I got a Nordic Ware "microwave popcorn bowl" for Christmas, that my dad and sister had been raving about. I usually make stovetop popcorn in my Whirley Pop popper, which does a great job, but wanted to give the microwave one a try.
Unfortunately, my 1100 W microwave seems far too powerful and tends to end up with either burned popcorn, or having to stop the process with a LOT of unpopped kernels. I was going to give up on the thing but tried it at a vacation house we rented where the microwave was a lot less powerful. It produced amazing popcorn!! Absolutely delicious, tasted more flavorful even though I used way less coconut oil.
I've tried using reduced power setting on my microwave but it doesn't seem to help, the fact that reducing power just makes it shut off for brief periods (see this question) seems to mess up the popping.
Is there something else I can try, like maybe putting a glass or two of water in the microwave with the popcorn? That might help absorb some of the microwave energy. Perhaps I will experiment…
Best Answer
A glass of water in the microwave will result in less microwave energy reaching the popcorn. I use a large glass of water (8 - 12 oz.) when I'm softening butter because I want the water to absorb most of the energy. For popcorn, you may get by with 2-4 ounces of water.
I've also found that the amount of oil makes a huge difference. I sometimes pop popcorn in a paper lunch bag. If I don't use any oil, I get the combination of burnt and unpopped you described. With a teaspoon of oil added to 1/3 cup of popcorn, results are a lot better. Perhaps you just need a little more oil to get great popcorn.