When I think of stovetop popcorn, one of the first things I think of is Jiffy Pop. It’s fun and nostalgic to watch the popcorn pop and expand under that classic foil cover as you shake it over the burner.
However, Jiffy Pop—and other stovetop popcorn methods—are often more fun to make than to eat. Either the popcorn tastes slightly stale and has an underwhelming flavor or you end up with a mixture of half-popped, unpopped, and barely edible burnt kernels.
Fortunately, the test kitchen’s stovetop popcorn recipe avoids all those pitfalls. It requires no shaking at all, and every kernel pops (but doesn’t burn). It’s perfect. Here’s how to do it.