YSK: If you make popcorn in a pot on the stove, the oil to use is ghee.

Ghee, or Indian-style clarified butter, is butter that's been simmered and the milk solids (proteins and sugars) skimmed off. This leaves a clear yellow oil that doesn't smoke when it's heated and doesn't go rancid quickly, but has a distinct toasty butter flavor.

Popcorn fans often want a buttery flavor, but plain butter is a bad choice for popping popcorn in a pot, because the proteins and sugars smoke and burn around the same temperature where it's hot enough to pop the kernels.

Vegetable oil is either flavorless or faintly bitter, and some high-temperature vegetable oils tend to start polymerizing (i.e. becoming plastic) when heated in small amounts. This is also not good for popcorn.

Good-quality popcorn popped in ghee reliably produces lots of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn#/media/File:Mushroom_and_butterfly_popcorn.jpg with few unpopped "duds" and no scorched kernels or batches ruined by smoke.

Try it! I'm sure not going back to canola oil.

parmesancrabs,
@parmesancrabs@lemmy.ml avatar

After reading this post a few days back, I was inspired to get some Ghee and try it out. Absolutely delicious, thank you @fubo!

JusticeForPorygon,
@JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world avatar

Coconut oil

Takina_sOldPairTM,
@Takina_sOldPairTM@lemmy.world avatar

Is this a protip to make popcorn more enjoyable when Reddit goes to shit on the 1st of July? 😅

So store bought ready to pop microwaveable “buttered” popcorn is not with ghee, right?

ohmyiv,
@ohmyiv@lemmy.world avatar

No, it’s not made with ghee. Microwave popcorn “butter” is typically artificially flavored oil.

Amro,
@Amro@kbin.social avatar

@fubo
I agree. Ghee is very nice for popcorn. And for everyone who isn't into milk products, vegetable ghee has the same qualities and flavor profile.

xuxebiko,

what is vegetable ghee?

Amro,
@Amro@kbin.social avatar

@xuxebiko https://roshnisanghvi.com/blogs/nutrition-tips/top-3-vegan-butter-or-ghee-alternatives
Next time use a search engine of your choice

@fubo

xuxebiko,

None of them are ghee. They're all interesterified vegetable fat/ oils with ghee flavour added calling themselves "vegan ghee" to con the gulllible.

There's no harm in being vegan, but it is foolish to fall for unhealthy products because they brand themelves as vegan/ vegetable-based.
Stick to vegetable oils but ffs don't call them ghee.

Interesterified oils increase heart-disease risk by lowering HDL (good) cholesterol and raising LDL (bad) cholesterol, (like trans fats do). And they increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by raising fasting blood-glucose levels and decreasing insulin response. They also increase liver cellular stress markers.

Look up the effects of interesterified vegetable fat/ oils on a search engine of your choice and then read their labels before recommending them.

Amro,
@Amro@kbin.social avatar

@xuxebiko
I'm no expert in these matters. But I can't imagine ghee (clarified butter) being very healthy either in large quantities. If you are vegan (which I'm not) this a way to taste the op's popcorn suggestion. I get the feeling you already had an opinion on the whole ghee/fake vegan ghee thing. And al I can say is, in the Indian cuisine, with a relatively large vegan population, fake ghee is a thing. Not some hipster hype.
This was about taste and cooking. Not about health.
@fubo

xuxebiko,

India does not have a 'large vegan populatiion', it has a large 'vegetarian' population with milk, yoghurt (we call it curd/ dahi), paneer (cottage cheese), and ghee a part of the daily diet. Vegetable fat/ oils used in cooking instead of ghee are usually either raw or filtered or refined. Interestified vegetable oil/ fat is a relatively new product and is used by FMCG co.s as a replacement for palm oil in their products. Interestified vegetable oil also tastes nothing like ghee. Don't take my word for it, try it out yourself.

Any Indian touting vegan ghee will get laughed out of their home and get told to use the real thing.

nihilist_hippie,
@nihilist_hippie@lemmy.world avatar

Ghee sounds awesome for popcorn! I use refined coconut oil and Flavacol at the moment.

clueless_stoner,
@clueless_stoner@lemmy.world avatar

Coconut oil for popcorn?! How does that affect the taste?

nihilist_hippie,
@nihilist_hippie@lemmy.world avatar

You must use refined coconut oil. As long as it is refined, there is no coconut flavor. It basically just tastes like theatre popcorn, because that’s what they use. They just use a fancier version that has beta-carotene in it, for a nice yellow coloring.

tanin,

I've always just used avocado oil. Sometimes coconut oil but that obviously leaves a faint hint of coconut that not everyone likes. I'll try ghee next time but I never heard of anyone trying to make pop corn with just butter in the pan. That sounds like a mistake folks only make once! lol

RalphTheDog,

The makers of my commercial-grade popper recommend coconut oil. Like you, I am interested in trying ghee. It’s good to just have a bottle of that stuff handy for lots of things.

Stabbywithsocks1,

I think ghee is clarified butter.

themeatbridge,

They are pretty much the same thing. Clarified butter can be skimmed as soon as the milk solids begin to separate. Ghee is cooked until the solids become browned and settle to the bottom, giving it more of a nutty flavor.

jakwithoutac,

For any dairy intolerant or vegan people here you can get a similar effect by clarifying a vegetable spread like Flora and adding salt until it tastes ‘buttery’ enough for you

OsakaWilson,

We use non-virgin olive oil. High smoke point, but good flavor.

elrac,
@elrac@kbin.social avatar

I tried ghee, it tasted awful. Butter flavored coconut oil is where it's at.

toxicbubble,

YSK: Cows are raped & slaughtered for butter

Neb,

explain

ipha,
@ipha@lemmy.world avatar

In order for a cow to produce milk it must be pregnant or recently pregnant, then once it gets older and starts producing less milk it will be slaughtered.

the more you know!

Neb,

is - in your opinion - artificial insemination equal to rape?

ipha,
@ipha@lemmy.world avatar

no.

Neb,

then something here doesnt make sense

Deceptichum,
@Deceptichum@kbin.social avatar

Maybe it’s the lack of consent?

Neb,

maybe. maybe the topic is more complex than that.

Are cows raped for butter? always? is it the same degree of awfulness if a cow gets 'raped' in a industrial plant or if a cow gets mounted by a bull in a field? is 'rape' even a term that can be used to describe actions that are done to or by animals? Or should it be used for humans only? is it disrespectful to human victims of rape to use the same words to describe something that happened to an animal? Are cows slaughtered for butter? every cow that produced milk that was used to make butter? How many people could the death of a cow benefit before it becomes a morally correct thing to do? What is a cows life worth? Would stopping to breed cows and thus a collapsing overall world-population of cows be something good or something bad? Or is it in between somewhere? Who defines even what is morally correct and what isnt?

Im not trying to be an asshole or anything (i know it seems like it here), but I dont think writing

Cows are raped & slaughtered for butter the more you know!

with a slightly condescending undertone on a messageboard thread about popcorn is the smartest way to go about this

ZaroniPepperoni,
@ZaroniPepperoni@lemmy.world avatar

YSK: I did not ask

Dark_Blade,
@Dark_Blade@lemmy.world avatar

…holy shit you’re a genius.

justhach,
@justhach@lemmy.world avatar

**gheenius

dojan,
@dojan@lemmy.world avatar

Ugh. That was so bad. I love that for you.

thesalamander,

Never tried Ghee. I usually use canola, coconut, or bacon grease. I'm up for more buttery flavor though. Thanks!

metalcheems,
@metalcheems@lemmy.world avatar

Bacon grease sounds incredible. How much of the flavor ends up in the popcorn?

thesalamander,

It's subtle, but I only use just enough to pop the kernels. I also have a jar of it by the stove most of the time.

minimar,

Sounds a bit like that bacon popcorn...

lolola,
@lolola@lemmy.world avatar

Don't some companies sell "popcorn oil"? What is that made of?

ohmyiv,
@ohmyiv@lemmy.world avatar

Oil and artificial flavors. I've tried a lot of them and none of them have a "real" butter flavor. It's more of a greasy feel than taste.

KreekyBonez,

soybean oil, usually. and diacetyl can be added as a buttery flavoring.

fun fact: diacetyl inhaled in large enough doses can cause bronchitis. this was a problem in popcorn topping factories, hence the term "popcorn lung"

lnm225,

smacks forehead

That is a great idea! Coconut oil was ok,but kinda odd-flavored for popcorn ...

acupofcoffee,

Since ghee is so expensive, I usually do coconut oil and ghee mixed!

I love ghee on my stovetop popcorn! A wok works great!

deviant,

Dude, my mom makes ghee out of milk. It costs literally nothing

BaroqueInMind,
@BaroqueInMind@kbin.social avatar

That's not true because you still have to buy the milk.

Fondots,

Not if you’re a mom 😉

xuxebiko,

to make ghee at home costs lots of milk, time, and effort. Try making ghee yourself from cratch and you'll know exactly how much it really costs.

blueskiesoc,
@blueskiesoc@lemmy.world avatar

Go to youtube and watch how to make ghee. It's quite simple. I use butter to make mine. I won't buy expensive storebought again because it's so cheap and simple to make.

rDrDr,

Sorry for the hijack, but the post I see above this comment is some baseball scores. Twins @ Braves. Using Lemmy.world in a web browser. What's going on?

This is the URL: https://lemmy.world/post/661229?scrollToComments=true

minimar,

It's another websocket related bug that's already been fixed! lemmy.world is currently out of date, however. If you want to get rid of it, either wait for Ruud to push the update, or switch instances.

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