Food - Drink
Why Alton Brown Never Recommends Butter For Popping Popcorn
By MICHELLE WELSCH
According to Alton Brown, popping popcorn at home is a lot more fun and it tastes much better than anything you can get at your local theater or from a pre-packaged microwavable snack. Although Brown’s recipe for homemade popcorn is super easy, it does, however, call for something other than butter.
While most of us have been popping our popcorn in butter, Brown actually recommends using ghee — a kind of clarified butter — for a more flavorful result, and unlike butter, ghee won’t burn at the bottom of your bowl. If ghee isn’t your thing, substitute it with another oil with a high smoke point — like, peanut oil.
Regarding salt — which is usually sprinkled after the popcorn is made — Brown suggests adding it to the mix before popping in order to evenly distribute the flavor throughout the popcorn. You can also try some of Brown’s favorite toppings — like, nutritional yeast, furikake, and cheese powder — for more flavor.