My Microwave Won't Pop Popcorn

Few cooking tasks are less demanding than popping popcorn, especially if you do it in a microwave oven. Microwavable popcorn usually comes in a sealed bag, and if you follow the microwave popcorn instructions, you should get a bagful of fluffy snackables in the time it takes for the movie credits to run. If the microwave is not popping popcorn, it could be the fault of the microwave, the popcorn or your microwave corn popping technique.

According to GE Appliances, the minimum microwave power necessary for popping popcorn is 500 watts, which most units can achieve if you set the dial or digital control to at least half power. The Defrost setting won't cut it, so if you've just finished defrosting your dinner prior to putting it in the oven, be sure to reset the microwave before you put in the popcorn. The power a microwave can produce depends on its size, so if you have a compact microwave made for an RV, it might not be able to muster the power to pop popcorn no matter what you do.

One of the first things every cook learns in Popcorn 101 is the reason popcorn pops. Each popcorn kernel has a bead of moisture inside that turns to steam and breaks the outer shell with a loud pop when the required temperature is maintained for a long enough period. When popcorn sits for years in your cupboard, it goes stale by drying out and losing this moisture, and when this happens, you can't get satisfying results, even when cooking it on the stove.

The results are worse in a microwave, which cooks by stimulating water molecules to produce heat. If there's no moisture in the popcorn, it won't even get hot. You can illustrate this for yourself by putting a dry stick and a wet one in the microwave, cooking them for a minute and feeling which one gets hot. It won't be the dry one.

Many manufacturers, such as Samsung, include sensors in their microwaves that automatically shut off power when the food is cooked. The Samsung microwave popcorn sensor, and others like it, work by detecting the steam from the popped corn. If the popcorn is stale, there won't be any steam, and the microwave might not shut off by itself and will waste electricity.

You can find any number of microwave popcorn poppers, and all of them have lids. You seldom need to purchase one, however, because you can do as good a job using a bowl and a plate or, even easier, a paper bag. All of these implements, like the expandable foil wrapper that comes with microwavable popcorn, create a seal that allows the steam released by the popping kernels to circulate and heat the ones that haven't popped yet.

If you put popcorn in an uncovered bowl and place that in the microwave, the likely outcome is popcorn kernels not fully popping. Some of them, particularly the ones nearest the outside of the bowl, will reach the temperature for liftoff, but the steam they generate will dissipate. The ones closer to the center of the popcorn mass often remain popcorn larvae. You might break your tooth biting down on one.

Always follow your microwave popcorn instructions to get the best results and enjoy the fact that you can cook popcorn in a microwave without oil, so it's healthier. Moreover, microwaves are a nonlocalized energy source that won't burn the kernels already popped. Just be careful when taking the popcorn out of the microwave, because the steam the popping kernels generate can scald you.