Hello!

Happy international troll day.

Edit: thanks for the replies! ♥

Today I would like to discuss a topic that affects trillions of people worldwide...and that is popcorn directions. So microwaves come with a popcorn setting, but the instructions on the bag of popcorn tell me not to use it. Which of these two do you think gives the better instructions?

I go with the microwave. Popcorn is basically the same formula. The only difference between brands is how much butter (and maybe salt) the manufacturer put on it. Microwave manufacturers don't need to account for different permutations of popcorn. There's the popcorn kernel, and when it heats up it pops. That's it.

Microwaves have more differences between brands, or even different models under the same brand. The people who made the popcorn instructions don't know the wattage of microwave I am using. They don't know the amount of time my appliance gives to popping the corn. It's impossible for them to know anything about my machine. The company who made the microwave will have a better understanding of my device. They will adjust the microwave settings to cook the popcorn perfectly. In summary: the popcorn setting on the microwave is better because Chef Mike understands the popcorn, but the popcorn doesn't understand Chef Mike.

I know this is a controversial subject. Please be remain civil with your replies.

Popcorn bags are a very intricate and complex design. They are studied to adapt to every microwave in the market so that you will always get a good amount of both raw seeds and burnt popcorns, regardless the oven model or wattage settings.
You can't fight against it.

The bag, if it gives detailed info for the wattage and style of your particular machine. The brand I buy has a detailed table on the back for you to work out how long for your particular wattage machine.

It really depends on the product. Some brands only give guidance for 800watt machines which are the low end of machines on our market.

The microwave manufacturer does NOT know intimately the product you buy - levels of salt, types of oils, thickness of the bag etc. Nor does it know the quality of the corn makes up the popcorn - if the moisture level inside the kernel isn't "perfect" it impacts on popping time and volume of the puffed corn. The manufacturer of the popcorn should test a variety of wattage microwaves including inverter tech if it's serious about offering the best result for the customer.

Never use the popcorn button. There are so many variables that impact the speed that popcorn cooks at, both environmental and with the popcorn itself. You're going to get the best results if you listen to it cooking at stop when the pops are approaching two seconds apart (or whatever the bag tells you to do)

I never really noticed microwaves with settings for popcorn, nor have I purchased microwave popcorn. Hence, I'm the perfect person to contribute to this thread!

That is a very pertinent question you bring to the table. I'd say you should try both options and see if you notice any difference. Then go with the one you prefer. Otherwise, stick with the one most convenient to you.

The second option is sticking with the instructions in the bag. If the bag recognizes the existence of (sub-optimal) instructions given by microwave ovens -- and the converse is not true -- then they should be given priority.

Ideally the food packaging would bring a QR code that describes the optimal heating curve as a function of wattage, your microwave oven would read it and adjust itself to provide the best heating it can provide, and accounting the temperatures, keep it warm until you take out the food.

Huh. We have microwave popcorn in the UK, but I've never seen a popcorn button on a microwave in over 30 years. They must be replacing the popcorn button with some other preset, but I'd have to see pictures of US and UK variants of the same model to know what it's turning into. :/

Most of the microwave popcorn brands are best popped for 3:15 in a standard Wattage microwave. Only had one that wasn't. That one was best at three minutes.

Wow. The brand I use finishes popping before 2:10 in our 1100 watt inverter.

And having a quick look at a retailer over here, ovens range from 700 to 2100 watts, so I'm not sure "standard" is a good word given the retail market varies so much.

Scorched popcorn ain't so bad. It's more of an acquired taste. That's a good point. I didn't realize there were other factors to consider, like moisture.

I used the microwave to set the flour on a bread bun on fire.

My microwave doesn't have a popcorn setting however. I let it run at 700W until only few corns pop.

I remember the microwaves at my old workplace lunchroom. All the stains in them probably gives them more flavour. This calls for some detective work. The standard setup (from what I've seen) is pizza, defrost, potato, and beverage. By process of elimination, whatever is next on your microwave oven label is what the popcorn setting used to be.

I think I'll try that next time. My microwave popcorn setting is 1:45. the bag says 1:30 to 2:30.
Microwaves do weird things. Did you know you can create plasma by microwaving a grape?

Yep.

Try to unfreze croissants with marmalade / jelly and then not burn your tongue whne eating them :D

Just use a large (sauce) pan (and a little oil/butter) with a glass lid on top of your cooker hob/stove, and shake, shake, shake, until everything's popped...