Shaking popcorn in a pan over a hot stove seems to have gone the way of changing channels by walking over to the TV. “Too much work!” we all groan from the depths of a comfy couch. So microwave popcorn is increasingly the kernel of choice and seemed a natural selection for a test kitchen tasting. And after all, you’ve got to have something to munch on while you’re watching all those scary Halloween movies.
We tried to keep it simple: We found eight brands with regular butter flavor popcorn, eliminating new varieties that come with a packet of oozy “butter” to pour over the popped corn. We hoped for a bowl of microwaved corn that still had some old-fashioned characteristics.
When the brands were displayed alongside each other, some differences were immediately evident to the tasters. The most pleasing-looking popcorn had fat, fluffy kernels and clearly outshone the miserly little puffs of neighboring brands. Texture was important; stale, cardboardlike popcorn immediately got marked down, while crisp, snappy kernels earned a higher score. Finally, flavor was key; tasters looked for the best corn flavor with buttery overtones.
Act II Butter flavor brand was the surprise winner, beating out higher-profile Pop Secret from Betty Crocker, whose two butter-flavor versions cleaned up in second and third places.
Last-place finishers included a low-fat option that, understandably, had a tough time against the higher-fat and higher-calorie winners. But one of the bigger names, Orville Redenbacher’s, didn’t do too well either.
The popcorn was scored on a nine-point scale, with nine being the highest. Prices are based on what we paid for them at the supermarket and may reflect sales or discounts from frequent-shopper cards.
And the winners are . . .
1. Act II Butter (10.5 ounces, $2.39; 23 cents per ounce. 6 points.) “Large, mostly white kernels.” “Good butter-salt-corn balance.” “Bland; little flavor of butter.”
2. Pop Secret Premium Popcorn (10.5 ounces, $2.79; 27 cents per ounce. 5.6 points.) “Salty, good butter taste–nice.” “Fluffy-looking.” “Movie popcorn taste; not a good thing.”
3. Pop Secret Homestyle (10.5 ounces, $2.79; 27 cents per ounce. 5.5 points.) “Tender; large kernels.” “Mild, good salt ratio.” “Phony fat’; it’s not butter.”
Others tested
4. Jolly Time White & Butter (5 points).
5. Jewel Butter Natural Flavor Popping Corn (4.8).
6. Dominick’s Butter (4.6).
7. (tie) Orville Redenbacher’s Butter; Healthy Choice Butter (4.5).
