Save your money folks. We just use a saucepan. Put oil in the bottom, just enough to thinly coat the bottom. Sprinkle salt in the oil if you want to. Put enough popcorn in the bottom so it sticks to the light oil coating in one, single layer. (No measuring!) Then use a lid, or for even more retro excitement, cover with a dome of aluminum foil a la jiffy pop! Cook on medium heat and once they start popping, just jiggle the pot so they don't burn. 3 minutes later-great old fashioned popcorn.

I like to dump the popcorn into a bowl, salt right away and use the still steaming pan to melt the butter. Then we pour that on top, shake to distribute and curl up on the couch for re-runs of The Brady Bunch!

Thanks!! Finally the voice of reason! Your method(and mine) makes the best popcorn ever...and, best of all, you don't have to find a home for another appliance!

true story. I and my friend found a great way to get a great bag of popcorn a hotdog with homemade chili an orange soda and a choclate donut for 25 cents. the same as our lunch money this is when we were in the second grade. Once we found this out we told our teachers we were going home for lunch and ate there at the carol ann across from the school until we got caught. the orange soda was mostly orange juice with soda water mixed in. The hotdog was all beef with homemade chili and the pop corn and doughnut did not have any more calories than our school dessert. However we got caught and that makes me mad still so I eat popcorn all the time ,made the fastest way I can make it. Usually microwave however the pan method is the best . just shake the pan and make some fudge also that is what we used to have a lot of. the reciepe for the fudge is on the hersey can. no one in my family was overweight so this cannot be that bad for you.marshmallow creme fudge is the easiest and lowest in calories.

i got to be me

a song on the internet

1/4 cup of kernels, thrown inside a brown paper bag, its opening scrunched closed -- then cook in your microwave for a couple of minutes (my micro actually has a popcorn setting - and this is the only thing I occassionally use it for) or until the popping slows down. Open bag carefully (steam).

Melted butter and powdered yeast dusted over (high in Vit B) optional but highly recommended.

What could be easier (and healthier?) than that?

I like sugary popcorn, so I have to use a pot. You sprinkle the sugar in while the pot is still hot, so it melts onto the popcorn. A stainless steel pot is best so you can scrub all the burn marks off afterwards.

Where I'm from, popcorn is usually sweet. I never got used to the buttery stuff.

Yes, Ubermama! I'm a lifelong popcorn freak. I eat it several times a week. I'll do microwave for convenience from time to time. But the saucepan-oil-range combo absolutely CANNOT be beat for the tastiest pop. A sprinkle of salt. Butter melted to a sizzle in the same hot pot. Nothing else even comes close.