Thursday, May 17, 2012

Popcorn of the Future

As mentioned in this post, I consider myself a popcorn connoisseur.  I find it hard to pass up popcorn poppers in whatever form they may take.  I bought this Amana Radarange MWP-1 microwave popcorn popper at an estate sale in Lemay, Missouri last Saturday for $1.  It reminds me of an inverted Gemini space capsule.



As it turns out, this was the first microwave popcorn popper available and I believe it dates from the late '60's to early '70's.  This was, of course, prior to all of the bagged variety you can buy now.  You simply load 1/2 cup of popcorn into the cone shaped receiver which rests in a cup, no oil required (or allowed for that matter).  Set the microwave on high for 3 1/2 minutes.  According to the manual, the cup concentrates all of the microwaves into the bottom of the receiver where the kernels are sitting, allowing the popped kernels to rise above and not get burned.  The cup stays hot after popping, so it's possible there's some type of metal in there that attracts the waves and heats just the cup.


Like air-popped popcorn, it's pretty dry when done.  There were good number of unpopped kernels.  I might have extended the popping time better results.  Add plenty of butter and salt and it's pretty tasty.


7 comments:

  1. how bizarre. i'm just not a fan of microwaved popcorn, as you might recall. the bagged kind is even worse!

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  2. Fear not. This was a one time experimental popping. I won't give up my vintage Stir Crazy.

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  3. i'm still the "(coconut) oil in a pot on the stovetop" kind of guy. : )

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  4. Yours appears to be a newer model than mine. From the looks of things, the model you have comes apart from the base. The one I have is all one piece amber colored like yours including the base, which on mine is not removable and has no handle It is not glued to the base, the thing is one single molded unit. Also, the cover on mine is not see through amber like yours, it is solid canary yellow. Other than that, the shape is the same and the cover has the Amana logo molded into it.

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  5. I just bought one of these today at our local good will store. It seemed to work well. I plan on using it again soon but I have read it is hard in the magnetron

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  6. I just bought one of these today at our local good will store. It seemed to work well. I plan on using it again soon but I have read it is hard in the magnetron

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    Replies
    1. > I have read it is hard in the magnetron
      You could try putting in a cup of water with it on the side. That way any errant waves have something to work on.

      Delete

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