Homemade Caramel Popcorn

Cracker Jack is one of those wonderful foods that is great at a baseball game, but I always enjoyed the homemade popcorn even better. At my wedding shower (13 years ago now), everyone gave me a recipe to try out in my “new kitchen.” My Aunt Janet (who is a fabulous cook and baker by the way), gave me the recipe to her homemade caramel corn. I have made it before, and it has been great each time. I have seen on other sights that it can be difficult to make and that it can turn out grainy or just too hard and brittle. So, I thought I would delve into the recipe and look at some of the ingredients and determine why this recipe is such a good one. Would it work without the baking soda...what does that do for caramel anyway? What would happen if I didn't put it into the oven afterwards? Enjoy this great popcorn...it's a winner!

Aunt Janet's Oven Caramel Corn

3 ½ quarts (about 14 cups) of popped corn

3/4 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

½ tsp salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

½ tsp baking soda

Place the popped corn in a large roasting pan. Heat butter, sugar, salt, and corn syrup in a large pot. Stir occasionally until bubbles form around the edges.

Cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda till foamy. You must stir at this stage so the caramel doesn't overflow the pot...it will expand.

Pour over the corn and stir to coat. Work quickly once you pour it onto the corn to coat evenly.

Bake 1 hour at 225^o F, stirring every 15 minutes (don't skip this step, it makes a difference in the final texture). Store in an air tight container.

Why does this recipe work?
If you have ever had a candy apple and almost lost your tooth, you know will understand why it is important to add the baking soda to the caramel corn. The baking soda reacts with the acidity of the brown sugar and corn syrup and produces CO2. This aerates the caramel and makes the end product more palatable and honestly just easier to eat. The only problem with adding the baking soda that I could see was a dullness in the color of the popcorn. It lost some of it's luster after it was baked. I tried a batch without the baking soda, and although it was shiny, I could hardly eat it without fears of going to the dentist! Without the baking soda it was like you melted a Werther's Original hard candy on top of some popcorn...not easy to eat.

I also wondered why you had to bake it after it had already "cooked." From my tests, it seems that the baking melts the sugar slightly over the popcorn and adheres it to the corn. When we didn't bake it, it was almost impossible to eat. Again, extremely hard and brittle.

I hope this recipe will serve everyone well, and become a favorite in your family as well.