On the health thing. I was working at a drive-in when the whole canola thing hit. Funny thing was, people wanted the popcorn popped in canola, but still wanted their tub drowned in "butter flavored topping"! It's like the old saying about people going to McDonald's and getting a big-mac and a diet coke.

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I should have mentioned we were also using Flavocol (sp?) seasoning -- good stuff.

Relative smoke points (from the same web source - there is a lot of dispute on exact smoke points)
Safflower 265 degrees C
Sunflower 246 degrees C
Soybean 241 degrees C
Canola 238 degrees C
Corn 236 degrees C
Peanut 231 degrees C
Sesame 215 degrees C
Olive 190 degrees C
Lards 183 to 205 degrees C

Coconut wasn't included in the website. Another site gives coconut a smoke point of only 138 degrees C, however, it gives substantially lower rating for other oils as well and the accuracy is questionable. Coconut oil does have a high lauric acid content, which does lower the smoke point compared to other vegetable oils. This same lauric acid is what makes the oil more akin to butter and dairy products. I suspect that some people subliminally recognize and appreciate it more than other people.

I have never had a problem with coconut oil smoking unless A> the thermostat on the popper was inoperative or set way too high, or B> the concessionist didn't know how to make popcorn properly and added the oil before the seed. This statement includes use of Gold Medal, Cretors, and Manley poppers. I'll say flat out to Dave S. that your popper must have been whacked, and based on my own experiences, my wild guess is that it was a Manley. A lot of people like the Manley poppers, but the ones I've used needed repair much more often.

More health coconut info: http://www.coconut-info.com/links.htm

To me, soybean oil is kind of neutral in flavor. I think I've mentioned before that people do have sensitivities to different tastes, so there is lots of room for disagreement. To a person though, I've never known a person who got fishy tasting popcorn to appreciate it.

Pure butter is NOT good on popcorn. Been there, done that. It has a fairly large water content. Spray some water on popcorn and you'll be able to taste and feel how this degrades the corn. Pure butter can be left in the butter warmer for extended periods to seperate the oil, water, and milk solids. Butter oil works well as a topping. I wish I knew a simple way to recover some of the milk solids, which is where some of the butter flavor resides.

I guess the thermostat might have been screwed up, but there was never any trouble with canola oil smoking. Never had fishy-tasting popcorn using canola oil. That sounds like rancid oil or something.

I'm not arguing against coconut oil. It's in widespread use and everyone seems to prefer its taste. I'm only saying that my experience with canola doesn't seem to be all that bad.

It just occurred to me that maybe I should point out we were using "canola popping oil", not pure canola oil like supermarkets sell for home use. After sitting for a while, a layer of heavy solids would form on the bottom of the tub so it had to be stirred up first. I don't think "pure" canola oil separates like that. We got it from Popper's Supply Company in Portland.

A 6 oz. kettle is very, very small. Like what you'd find in a popcorn cart in the park or something. Maybe you were at a very small theatre, but most commercial poppers intended for theatre use are at least 20 oz. Typically, smaller poppers make better corn, and I know some chains that have one small popper (like 8 oz. or something) for each concession station. Smaller kettles don't have to get as hot, and that saves on breakdowns too. I actually run the thermostat on our 48 oz. kettle lower than the manual recommends to avoid the end of the batch getting burned. I seem to have fewer old maids that way too. We use Lou Ana coconut oil and never have a problem with smoking, except for our lack of good exhaust. Fact is, noone goes to a theatre expecting to eat healthy. Use what tastes best, whatever that may be.

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The small-town art-house I got my start at uses 'all-natural, non-hydrogenated, no-coloring added, etc. canola oil' and it is popped without salt. After the corn is dumped a light mist of peanut oil is sprayed on top and then plain salt added, sticking to the peanut oil on the kernals. It is by far the best tasting popcorn I've ever had. Oh and they use 'real' real butter from a local farm.

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