POPZ Microwave popcorn (Butter)

**THE SCENE**
My friends and I, despite getting on in age, still have regular 'film-nights'- previously known as sleepovers. With the invention of Microwave popcorn, we have a convenient way of making cheap yummy snack-food that, despite the high/100g calorie value [the butter flavour is 504kcal/100g] a packet lasts a lot longer than a bag of crisps.

**PRICE & FLAVOURS**
You can get Popz popcorn at all the large supermarkets [I know for a fact that they are available at your local Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, Budgens, Morrisons, Waitrose]
The flavours I have come across are
1. Ready Salted
2. Butter- Same saltiness as ready salted but a lot more moist and for some reason does NOT contain more calories than the ready salted variety?!?
3. Sweet- not as good as the type you get in cinemas but adequate.
4. Banana Toffee- you get a hint of banana and it is not too sweet
[ If anyone has discovered more flavours, please do contact me!]

Each box costs £1.79 [but they are frequently on Buy one get one Free at the supermarkets]. A box contains three 100g bags of popcorn. The popcorn bags are are wrapped in plastic for freshness BUT do not put it near steam. For some reason one of the packs got ruined in my top kitchen cupboard. Keep it somewhere dry and dark and it will keep for months.

**INSTRUCTIONS**
Remove outer plastic and place the bag with the side labled 'TOP' side up in microwave. Depending on the power of your Microwave, microwave the bag for 2-4 minutes, listening carfully for the timing of pops. This sounds pretty easy and so do the instructions in 11 different languages seem to suggest. But from experience (as these film-nights are rotated at different houses and therefore involve the use of different Microwaves, the reality is as follows).

FIRST TIME USERS
FIRST TRY: You either get
a)Burnt popcorn. This is accompanied by the foul smell of burnt popcorn that will last roughly a day. Solution: open window.
b) Lots of unpopped kernels: Increase time by roughly 10sec for the next bag.

TIP FOR SEASONED USERS
Leaving the popcorn to cool with the inside of the Microwave for about 30sec gives it an extra crunchiness- try it.

**OPINION & ON GOING USE**
Pros:
When you get it right, the popcorn is super-yummy. Just the right level of saltiness, sweetness AND it is still warm. Really conveninent and cheaper than if you were to buy ready made bags.

Cons:
1. Does on a diet can enjoy small quantities (e.g. a bag which despite stating 100g, yield roughly 70g-80g of popcorn. I know this because one of my firends has a scale) so eating one bag of popcorn is roughly 405kcal [20% less than that stated on the pack]
2. Quality does vary. Sometimes the corn is just bad. No matter how much of an expert you think (and know you are) there is about 50% of corn left unpopped. The butter variety can be too buttery where yellow gunk greasily coats the popcorn (yuk!)
3. The sweet flavours are as good as their ready-made counterparts (but that's just my opinion

**RECOMMEND?**
YES!