how to make caramel popcorn

European explorers throughout the Americas were introduced to, and intrigued by, popcorn. Around the year 1612, early French explorers through the Great Lakes region noted that the Iroquois popped popcorn with heated sand in a pottery vessel and used it to make popcorn soup, among other things. Writing of Peruvian Indians, Bernabé Cobo, a missionary in Peru between 1609 and 1629, remarked that they toasted "a certain kind of corn until it bursts. They call it pisancalla, and they use it as a confection."

The new settlers embraced popcorn. Colonial families sometimes ate popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast. Some colonists popped corn using poppers consisting of a cylinder of thin sheet-iron that revolved on an axle in front of the fireplace like a squirrel cage. Popcorn was still very much a small, home-grown crop.

Popcorn really caught on during the 1890s and was very popular even through the Great Depression. Street vendors, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers, used to follow wherever a crowd might be. They were a common sight at fairs, parks, and expositions, and restaurants also began to sell this fluffy snack. During the Depression, popcorn at 5 or 10 cents a bag was one of the few luxuries struggling families could afford. While other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived.

an excerpt from the National Agricultural Library

Americans were cooking sugar and water as early as the seventeenth century creating hard candies. These hard candies were the norm for hundreds of years as there were economical to produce and were easily transportable with a very long shelf life. It was in the mid-nineteenth century that some of these same manufacturers discovered that by adding milk and fat products to this cooked sugar mixture a sweet chewy confection was achieved. Caramel was the name soon given to this confection that grew in popularity at a very quick pace.

Most people do not realize that Milton Hershey's first foray into the candy business was with The Lancaster Caramel Company started in the late nineteenth century. It was on his quest to improve his caramel candies that he discovered German machinery to manufacture chocolate. He wanted to enrobe caramels with chocolate but over the years he became so enamored with chocolate making itself he sold the caramel factory and concentrated on chocolate making.

an excerpt from the Sensational Confections

According to the article How Cracker Jack Began, by Jeffrey Maxwell How Cracker Jack Began

Cracker Jack all began in 1871 with a German immigrant named Frederick William Rueckheim (1846-1934). He worked on a farm until he had saved 200 dollars and then started selling popcorn that was made by hand method with steam machinery, on 113 Fourth Avenue in Chicago, now known as Federal Street, in 1871. He sold popcorn to the workers who were rebuilding things that the Great Chicago Fire had destroyed. In 1873 he bought out his partner, Brinkmeyer. Then he sent for his brother who still lived in Germany, Louis Rueckheim (1849-1927). They were now called F.W. Rueckheim & Bro. They bought candy-making equipment which started marshmallow and other confections to their well off business. The brothers moved five times between 1875-1884. Then in 1885 they settled down in a three-story brick building at 266 South Clinton Street. In 1887 the building was destroyed by fire. In 1893 the brothers made combined peanuts, popcorn, and molasses.

In 1893 at the first World's Fair in Chicago (called the World's Columbia Exposition which opened to show the world what progress Chicago had made since the fire of 1871), the two brothers came up with the idea of covering popcorn with molasses. It was billed as "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts." People at the Worlds Fair didn't like the stickiness and the harness of the early Cracker Jack. So Louis made a formula that made a great molasses coating that was crispy and dry. This secret formula is still a secret in the Cracker Jack Company today.



Now we can make perfect caramel popcorn at home.....

What you'll need

a small stock pot or a pot large enough to be able to stir the popcorn in

a wooden spoon to use to stir the caramel mixture

a silicone spatula to spread the caramel and popcorn mixture on the cookie sheet (the caramel won't stick to the silicone spatula)

a candy thermometer to check the temperature of the caramel mixture. (If you don't have a candy thermometer, a small glass of cold water will do)

a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper

measuring cups

measuring spoons

a large bowl

two small ramekens or small bowls




Questions about the equipment, see below "About the pots and stuff"

We tested various combinations of ingredients extensively and found that this combination of butter, brown sugar and light corn syrup worked the best to give a good crunchy candy coating and had the best caramel flavor.

We found that it was best to have all your ingredients pre-measured because the candy making step happens really quickly. If you had to stop and measure ingredients you can easily burn the sugar mixture.

pre-measure

1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of butter

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 bag of light microwave popcorn (careful to remove all the unpopped kernels) note: light popcorn works the best, buttery or extra buttery doesn't taste quite right with the caramel

Now that your pot is ready and everything is pre-measured, add the brown sugar, butter and light corn syrup to the pot, heat over medium heat and stir constantly with the wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a boil.

Insert the candy thermometer. You want to heat the sugar mixture to 250' which is called the hard ball stage. If you don't have a candy thermometer, drop a bit of the sugar mixture into a cup of cold water. If the caramel hardens it is probably the right temperature. If the caramel is still soft to the touch when removed form the water, you need to cook it a bit longer.

Once the sugar mixture has come to a boil and reached 250'F (the hard ball stage. Turn off the heat. While still stirring constantly, add the vanilla, it will make a sizzle and steam so don't lean over the pot, and then add the baking soda. It will start foaming and raising up, keep stirring until it is well mixed. Add the popcorn and stir until all the popcorn is coated with the caramel mixture. This will become difficult as the caramel starts to cool.



Once you feel like all the popcorn is coated, spoon the caramel popcorn onto a cookie sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment paper. We have found that absolutely nothing sticks to Silpat (see below for more info) Use the plastic spatula to spread it around a bit. The caramel popcorn shouldn't stick to the spatula. It will however stick to the wooden spoon, so don't use it for spreading.



Put in a pre-heated 250'F oven for 1/2 an hour. Using the plastic spatula, every 10 minutes or so, spread it out on the baking sheet. You don't want to leave it as a thick blob because it is harder to break apart, plus the baking process dries out the popcorn and gives it some added crunch.

When it has cooled enough (if you can wait that long) break it into pieces and put in a conatainer.



Caramel popcorn makes a great gift that is sure to be appreciated. Put in fancy tin containers or fun boxes that you can find at craft stores.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, make a batch for your honey or that someone special!

Sugar burns are nasty. Hot sugar is almost impossible to quickly rub or rinse off the skin, and continues burning long after it comes into contact with your skin. If hot sugar does splash onto your skin, immediately place the burn in cool water, or run it under cold tap water. Please don't allow yourself to be sloppy or distracted when working with hot sugar, and avoid dangling hair, jewelry, or clothing over the work area. Keep children clear of the cooking area because the boiling sugar can splatter. Always wear oven mitts when removing pans from the oven. You can also wear oven mitts while stirring the sugar mixture as well to avoid burns from splatters.

Thread stage 223-235* F The syrup drips from a spoon, forms thin threads in water. Used for glacé and candied fruits.

Soft ball stage 235-245* F The syrup easily forms a ball while in the cold water, but flattens once removed. Used for fudge and fondant.

Firm ball stage 245-250* F The syrup is formed into a stable ball, but loses its round shape once pressed. Used for caramel candies.

Hard ball stage 250-266* F The syrup holds its ball shape, but remains sticky. Used for divinity and marshmallows.

Soft crack stage 270-290* F The syrup will form firm but pliable threads. Used for nougat and taffy.

Hard crack stage 300-310* F The syrup will crack if you try to mold it. Used for brittles and lollipops.

Caramel 320-350* F The sugar syrup will turn golden at this stage. Used for pralines

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