Air popping is one of the healthiest ways to prepare popcorn because it does not involve oil, which adds to the fat and calorie content. It can be made on the stove top, in an air popper or in the microwave.
Preheat a stove top burner on medium-high heat. Pour popcorn kernels into a medium-to-large pot. This amount of kernels produces 2 quarts of popcorn when popped. If you need more than this, cook the popcorn in batches. The popcorn needs room to pop; doubling or tripling the recipe and attempting to cook it at one time will prove to be unsuccessful.
Place the pot on the stove top and cover with the lid. Grab each handle of the pot if they are heat-resistant and won't get hot during cooking. If the pot doesn’t have handles or if the handles are not heat resistant, use clean hand towels or oven mitts to hold the middle edges of the pot on each side. Be careful not to touch the stove top burner.
Shake the pot lightly back and forth several times to move the kernels around. This prevents them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Within a few seconds, the popcorn should begin to pop.
Listen as it pops and shake the pot three times every 10 seconds. When you hear the popcorn popping begin to slow, remove the pot from the heat, but keep the lid on.
Remove the lid when you no longer hear the popcorn popping. This could take between 15 to 30 seconds.
Pour the popped popcorn into a bowl. Mist lightly with water or other liquid ingredient listed above. This is to make the seasonings stick to it and add flavor. Sprinkle any dry seasoning. Many options are listed above.
Toss the popcorn lightly in the bowl to distribute the seasonings and serve.
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Detailed instructions, in-process photos, and my personal helpful tips can be found in the article above.Once your popcorn is popped using one of the methods above, the key is to lightly mist it with a water bottle or cooking sprayer. Cooking sprayers disperse a finer mist which is best.Don’t overspray, as you only want enough water (or other liquid as listed below) to make the dry seasoning stick but not cause the popcorn to become chewy. Go very easy with the misting.In a large bowl, mist and season the popcorn, tossing it around in the bowl as you go to thoroughly coat each piece. So basically, mist-sprinkle with seasoning-toss-mist-sprinkle-toss-and so on.List of healthy vegan popcorn toppings seasonings: