>I have a question, since I never done this before.  How much corn do you use
>at one time?

For starters, try 1/4 or 1/3 cup of oil and the same amount of oil. It
takes a little trial and error. I've found that the following works well
for me:

1) Add the oil to a coverable saucepan. There should be enough oil to cover
the bottom of the pan completely, and to nearly cover the amount of kernels
that you add.

2) Set the burner on a fairly high setting - just below "High" (you'll have
to experiment with this).

3) add 3 kernels and cover (3 is a family tradition) - when these have
popped, the oil is ready for the rest of the kernels.

4) add the remaining kernels, cover (!), and gently shake the pan
side-to-side or front-to-back or in spirals or whatever ensures that the
kernels are fairly uniformly coated with hot oil. Then hang around the pan
while you wait for the popping to begin.

5) when the popping starts to go, shake the pan a bit more.

6) this is the critical point: when the popping slows down a bit, you've
got to dump the popped corn into a bowl. If you wait too long, you'll burn
a few kernels and ruin the whole batch (the already popped corn will
immediately absorb the smoke and taste burnt).

7) salt and add melted (dairy-free) margarine or kosher-pareve butter
flavoring or whatever you like on the popcorn.

The key is to get the right temperature, the right amount of oil, and to
get the popped corn off of the burner at the right  time. Too little oil
and the popcorn will heat unevenly and pop poorly. Practice makes perfect.

It tastes better that air-popped.

As with all popped corn, shake the bowl and don't eat all the way don't to
the bottom of the bowl - unless you like sitting in the dentist's chair and
having teeth and/or fillings repaired.


Happy Popping!

Mark


Mark Feblowitz                  GTE Laboratories Incorporated
[log in to unmask]              40 Sylvan Road, Waltham, MA 02154-1120