Microwave popcorn in a paper sack

Years ago I regularly made microwave popcorn in brown paper grocery sacks and dutifully nuked my paper towel-wrapped hot dog-in-a-bread-slice for 30 seconds, too. The hot dog usually split and the bread became hard as a rock so I quit fixing them that way once the novelty of my mom's mid-1970's combination electric oven and microwave wore off. The popcorn, however, was excellent, so why did I stop making it?

I know one reason was the air popper someone gave my dad for Christmas. Another trend to try and later discard. Next up was the popcorn popper I used at school. It was one of those see-through dome-lidded ones (Stir Crazy, I think they're called) with a stirrer that kept the popcorn shifting around the bottom of the pan. Popcorn didn't burn, the kernels popped evenly and it tasted great. I even bought another when the first one finally died. But cleaning is a problem -- only the plastic lid can be submerged in dishwater, the bottom of the unit has to be wiped off carefully and eventually develops a sticky build-up that's hard to remove. Plus, it takes up pantry space.

One thing I haven't mentioned is regular microwave popcorn and that's because I don't care for it. I'm also the oddball who will buy popcorn (but only fresh-popped) at the movies but insist on NO "liquid butter" (or whatever they want to call that nasty oily stuff that pours from the metal spout) and no extra salt. I like the flavor of popcorn and while I don't object to real butter drizzled over a bowl of the stuff, I really prefer popcorn popped in peanut or sunflower oil and lightly salted. That's it.

So all this is to say I've started making my popcorn in the microwave in a brown paper sack again. It works great just like when I was a kid. I like to use a small amount of oil when popping the corn because I think it tastes better and helps the salt adhere. The process is simple.

Microwave Popcorn in a Paper Lunch Sack

1/3 cup popcorn
1/2 teaspoon oil (I like peanut or sunflower)
salt

Pour popcorn kernels into brown paper sack. Drizzle oil over kernels in bag. Fold over the top of the bag a few times. Place in microwave and cook on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until popping slows to almost stopping. Carefully open bag away from face (steam will rise), sprinkle with salt and enjoy!

Note:
Given that I usually carry fabric bags to the store so I can avoid plastic (or paper) grocery sacks, it's strange to be using paper bags for this purpose. My only excuse is that my mom bought a "box and contents" at auction a few months ago and included in the contents was what must be a lifetime supply of brown paper lunch sacks.

Since none of us carry our lunch in such bags, I've been trying to come up with other uses. Other than using them to pop corn, the best use has been decorating the bags for use as gift bags -- DS likes to draw on the ones he makes while I've tried stencils, stamping, glueing fabric designs, rick rack and paint. But I still have many, many bags so suggestions appreciated.

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