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Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

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Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#181

Post by zavertnik »

InvaderFizz wrote: post #33

Best popcorn you can make is cheap and easy cleanup. Take one large pot (the kind that holds like 10qts). Cover the bottom with kernels. Add a bit of oil, basically just enough to swirl and have everything covered in an oil sheen, not enough to have them submerged. Cover, put on high (I use gas). I like to suspend a paper towel between the lid and the rest of the pot, absorbs excess oil and water. Once popping slows,…

I love movie theater popcorn so I often try to get that exact experience at home. The biggest leap in quality for me is using a tall pot and a colander on top, it achieves the same goal as your paper towel between the lid-- getting that excess moisture out of the pot really makes all the difference!

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#182

Post by philshem »

Let's not forget about the butter flavoring, aka Diacetyl:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/flavorings/exposure.html#:~....

> In a plant where workers with uncontrolled exposures to butter-flavoring chemicals in microwave popcorn production had rapidly developed severe, irreversible lung disease, increased ventilation and isolation of flavor sources in mixing, holding tanks, and microwave popping decreased the risk for most workers.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115208/

> Man Wins $7 Million In Suit Claiming Microwave Popcorn Caused Lung Disease

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/09/20/161489994/ma...

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#183

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

askvictor wrote: post #89
InvaderFizz wrote: post #33

Best popcorn you can make is cheap and easy cleanup. Take one large pot (the kind that holds like 10qts). Cover the bottom with kernels. Add a bit of oil, basically just enough to swirl and have everything covered in an oil sheen, not enough to have them submerged. Cover, put on high (I use gas). I like to suspend a paper towel between the lid and the rest of the pot, absorbs excess oil and water. Once popping slows,…

Out of interest, why do you prefer a salt grinder? I've never understood why these exist. Pepper grinders, absolutely - the aromatics are released on grinding. By not so with salt. Curious if I'm missing something.

Just that they use chemicals to keep the salt seperate.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#184

Post by heeen2 »

GrooveSAN wrote: post #101
hosteur wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For pop corn you need fine grained salt. A grinder lets you control that. It is only about the grain sizes. Nothing about freshness with salt. With pepper it is about freshly releases aromatics.

I’ve never found a salt grinder able to sustain the salt corrosion in the long run. Sooner or later, salt is aggregating and turning even the more resistant parts into rust. I was recently planning to get back to a regular pestle/mortar setup after yet another costly failure. Did you manage to find a way to work this around?

we use a cheap ikea grinder, it has ceramic burrs and has undergone countless refills and dishwasher cycles.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#185

Post by kuschku »

bboygravity wrote: post #137
vladvasiliu wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my neck of the woods, unground salt is much, much cheaper than ground. Ground salt can basically be only found coming in a plastic dispenser. It could be argued that throwing all these plastic containers away isn't great for the environment. I only realize that I've never thought of comparing, but I've got the habit of using unground salt when cooking. My grandmother used to do this for some reason, so I picked it…

Portuguese kitching uses a lot of coarse salt. A 1 kilo bag is like 0,23 EUR

500g of fine table salt is 9¢, so the price doesn't really matter tbh.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#186

Post by sideproject »

An oncologist in my family anecdotally told me how her patients are getting younger and younger - speculates (with research) that lots of food chemicals might be contributing.

Since the beginning of this year, our family has been much more conscious of the ingredients in the food labels. Lots of additives with many different numbers. We've been trying to get back to more natural things with less numbers. We bought breadmaker and started making our own bread (fun and messy). Bought a second hand ice cream maker (fun, tedious, but yum). Never knew how simple popcorn making was! Lots of colours of vegetables, home-grown spring onions. Our grocery bills on vegetables and fruits went up sharply. But it went down on crackers, chocolates and other things sharply.

I don't feel anything - but it helps me to think that I'm eating less numbers.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#187

Post by hilbert42 »

InvaderFizz wrote: post #33

Best popcorn you can make is cheap and easy cleanup. Take one large pot (the kind that holds like 10qts). Cover the bottom with kernels. Add a bit of oil, basically just enough to swirl and have everything covered in an oil sheen, not enough to have them submerged. Cover, put on high (I use gas). I like to suspend a paper towel between the lid and the rest of the pot, absorbs excess oil and water. Once popping slows,…

"Cover, put on high (I use gas)."

Microwave is also fine, I just use a Pyrex bowl put in kernels and cover with a non-metal plate. The plate is necessary or they end up everywhere except the bowl.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#188

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #180
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have experimented with various techniques: huge pot, wok, air popper, silicone bowls. The silicone bowls are by far the best. Big consistent, crisp pops. Minimal waste, you can even repop the unopposed kernels. But easy to burn if you are not careful. Air poppers are by far the worst. The pop corn always came out like styrofoam. I’d bite into the popcorn and it would just flatten. I don’t believe the comments about…

Oil helps distribute heat more evenly. Makes sense to me that this might make the popping more consistent.

The only time you don’t add oil is with an air popper. It does not guarantee results by itself.

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#189

Post by Rnonymous »

sideproject wrote: post #186

An oncologist in my family anecdotally told me how her patients are getting younger and younger - speculates (with research) that lots of food chemicals might be contributing. Since the beginning of this year, our family has been much more conscious of the ingredients in the food labels. Lots of additives with many different numbers. We've been trying to get back to more natural things with less numbers. We bought br…

Ironically the pans in breadmakers are always(afaik) non-stick, based on the same PFAS chemicals.

Not that im saying you should avoid using a bread maker, but it doesn't avoid all chemicals...

Re: Eating microwave popcorn increases the level of PFAS in body (2022)

#190

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

exmadscientist wrote: post #152
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have experimented with various techniques: huge pot, wok, air popper, silicone bowls. The silicone bowls are by far the best. Big consistent, crisp pops. Minimal waste, you can even repop the unopposed kernels. But easy to burn if you are not careful. Air poppers are by far the worst. The pop corn always came out like styrofoam. I’d bite into the popcorn and it would just flatten. I don’t believe the comments about…

> I don’t believe the comments about getting minimal un-popped kernels using a pot, by just swirling around a bit of oil. Sounds like baloney to me. It works, though! I use an ordinary 3qt pot (Cuisinart MCP193-18N, if it matters; this is a tri-ply pot). Choose enough kernels to make a single layer on the bottom of the pot (that's about 1/2 cup for this one, if I'm remembering correctly... I'm usually on autopilot do…

Maybe it’s my pot.

I took or adapted my stove top method from Alton Brown. And it works on every wok so far.

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