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

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141–150 of 430 posts

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

#141
post #135

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,…

10 quarts = 11.3 l I had no idea that a quart is about a litre.

The other one that threw me is how am I supposed to measure 1/8th cup of butter?

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

#142

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.

I prefer course grained and no anti caking agents or iodine added.

It's nothing special, some no-name Himalayan pink salt in a plastic grinder.

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

#143
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s way too much work. Buy big bag of organic Amish baby corn. Buy a silicone popcorn maker. Toss a handful of popcorn in with some olive oil. Microwave for 3.5 minutes or until you hear only 2 pops a second. Sprinkle with salt. Done. Also a $20 bag will probably make more than a hundred bowls.

It's really no different. Take a pot, toss in a handful of popcorn with some oil. Turn on stove for a couple of minutes until pops subside. Sprinkle with salt. Done. I never bothered with the butter etc, though maybe I should.

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 getting minimal un-popped kernels using a pot, by just swirling around a bit of oil. Sounds like baloney to me. Results are good but waste is relatively high in a flat bottomed pot.

The best vessel for stove top is a metal container with a curved bottom - wok, large metal bowl. Add popcorn and oil as normal. Heat for about a minute. Turn the heat off. Stir the kernels for 30s to a minute to let the heat even out. Turn the heat back on and cover. As they pop shake the container to help the kernels settle to the bottom. The same technique can be used in a normal pot, but the heat distribution is not as good.

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

#144
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

pre-ground salt often contains sugar (as an ingredient, it's on the package).

Yeah, no. I'm really going need to see some evidence for this.

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

#145

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

Also can't make good brownies without big salt crystals. Or pretzels.

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

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’ve never found a salt grinder able to sustain the salt corrosion in the long run There are ceramic grinders now. I'd expect those to not rust, but I don't know how long they stay sharp.

You can make ceramics harder than the hardest steel so staying sharp shouldn’t be a problem.

I've had ceramic salt grinders for years now. Anecdotally you're right, never thought about replacing them.

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

#148

> people who ate microwave popcorn every day over the course of a year had levels of PFAS that were up to 63% higher than average. You're probably fine if you have microwave popcorn once a fortnight, tho as other said you can use a pan or pot just fine.

Eating microwave popcorn every single day seems kind of insane lol

Until you realise that it's probably kids coming home from school and microwaving popcorn while both of their parents are at work still.

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

#149
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pre-ground salt often contains sugar (as an ingredient, it's on the package).

What? They sell salt with added sugar in the US!?!?

It must be a special kind because Morton's the most popular brand of table in the USA has salt and calcium silicate, no sugar at all, 0.

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

#150

Fast food also. Not shocking since it’s all served in grease-blocking packaging. It’s always depressing to eat inside a fast food restaurant, where they wrap all of your food in chemically treated packaging you almost immediately discard since it’s presumably cheaper and simpler than having washable dishes.

Take heart, because all the dishes and silverware in an upscale restaurant are likewise coated in contact poison. The reason being is that kitchens don't have the patience to air-dry their dishes, so they use chemical drying agents. These drying agents are toxic and they tend to leave a residue everywhere. So enjoy your fast food and know that you are in good company, no matter the number of Michelin stars.

I'm sympathetic to this point of view but unless we're linking these so called toxins with a worse outcome how can we know they're actually causing harm? In all likelihood we'll die of a heart attack before any amount of toxins give us super cancer or whatever.
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