Parmesan Popcorn

Almost a year ago, I wrote about my new Cuisinart Popcorn Maker.  This popcorn maker is an electric version of a Whirly Pop.  Unlike hot air poppers, the Cuisinart popcorn maker uses a hot plate with stirring rod so the popcorn is fluffy and tender, never dried out.  Popcorn is one of our favourite snacks at home.  It is high in fiber, low in calories and quite economical if not the cheapest snack to make at home.

Popping corn is cheaper and healthier than microwave popcorn that should be avoided due to health risks.  A 1 kg (1,000 g) bag of yellow popping corn costs $1.49.  A ¼ cup (50 g) of unpopped corn is used for each 5½ cup batch giving 20 batches (110 cups) of popcorn per kilogram bag at a cost of 7.4¢ per batch.  Homemade popcorn is considerably less expensive than store bought potato chips, pretzels and cheese or caramel popcorn.  It can easily be made into candy corn, caramel corn or seasoned as desired at a fraction of the cost of store bought. 

Popcorn is so easy to make either on the stovetop or using a popcorn maker.  Our grandkids are ages four, three and two.  They love watching popcorn pop.  The oldest one could easily operate an hot air popcorn maker with supervision. 
Our favourite way to enjoy popcorn is simply seasoned with butter and sea salt. Omitting the salt then shaking the hot popcorn with fresh grated parmesan cheese gives yummy, full flavoured results with a lower sodium content than using salt.  Unsalted butter can be used to further reduce the sodium if desired.  Parmesan cheese has a natural saltiness combined with the rich cheese flavour so omitting salt and using unsalted butter won't give a noticeable flavourful reduction.