Popcorn itself is a very healthy snack, but excessive consuming of its microwave varieties poses a serious health risk. Why?
First, there's added salt, fat, flavourings and food additives. Some of microwave popcorn brands available where I live are almost too salty to eat, and contain no less than 21 grams of unidentified "vegetable fat" per 100 grams of product! High table salt intake brings a risk of elevated blood pressure, and too much saturated fats make you lazy and obese (aside from ruining your metabolism and causing heart and blood vessel diseases). I'm not sure if fats and flavourings added to microwave popcorn are natural or some kind of semi-synthetic products, but I don't like either of them. Fats also have a potential of producing carcinogenic substances when overheated. Typical factory-made micro pop often contains food additives (those are the "E" ingredients listed on the product label) - yet another health risk to consider.
The other thing to be seriously concerned about is paper bag which contains popcorn/seasoning mixture ready to be microwaved. Type of paper normally used for those bags has a greaseproof coating that breaks down chemically in the presence of heat, releasing a compound known as PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) which is officially considered "likely carcinogenic". I don't like stuff like that in my food, so I've simply quit preparing all factory-made microwave popcorn.
So, is there any way to prepare healthy popcorn using the microwave oven?
Some tutorials on the web say it's safe to put corn in a common brown paper bag (a.k.a. lunch bag) to ensure that microwave popcorn is PFOA-free. I'm not sure that's OK, and here's why: while there are some varieties of brown paper which are produced without recycled paper being added, most of "general use" (grocery, shopping, etc.) paper bags still contain traces of dyes, metals or plastic that can easily poison the food which is being baked or microwaved inside. USDA does not recommend using grocery-grade brown paper bags for cooking. Learn more here.
So, is there any way to prepare healthy popcorn using the microwave oven?
Some tutorials on the web say it's safe to put corn in a common brown paper bag (a.k.a. lunch bag) to ensure that microwave popcorn is PFOA-free. I'm not sure that's OK, and here's why: while there are some varieties of brown paper which are produced without recycled paper being added, most of "general use" (grocery, shopping, etc.) paper bags still contain traces of dyes, metals or plastic that can easily poison the food which is being baked or microwaved inside. USDA does not recommend using grocery-grade brown paper bags for cooking. Learn more here.
There are types of paper that resist high temperatures, water and grease, which are made especially for the purpose of cooking. They're sold as "baking paper", "cooking parchment", "pan liners", "cooking wax paper" (etc.) and they differ slightly, but their common feature is being food-safe at cooking temperatures (which ordinary brown paper bag isn't). Only few of them are microwave-safe, so read the label before you buy.
I've purchased a roll of baking paper in a local supermarket, cut a square-shaped piece and made a bag out of it using office paper stapler with regular (24/6 size) staples.
Open end of the bag is easily closed by folding it two or three times, or folded once and secured with a single staple (which is of course removed after the popcorn is done). Do not use adhesive tape - it's generally not safe for microwaving. Metal staples and microwaves also don't sound like a good idea, but I've tested the bag carefully using the 800 watt setting and nothing bad happened: no sparks, no fire. However, you're doing this at your own risk.*
Don't make the bag too big, since it should be free to rotate with the turntable at all times. Don't overfill the bag: leave enough room for popping corn to expand freely, or it'll clump inside and/or tear up the bag.
Open end of the bag is easily closed by folding it two or three times, or folded once and secured with a single staple (which is of course removed after the popcorn is done). Do not use adhesive tape - it's generally not safe for microwaving. Metal staples and microwaves also don't sound like a good idea, but I've tested the bag carefully using the 800 watt setting and nothing bad happened: no sparks, no fire. However, you're doing this at your own risk.*
Don't make the bag too big, since it should be free to rotate with the turntable at all times. Don't overfill the bag: leave enough room for popping corn to expand freely, or it'll clump inside and/or tear up the bag.
Built sturdily from a quality cooking grade paper, my bag even seems to be reusable, but at the moment I'm not advising this. While it's possible, YMMV. Brand of paper I'm currently using is safe to use up to 220 deg. Centigrade (428 deg. F). With full power applied ("800" on the dial of my small, basic Bosch microwave oven) and a 50-gram (1.76oz) serving of dry corn (no salt, no oil/butter), preparation time is normally shorter than 3 minutes.
When your popcorn is ready, remove the staple and unfold bag at the top (keep away your face and fingers - there's scalding hot steam escaping!) You can add salt, oil/butter, other seasonings or a sweet topping to suit your personal preferences (I'm not using either of these).
Bon appétit!
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* You should follow all safety instructions listed in the operating manual of your microwave oven. It is important to note that you absolutely must be present during the whole popping process. You should also obey the rule-of-thumb and shut down the oven when the interval between individual popcorn bursts (pops) becomes longer than 2-3 seconds, as it is usually advised on the package of factory-made microwave popcorn. Do not try to microwave the empty bag. Do not put unpopped corn back in the oven for a second heating, as it may char or even ignite the bag.
Bon appétit!
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* You should follow all safety instructions listed in the operating manual of your microwave oven. It is important to note that you absolutely must be present during the whole popping process. You should also obey the rule-of-thumb and shut down the oven when the interval between individual popcorn bursts (pops) becomes longer than 2-3 seconds, as it is usually advised on the package of factory-made microwave popcorn. Do not try to microwave the empty bag. Do not put unpopped corn back in the oven for a second heating, as it may char or even ignite the bag.
