There is a particular sadness to seasoning popcorn at home: you shake on your favorite flavor, and five minutes later it is all sitting at the bottom of the bowl. Seasoning that will not stick is not bad luck. It is a technique problem, and it has a fix - actually, three of them.
Season while the popcorn is hot
Fresh-popped popcorn comes out of the pot with a whisper of oil and steam still on its surface, and that is exactly what seasoning grabs onto. Wait until the popcorn cools and dries, and the seasoning has nothing to hold. Pop your kernels, get them in a bowl, and season within a minute or two. If you are popping in coconut oil, like we do in our Brooklyn kitchen, you are already ahead - the oil is your glue.
Shake in a covered container, not a bowl
Tossing popcorn with a spoon stirs the top and leaves the bottom plain. Instead, put the popcorn in a container with a lid - a big jar, a pot with its cover, even a clean paper bag - add the seasoning, and shake hard for ten seconds. The tumbling coats every kernel instead of just the ones on top. It is the same reason we tumble our small batches when we season them: even coverage, no naked kernels.
Choose a kernel that can carry it
Shape matters more than people think. Butterfly popcorn pops into delicate wings, and seasoning slides right off those thin edges. Mushroom kernels - the ones we use for every POPRUS jar - pop into big, round balls with more surface and no fragile points. More surface means more seasoning per bite, and a sturdier kernel means the seasoning stays put instead of rubbing off into dust.
Grind and balance
Working with plain or air-popped corn
If your popcorn comes from an air popper or a microwave bag, it lands dry, and dry popcorn is the hardest to season. A light drizzle of oil - even a teaspoon tossed through a big batch - gives the seasoning something to hold. Warm popcorn, a little oil, a covered container, a good shake: that is the whole trick.
Fine, even seasoning sticks better than coarse flakes, and a little goes a long way when it is well balanced. Start light, shake, taste, and add more. You can always add; you cannot un-salt.
If you want a shaker that was built for this, our Shawarma Popcorn Seasoning goes on popcorn, chicken, roasted potatoes - anything that stands still. From our family to yours.
