Do you know how to Jiffy Pop? Gift to Cambria Historical Society triggers popcorn memories
I was cleaning out a popcorn popping machine to donate to the Cambria Historical Society recently when I had vivid flashbacks to my upbringing and raising my offspring.
The Orville Redenbacher Fountain Popper is a hot-air, junior version of the ubiquitous, heftier devices found in theater concession stands, carnivals and even hardware stores.
Those pro poppers had big metal chambers to hold the butter-flavored oil and corn kernels, but Orville’s has a smaller plastic one.
Now that my kids are grown, my son/housemate Brian and I don’t need anything that elaborate. Pity.
On the rare occasions when we feel like popping some corn, the microwave works just fine. If I’m feeling really strong, nostalgic and ambitious, I can shake the corn on the stove in a heavy, lidded pan.
Cambria held Heritage Day festival
I’m hoping the historical society can use the popper at its various festivals and events, such as Heritage Day.
The free, family-oriented festival happened Saturday, May 27, at the Cambria Historical Museum and Heirloom Gardens. It featured live music, demonstrations of old-time skills and crafts, food, drinks and more.
This year, the historical society added popcorn popping to the long list of fun offerings.
My mind leaps back several decades to another popping method: Jiffy Pop.
Remember that? Even in these days of microwave ovens, air fryers and Instant Pots, Jiffy Pop is still fun to do. It’s also an easy, lightweight, great option for popping corn over a campfire or fire pit.
How to Jiffy Pop
In case you’ve been Jiffy Pop deprived, poor soul, here’s how it has worked since 1959: Kernels are encased in the equivalent of a foil pie pan covered by tightly twisted and anchored foil wrap. The foil serves as the lid and the rapidly expanding, popping containment device.
I remember so well seeing my mom shaking the Jiffy Pop, then trying to do it myself. Later, my wide-eyed kids watched the magic as the foil expanded hugely when heated kernels popped up and hit it hard.
The crinkled lid that started out level with the top of the foil pan turns into a tall spherical cap filled with popped corn.
The wire handle provides a good grip on the contraption so you can constantly shake it, vigorously, while the corn pops away on the stove.
You should wear an oven mitt when Jiffy popping, because the wire handle heats up, too.
Slash the sphere, add butter and salt and it was foil-wrapped nirvana with an incredible aroma.
Sure, you could be fancy and pour it into a bowl, but where was the fun in that?
Popcorn making fails
My mom and my kids were masters at Jiffy popping. Me? Not so much.
One time, I somehow had pierced the foil before the popping started.
We were finding popped kernels for weeks in some unlikely spot — far, far away from the stove.
Inevitably, no matter how vigorously I shook the pan or how soon I took it off the stove, some of my popcorn always burned.
If you believe that one bad apple can ruin the whole bushel, try having one burned popcorn kernel in an entire batch.
But the Tanners can top that with another aromatic popcorn memory from when my sons were in middle school .
Sean, Brian and their friends were popping corn in the microwave of our former Cambria home.
Instead of keying in four minutes, they probably pressed 40.
Boys will be boys, however. Predictably, while they waited, they began horsing around, not paying attention to their treat.
About 10 minutes later, they realized something was wrong when smoke began flowing out of the microwave.
We eventually had to discard the microwave, because we were never able to get the distinctive, oh-so-recognizable burned popcorn smell out of it.
Fortunately, we had better luck with the rest of the kitchen and the drapes, carpeting and upholstered furniture in the adjacent dining room.
I’ll never forget walking into that area of the house weeks later and being smacked in the face with the stench of burned popcorn.
As I packed my popper away, what fun it was to time-travel in my mind, and relish again the wide-eyed wonder of two boys watching Jiffy Pop in action.
I’m able to laugh now about our smoke-filled, burned popcorn-scented home.
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
