Making great tasting gourmet popcorn is not difficult or expensive if you know how to do it and have the right kitchen appliance. Whether you like regular popcorn or great tasting gourmet flavored popcorn, the secret is in the technique and the right tool.

The secret is really no secret at all. The best way to make the best tasting popcorn is with a hand crank popcorn popper. This is actually an old idea that has been around for more than 50 years.

The trick is to keep mixing the popcorn as it pops. This prevents scorching and evenly distributes gourmet ingredients. A hand-crank popcorn maker constantly stirs the popcorn as it pops. That moves popped corn to the top and allows unpopped kernels to move to the bottom. A constant slow stirring motion prevents popped corn from sticking to the pot, and therefore cleanup is much easier because there aren’t any burn marks on the bottom of the pot.

A hand-crank popcorn popper stirs popcorn at the bottom of the pot. You can’t accomplish this by shaking a standard cooking pot over a stove. Plus, if you add special oils or ingredients, the stirring action helps to evenly coat the popcorn as it pops.

You can find lots of gourmet popcorn recipes on the web. Every popcorn lover has their favorites. Here is one that we found that makes great Italian Popcorn. This is so simple to make that it makes you wonder why you would ever pay a premium price in the grocery store for pre-popped gourmet popcorn.

Italian Popcorn

1. Add 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to the popper and preheat the oil until it just starts to smoke. This only takes a few seconds.
2. Add your favorite brand of popcorn to the pot.
3. Keep cranking until the popping stops and immediately remove the popper from the heat.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of dry Italian salad dressing and mix. You can either do this in the popcorn popper or you can pour the popcorn into a large bowl and sprinkle the seasoning on top.

Although it doesn’t necessarily sound good if you are not fond of olive oil, you will be amazed at the improved flavor of even plain popcorn when you make the popcorn using extra virgin olive oil rather than vegetable oil or butter. It really brings out the flavor of the popcorn and is much healthier than the alternatives.

You do not necessarily have to buy the most expensive gourmet popcorn to produce great tasting popcorn. Any brand that produces large white popcorn will work well and will taste just as good as the expensive brands. We use the Jolly Time brand and for us it works just as well as Orville Redenbacher or other premium brands.

You can find several different hand-crank popcorn poppers on the web. They almost all work the same. The main differences are the material (aluminum or stainless steel) and the capacity. A four quart popper makes a gallon of popcorn, which is plenty for 2 to 4 people. This is a great low-tech gadget gift for any popcorn lover.

You can find a few popcorn poppers here: