Homemade Bacon Popcorn

19 February 2012

Share this post

Toffee? Butter? Salt? I'll stick with bacon, thanks.

Ever since my review of J&D's Bacon Popcorn, I've wanted to have a go at making some myself. With actual, real, meaty, porky bacon in it (J&D is vegetarian - and no I don't have a problem with that, because they're still delicious. Just sayin'). Finding popcorn kernels that don't come in a plastic bag, with flavouring, ready to be shoved in a microwave turned out to be quite a challenge, however. None of my local grocery shops had any, but in the end I found some in a hippie-wholefoods type shop in town. This was a couple of months ago - after finding the kernels I put them in a cupboard and promptly forgot about them - and now the shop across the street stocks them. Ah well..

Anyway, I have to say that these are better than J&D's. The reason is simple: you can't beat having actual bits of bacon in there, it ads just a little bit of delicious juicyness which complements the dryness of popcorn quite well. Like nachos and salsa/quacamole, fries and ketchup.. Can't think of anything else that you dip, but I'm sure you get the general idea. 

Method

Sometimes I feel like such a tool writing these. I mean, I'm sure 99% of you know how to pop corn, right? Anyway, here's for the 1% - and not the greedy banker kind. Well, them too, if they need it.

1) Fry your bacon to your liking, I'd recommend cooking it quite well but not until it crumbles. You probably don't want it soggy, but you don't want it dry as a desert either. Use your judgement - I believe in you.

2) Transfer the bacon fat into a heavy-bottom saucepan, and add another 4tbsp. As I mentioned in the ingredients list, you'll need to plan ahead a bit by saving up bacon fat whenever you cook some. It keeps for ages if you seal it up and shove it in the fridge.

3) Place the pan over high heat and wait a couple of minutes for it to heat up properly, then chuck in your kernels and give them a quick stir to coat them all in fat, then quickly cover with a lid. Or don't, if you like corn popping into your face - I imagine it may be a bit like fighting a group of pissed of fairies (so as not to anger the LGBT group, I'm referring here to fairytale fairies - I'm sure gay men would punch considerably harder if angered). Leave on the heat until the popping slows down, shaking occasionally, to stop your popcorn from burning as well as to get a nice coating of bacon fat.

4) Cut your bacon into whatever size strip you find appopriate, and add to the popped corn. Serve, eat, enjoy, make more.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites