Trader Joe's Organic Popping Corn

I haven't made popcorn as a snack in a couple of years. I had pretty much given up on it. I'm too lazy to make it the old-fashioned way, with oil in a big pan on the stove. I don't have an air popper. And I've never found a microwave-specific version that really worked consistently well.

But a couple of weeks ago, Nina started raving about this new popper she had bought from Amazon--just a simple, cheap silicone bowl, but she said it worked "perfectly." This is not something she would ever say lightly. She has gone a little gaga trying new and different toppings for her now easy-to-make perfect popcorn. So I bought one of these implements for myself. Nina was not wrong in her assessment. This thing really does almost magically pop all the kernels without burning any. And, of course, a bag of plain kernels is a lot cheaper than the microwave products that come in individual bags.

Seeing as how I would be needing some popcorn to pop, and seeing as I was in Trader Joe's when I remembered this, I looked over the snack aisle to see what they had. And there was this--just the sort of thing you'd expect from Trader Joe's. I mean, alongside the crazy stuff like potato chips flavored like turkey and dressing, TJ's has a whole bunch of simple, quiet products, and they're often excellent.

This turns out to be another such item. At least in this new popper in my microwave oven, it turns out perfectly. Big, fluffy kernels, virtually no old maids.

Nina has been using Orville Redenbacher. I brought her some of TJ's to try instead. She judged it to pop bigger, but thought it had a little less distinct corn flavor. I haven't done the comparison with any other brands myself.


Will I buy it again? 

Absolutely. I like it so much that I'm not even really interested in trying others to see if it's actually the best; I'm afraid I'll be disappointed in anything else.