'Preheating' The Microwave Is The Secret To Perfectly Fluffy Popcorn

Making microwave popcorn is incredibly simple. All you have to do is take the plastic off the folded-up bag, put said bag in the microwave, and just watch it until it pops in about 1 or 2 minutes. Then, you have a fresh and hot bowl of popcorn for any occasion. It's so basic a process that it's hard to think of any other steps or methods that you would have to take to make it.

But what's this about "preheating" your microwave? Preheating your oven or even your air fryer is understandable, sure, but you've most likely never preheated your microwave for anything before. This admittedly does sound strange as, in most cases, a microwave really doesn't need to be preheated. Your microwave uses microwave radiation to heat food (rather than using conduction or convection heat to cook it), so it doesn't necessarily benefit from preheating, does it? Maybe you've been reheating everything from leftovers to popcorn without preheating your microwave and, as far as you're aware, everything's come out perfectly fine.

Some internet users, however, have discovered that certain brands of microwave popcorn actually recommend you "preheat" your microwave before adding the popcorn. Why exactly should you do this if every other time you've made popcorn it's still been pretty good? How do you even preheat a microwave, anyway? It would seem that this rather unconventional trick, if it's to be believed, may actually result in a much fluffier bowl of popcorn.

When it comes to preheating your microwave, it's not the same as preheating your oven. While both methods do achieve the same goal — bringing the internal temperature of the appliance up to a certain degree — you can't just keep running your microwave until the interior feels hot enough. What you should do, instead, is put a cup of water in the microwave and microwave it for 1 minute. The water will begin to produce steam, which in turn will raise the internal temperature of the microwave.

Once the microwave is preheated, you can then add your microwave popcorn and prepare it as you usually would. The idea behind this trick is that, thanks to the increased temperature of your microwave, your popcorn will be fluffier and more kernels will pop than normal. Those who have tried this trick claim that the results are actually noticeable, adding that all of the popcorn kernels popped and the butter-topping spread much more evenly. When Better Homes & Gardens did a test, however, the excess moisture and difference in temperature caused by preheating reportedly made the popcorn pop unevenly and even burn some kernels.

The difference in results may be due to a number of reasons, such as the make and model of the microwave or personal taste. Either way, if you feel this method is worth trying out, you really don't have too much to lose giving it a shot.

This idea of preheating the microwave came from a bag of popcorn. In fact, the bag of popcorn you usually just toss in the microwave and then discard may have several interesting tips and tricks on how to better prepare your popcorn.

For example, on some bags of popcorn, you might notice that it offers advice such as elevating your popcorn on an inverted plate while you microwave it, or maybe it suggests shaking the bag before you serve the popcorn so you can spread the butter and salt evenly. The plate trick seems focused on even heating, as putting the popcorn bag on an elevated surface brings the bag closer to the heating element of the microwave. Another tip also advises customers on how to learn when the popcorn is done, claiming that a good rule of thumb is to listen for when the rapid popping of the kernels slows to 2 or 3 seconds between each popping noise. Some of the tips seem like common sense, such as opening the bag (full of steam and hot oil) away from your face to avoid getting burned.

It's up to you if you want to listen to your popcorn's advice. Maybe you feel that just putting the bag in the microwave as you usually do seems to work fine. At least, now, you're not flying blind when it comes to microwave popcorn.