Alton Brown’s ‘Slightly Unorthodox’ Way of Making Homemade Kettle Corn: ‘It Isn’t an Elegant Hack’

Make kettle corn at home with Alton Brown’s kettle corn hack. The longtime Food Network star, who has shared many cooking hacks through the years, makes kettle corn in just 10 minutes. And, perhaps best of all, he does so without a popcorn maker or kettle. Instead, Brown gets help from a metal bowl and the sound of kernels popping.

Alton Brown’s kettle corn hack: use a metal bowl

Brown explained his kettle corn hack on his official website. He shared his homemade kettle corn recipe, providing details on why a metal bowl gets the job done. 

“This is my hack for making sweet and salty country fair popcorn at home,” he said. The cookbook author went on, saying, “temperature control is key, and the eponymous vessel goes a long way toward making this miracle possible.” 

“As I don’t own a large copper kettle, I employ a slightly unorthodox method that entails popping a small amount of corn and using that audible as a prompt to add the remaining kernels along with the sugar,” he explained. “It’s not an elegant hack, but it gets me where I want to go: back to the windy roads around Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”

On an episode of his cooking show, Good Eats, Brown went into even more detail. Making a batch of his “perfect popcorn,” he described a “heavy gauge” six-quart stainless steel mixing bowl as the “perfect popcorn popper.” 

“The oil and unpopped kernels pool at the bottom where the heat is the greatest,” he said as he pointed to a diagram on a chalkboard. He continued, saying “popped kernels rise up the sides, away from the heat so that they don’t burn.” 

“And, of course, once the popping has concluded and the vessel is allowed to briefly cool it can be used as a serving platform,” he added. 

Keeping the bowl moving is essential, according to Alton Brown

Dancing is part of Brown’s kettle corn hack. Well, sort of. The Food Network star explained on Good Eats that once the bowl’s over the heat, and covered in foil, it has to be in constant motion. Hence his so-called “popcorn dance.” 

“45 seconds to a minute will go by and nothing is going to happen. Doesn’t matter if you’re cooking on gas or electric it’s just the way it is,” he said. “But it is important that you keep the vessel in motion so that the heat can evenly build around the kernels.” 

Brown continued, explaining that when the popping slows down that’s the signal to shake the bowl faster. “That will keep the popped pieces from burning and help the few remaining kernels to get the heat that they so badly need,” he said. 

How to make kettle corn with Alton Brown 

Brown’s kettle corn hack is part of a four-step process to make homemade kettle corn. He begins by putting a neutral oil (his recipe calls for canola) in a metal mixing bowl with mushroom popcorn kernels. Then he covers the bowl with heavy-duty aluminum foil before poking holes in the top to allow steam to escape. 

Then he does the “popcorn dance,” putting the bowl on the stove and using tongs to keep it moving. Next is Brown’s kettle corn hack. When he hears the kernels have popped, he adds what’s left of the kernels, sugar, and salt. 

He puts the foil back on the bowl and continues shaking the bowl until the popcorn’s done popping. Finally, he takes the bowl off the stove and stirs in chili powder. 

How to make Alton Brown’s popcorn salt

Brown doesn’t skip salting popcorn. “I am all about letting the flavor of the kernel come through but, let’s face it, there are few things on earth that you could put in your mouth that are more disappointing than saltless popcorn,” he said. 

His salt of choice is popcorn salt, or pickling salt, a fine salt that he finds adheres to the popcorn’s “nooks and crannies” well.

The directions for making it are simple. Brown puts kosher salt in a food processor. Then he  does three, 10-second pulses to “pulverize it.”