Hey all,
Been wanting to reduce the amount of waste I generate, and one small way I was thinking of doing so was perhaps by reheating the unpopped popcorn kernels that appear in the bottom of my bowl after making a batch with my air popper.
Would this be safe to do, or is it recommended against? I’d love to reuse them if possible and ensure I have no unneeded waste there, but I also want to make sure I’m not making myself sick by eating something I shouldn’t be.
Thanks in advance!
Why would you even think this was unsafe? What’s the concern? Are you talking about returning the unpopped kernels to storage and popping them later or do you mean right away?
Sometimes I get the time wrong on my microwave and wind up with a lot of unpopped kernels. So when I get to the bottom of the bowl and see how much extra there is, I put them back in. The only problem is you have to watch them carefully. They have a tendency to burn if you don’t stop cooking right when your running out.
I should probably note that in not popping microwave popcorn, I’m popping regular popcorn in a special bowl in the microwave.
What is this bowl it sounds like I need one
It’s called a Presto Powerpop by Orville Redenbocker. I’ve never posted a picture on Lemmy before. If you see it at the bottom of this post, you’ll know I was successful.
Anyway, there are a couple of concerns. First, it’s plastic so it may not be healthy. Second, you have to buy these little paper cards that fit in the bottom and are only good for a handful of pops before you have to replace them and ultimately buy more. Kind of like a printer with ink cartridges, you’re buying into replacements. Unlike printer cartridges, though, they are not expensive. I just buy in bulk. Third, only the bowl is machine washable, the bottom black part is not, but it doesn’t really need washing anyway.
If you’re concerned about the plastic, I used to pop in a brown paper bag. Just put about a teaspoon of oil in the bottom, about a quarter of a cup of popcorn and salt. Fold the bag once and put a staple in it. Don’t fold too much, air and steam need to escape. If you leave the staple out, a lot of times the popcorn overflows and comes out all over the microwave. No, a single staple will not destroy the world of you put it in a microwave.
Ok, let me try the pic:
It looks like it needs to be in the internet instead of my phone so here’s an Amazon link:
on Amazon
You can upload images from your device or embed one from a url like so 
Thank you.
Posting a link works the same way, just leave out the “!”.
That’s pretty rad 🤔 your concerns are deal breaks for me though.
I’m interested in the paper bag way, but did you say you put a staple in there? I was under the impression that you shouldn’t put metal in the microwave. You obviously know better than me if you’re doing it, I just want to make sure before I burn my house down.
Yeah it’s fine. I actually put two staples in, with a little gap between for the air and steam to come out. In a pinch you can leave the staples out but usually the pressure of the popcorn unrolls the bag and the popcorn comes out.
I’m actually an antenna engineer (radio frequency/microwave engineer) and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t fully understand it. I’ve seen actual metal racks that come with microwave ovens.
Theoretically what would happen is currents would flow on the surface of the metal to what we call the skin depth. Since the power level is high, those currents would generate heat. If it’s enough heat the metal could melt or even pop. When this happens it can cause a burn mark and mess up the finish of the interior.
The other effect would be that the microwaves will reflect off of the staple. Reflected waves shouldn’t really do anything except cause the wave to bounce around in the microwave, which they already do. The inside of the oven is metal after all.
I think they say not to do it because thin metals can melt or burn. Thick metals might reflect the waves away from where you want them so your food doesn’t cook. Otherwise I don’t see the harm but maybe I’m missing something. I design antennas, not microwave ovens, but from experience I haven’t ever had a problem with the staples.
Possibly one of those collapsible silicone popcorn popping bowls, I’ve also seen glass ones. I don’t like rubbery ones because mine started breaking down into sticky goo after a while, but maybe there are better ones available.
I have some glass bowls I’m going to try it later 👀👀