Jiffy Pop Food Review

Remember those days when you would get a group of friends together, wait for your parents to leave, and then turn on a scary movie?  I used to do that.  The VHS would be on PLAY and the 1996 movie "Scream" would be on your box screen TV.  Drew Barrymore was the leading actress, of course.  You're huddled together with friends, freaking out. "Don't answer the phone, Drew. Don't do it!"  The creeper keeps calling repetitively (stalking her). The killer is coming.  They put on the deep scary music which intensifies the movie.  The stalker asking Drew personal questions when she is home alone -- just like us!  Anyone with any sense would not answer his calls, but Drew Barrymore answers the phone again anyway.  "Don't listen to him...Stop...Don't open the door!" By then everyone is on the verge of screaming and freaking out, hoping Drew Barrymore doesn't die.  Instead of being freaked out, Barrymore is calmly making herself some stove top Jiffy Pop popcorn (no microwave needed).

I'm pulling the tab to open the Jiffy Pop container.  Underneath are the instructions.

In ancient times there was not such a thing as a microwave? Unbelievable.  In the ancient days, they made popcorn on the stove. We heated the popcorn and shook the pan.  Shaking the kernels keeps them from burning or sticking.  When you cook over the stove top, you have to shake popcorn? What?  That's so much effort.  Why not buy microwave popcorn, put the popcorn right side up and press 2 minutes on the microwave? It's faster.  It's buttery and salty, lots of fatty goodness.  Stove top popcorn can take up to 15 minutes to pop, unreal.  That's so slow.  Jiffy Pop must take so long to cook.  Wouldn't it be better to pop popcorn in the microwave.  We have the technology now.  Why don't we use it? I'm going to tell you why not.

Our interest in Jiffy Pop started when we watched "Scream" on Netflix.  Here is a clip from the movie "Scream."
Skip to 1:05 for the first Jiffy Pop intro.

What's your favorite scary movie?

The instructions for the Jiffy Pop did not work. I thought they were more for marketing purposes than for cooking popcorn. The directions say to pop the Jiffy Pop on Medium Low for 2 to 5 minutes.  Let me tell you, it took more like 15 minutes.  It took 5 minutes for the stove to heat up.  When we got the stove to Medium Low, it was so low that it didn't pop the popcorn, it just sizzled for 5 minutes.  We moved the Jiffy Pop in a circular motion over the stove top with no success.  I figured, "The heat is too low. This isn't working," and put the heat up to MEDIUM.  Moments later we hear the desired popping sound.  When the popcorn popped, the tin foil top on the Jiffy Pop started to raise.  When the tin foil raised, we were in awe. That was the fun part.  Once the popping noise stopped, I figured that all of the popcorn that was going to pop had already popped so I took it off the stove top.

Here is a video of what happened.  I was multi-tasking.  I had to video and shake the Jiffy Pop.  The video is completely shaken, but you can still get a good picture of what happens.

Omg.  I tore off the aluminum top.  Wasn't that popcorn beautiful?

It says to open the Jiffy Pop tin foil top with a fork.  That made no sense to me at all. I cut open the Jiffy Pop foil with a knife.  I wasn't happy with the instructions.  It's not for small children to cook because they can burn themselves on the oven (that or I'm just a paranoid parent).  When the popcorn is finished, they could cut or burn themselves opening the top of the Jiffy Pop container.  I would recommend that a an adult do the cooking with Jiffy Pop.  There are some safety issues with Jiffy Pop.

Jiffy Pop Flavor
When comparing regular microwave popcorn verses stove top popcorn, there is no comparison.  Stove top popcorn wins.  Jiffy Pop is crunchier and has more natural flavor.  In my opinion, microwaved popcorn is soft and mushy; it's overly buttered and overly salted to deceive a consumer into thinking that it tastes good.  It doesn't taste good at all.  It's greasy, salty and nasty.  If I wanted butter and salt on my popcorn, I would add it myself.  When I cook popcorn, I don't want an overly salted bowl of mush with artificial flavored butter.  Jiffy Pop has that crunch.  I did taste some salt, but not very much.  Despite the wrapper, I didn't taste any butter flavor.  I have both salt and butter in my kitchen.  I cannot believe how some companies even call artificially flavored butter food.  To me, powdered butter just sounds disgusting.  I have butter in my refrigerator.  If I wanted to butter my popcorn I would.

Jiffy Pop for Camping Trips
Jiffy Pop is great for camping.  Although it cannot be used on a campfire, if a person brings an propane or electric stove top, they can make Jiffy Pop on their camping trip.  It's easy to pack because you don't need to carry an additional pan.  You just place the Jiffy Pop container on the camping stove top.  It works.  I would definitely recommend Jiffy Pop for a fun camping experience. Jiffy Pop was fun to watch pop.  I forgot how much fun this was. I think everyone should try the Jiffy Pop experience.

Keep reading. Until next time.
Love,
Lissa