Some things are easy to make, but most people don’t think about it. I make my own brown sugar all the time instead of buying it in the store. I can make it as light or as dark as I want it. Something even easier than that, the only requires one ingredient and a food processor is making your own popcorn salt.
Why Bother Making Popcorn Salt
Why should you bother making your own popcorn salt. Doesn’t any old salt work on popcorn. Here is the issue with popcorn. It has a lot of little nooks and crannies. Your standard salt is not fine enough to make it into those nooks and crannies. When you salt the popcorn alot of the salt won’t stick and will end up in the bottom of the bowl. Popcorn salt is very fine. So you get more salt on the kernels. Kosher salt which s great sticking to meat, is too coarse to stick to popcorn.
Making your own popcorn salt also gives you the chance to use any salt you, which can also save you money. You can pick the cheapest salt at the store, thought I would avoid regular table salt, which I find having an off flavor, almost bitter flavor at times. Opt for at least the cheapest sea salt. Any salt that you see in the store can work. I like Himalayan Pink Salt for it’s flavor, it’s added health benefits (trace minerals not found in table salt), and it’s fun color.
How to Make Your Own Popcorn Salt
Before
A food processor or even a well cleaned coffee grinder can quickly turn any salt into popcorn salt. The more coarse the salt is the longer it will take. But even the most coarse salt should be broken down in about a mintue or so. I recommend using the pulse button in bursts in order to help break the salt granulates down more effectively. Be careful when you open the top of the food processor, there is sure to be some salt floating into the air.
After
When I am done making the salt and I place it into a spice jar that comes with a shaker top (plastic insert with holes) to make the salt easy to dispense. Look for the top to have the size holds that you want, so that right amount of salt comes out. These types of jars are easy to find in most well stocked kitchen sections and should be sold for no more than a buck a piece.
Clumbing
You may find that your salt ends up clumbing up. Just give it a good shake and it should be fine. Some salts use anti-caking agents like calcium silicate. The salts I recommend to make popcorn salt out of usually don’t contain these anti-caking agents. It only takes a little shaking to loosen the salt particles up, so I don’t worry about it. But you could do what Alton Brown recommended in a Good Eats episode and place a few popcorn kernels into the container. The kernel provides physical agitation which will help out with the clumbing problem.
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