it's worth every inch if you like popcorn.

Incidentally I tried adding salt to the unpopped kernels and oil, and it doesn't work with the Stir Crazy. It picked up ever so little of the salt, but not enough and it left a lot on the bottom of the popper. Maybe it works in his steel bowl contraption, I don't know.

I liked the rest of the show, especially his disendorsement of air poppers. I'm going to have to try out some of those gourmet varieties. I think I'll leave the insipid caramel corn to CrackerJack though, and I'll stick with the good gooey caramel corn that my family has made for years.