The microwave that came with my house is the first time I’ve ever had a microwave that had perfectly working popcorn setting. It has never burnt a bag of microwave popcorn.
Not all popcorn buttons are alike. Per Alec at Technology Connections, some microwaves merely engage a timer and in those microwaves following the instructions on the bag are probably better,. Others have a sensor that looks for the poof of steam that comes from the bag opening its vent. Based on how long it takes for that poof of steam to occur it can deduce the size of the bag and thus how much longer to cook for. On these microwaves I use the popcorn button.
There are many buttons on my microwave. I have paid no attention to any of them but I know hitting the one at the bottom-right makes numbers go up by 30s per boop, while food go warm.
My microwave popcorn recipe is:
- Put in
- Boop liberally so you know it’s over 5 mins, probably 4–5 days
- When popcorn pops average about one every 3s, start counting to five
- If you reach five, serve
That’s an ominous “if”…
The only preset button I use is the +30Seconds button, the rest are useless to me.
You don’t use the baby or snake presets?
Babies get roasted in the oven so they get crispy. And I am allergic to snakes, plus it’s not a full meal anyhow.
Ah. Sometimes when I’m lazy, I’ll use the baby one, but you’re right. Roasting in the oven is far superior.
