Jiffy Pop!

I thought Jiffy Pop porcorn was long gone but my husband has found it lately. It was very nostalgic to make it again! I remember the commercials from the 70's. Still, Cousin Willy's white cheddar popcorn is hard to beat I don't remember having much Jiffy Pop as a child though, because my parents made it the old fashioned way --- in a covered pot.

Andrea

quote:

Originally posted by AndreaB

I thought Jiffy Pop porcorn was long gone but my husband has found it lately. It was very nostalgic to make it again! I remember the commercials from the 70's. Still, Cousin Willy's white cheddar popcorn is hard to beat I don't remember having much Jiffy Pop as a child though, because my parents made it the old fashioned way --- in a covered pot.

Andrea

I found it recently, and bought a couple, thinking it would fascinate my kids. They were wholly unimpressed with the growing pan...but did eat the popcorn. When I was a kid that growing pan thing amazed me. Perhaps my sister was right...I am a simpleton.

Has anyone ever made jiffy pop and NOT burned it?? I haven't.

We didn't burn the Jiffy Pop when we made it, though I will admit to having scorched several bags of microwave popcorn! I guess I could have tried to pull it off as "Cajun Blackened" popcorn but I don't think it would have gone over!

Andrea

"Jiffy-pop, Jiffy-pop
the magic treat
as much fun to make
as it is to eat"

Growing up in the sixties, making Jiffy-pop counted as serious entertainment on a midweek winters evening. Those were simpler times

I'm going to the store tonight to see if they have it. And if so I'll buy some.It just might bring me back to my Mothers kitchen as a kid.

OK. I understand from the posts that this is some sort of popcorn. But I've never heard of it. Just exactly what is it about this stuff that makes it "the magic treat as much fun to make as it is to eat?"

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

OK. I understand from the posts that this is some sort of popcorn. But I've never heard of it. Just exactly what is it about this stuff that makes it "the magic treat as much fun to make as it is to eat?"

In pre-microwave days, it was a convenient way to make popcorn.

In the store it was a flat pan with a short wire handle. When you got it home you heated on a stove, keeping it moving the entire time to prevent scorching...which ALWAYS happened anyway. As the corn popped, the aluminum pan grew to magical proportions. As a kid, part of the appeal was that the pan you were cooking was going to be overfilled and explode all over the room. here is what a popped pan looked like..

http://www.zuckervati.com/camping/79_jiffy_pop.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Bad

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

OK. I understand from the posts that this is some sort of popcorn. But I've never heard of it. Just exactly what is it about this stuff that makes it "the magic treat as much fun to make as it is to eat?"

In pre-microwave days, it was a convenient way to make popcorn.

In the store it was a flat pan with a short wire handle. When you got it home you heated on a stove, keeping it moving the entire time to prevent scorching...which ALWAYS happened anyway. As the corn popped, the aluminum pan grew to magical proportions. As a kid, part of the appeal was that the pan you were cooking was going to be overfilled and explode all over the room. here is what a popped pan looked like..

http://www.zuckervati.com/camping/79_jiffy_pop.jpg

Oh, that's great. I'm sorry I missed out. It sounds (and looks) like fun.

It was always fun to watch my dad make JiffyPop during the '60s. We were always fascinated by it.

Anybody remember "TV Time" popcorn? It came in a box. There were three separate compartments--one for the solid yellow coconut oil stuff, one for the popcorn, and one for salt. My arteries harden just thinking about that tube of yellow fat!

My parents would let myself and my two brothers take turns moving the pan around on the burner of the electric stove. Although this probably greatly increased the risk of scorching, we loved doing it and watching the flat surface of the pan grow into a gaint ball. I Truly beieve that for us making it was MORE fun than eating it.

quote:

Oh, that's great. I'm sorry I missed out. It sounds (and looks) like fun.

As was noted above, Jiffy Pop has been making a re-appearance...so it may not be too late to burn yourself up a helping and stink up your house for days!!

quote:

Originally posted by KimChee43
It was always fun to watch my dad make JiffyPop during the '60s. We were always fascinated by it.

Anybody remember "TV Time" popcorn? It came in a box. There were three separate compartments--one for the solid yellow coconut oil stuff, one for the popcorn, and one for salt. My arteries harden just thinking about that tube of yellow fat!

I remember my parents buying TV Time because it was sold by the Boy Scouts or some other organization as a fundraiser, and IIRC it was actually pretty decent popcorn. Never had Jiffy Pop, though...Mom wouldn't buy it because it was much more economical to make our own with Mazola in a cast aluminum pot (I think it might've been a Mirro?) on the stovetop. I still like popcorn that way...I should ask if she still has the pot!

Brad

After 3 tries with Jiffy Pop I gave up. I do remember TV Time as well. I prefer the stove top method and use bacon grease opposed to oil.

Same thing happened to me as Tony Bad. My wife and I saw it in the store for, like the first time in 30 years, and thought we'd get some and go through the whole thing with our kids. They couldn't have cared less and thought the partially burned result tasted bad and was too greasy. Oh well. I guess for a generation of kids that are born with laptops, cell phones and mp3 players in their mouth, jiffy pop might not make the same impression it did on me.
db

I remember how our supermarket used to hang it by the handle so that it was in front of all the other popcorns. It faced you on a rod kind of sticking out in the aisle. Yum, Yum!

I had some Jiffy Pop a few months ago. Found it in some kind of meglomart I think. Haven't seen it in the local grocery.

When I found it I immediately thought of my favorite, TV TIME, but I think it's gone for good. If you remember, the instructions said to remove the pan from the heat once the first kernel popped, so the flavor of the coconut oil could seep into the unpopped kernels. TV Time just tasted the best. I miss it.

I found Jiffy Pop at Wal-Mart last summer and brought it home, also to show my kids. We put it on the stove, and it was maybe a quarter of the way popped when the side of the pan gave out and popcorn, both popped and in the process of popping, flew all over my kitchen, sideways from the pan. Luckily no one was in the line of fire - I can just picture someone getting a hot piece of corn in the eye. Anyway, I called the company and they sent me 2 coupons for free replacements. I'm still afraid to try it again.

The one thing I remember about it is that they always showed it being popped over a campfire, but don't the instructions explicitly say not to do that? How could you hold the handle over an open fire anyway without your hand going up in flames?

loved it!! my first husband and i used to make it all the time-- the only problem that you might run in to making jiffy pop is it doesn't work real well on an electric stove.. luckily we had gas so it wasn't ever a problem..
would love to show my kids that -- but now i'm cooking with electric so-- might have to find some and a gas stove somewhere to show them.. haha
thanks for that memory!

We did not have a lot of extra money when I was a child, so I have never eaten Jiffy pop. Always wanted to, and never had a cream filled cupcake until I bought my own. When I got my first paycheck after being in graduate school for 3 years, I bought the ingredients for a nice steak dinner, a bottle of champagne, some cream filled cupcakes and some Godiva ice cream and had a feast, wearing the Polo jeans that I had bought on a whim and a new silk blouse.

Just saw Jiffy Pop on the bottom shelf of the popcorn section at my local Super Fresh for $1.39.

quote:

Originally posted by AndreaB

We didn't burn the Jiffy Pop when we made it, though I will admit to having scorched several bags of microwave popcorn! I guess I could have tried to pull it off as "Cajun Blackened" popcorn but I don't think it would have gone over!

Andrea

"Cajun Blackened"... Have traveled that road, also. Was never able to pass same off as probably 'cause I didn't use the right spices...

quote:

Originally posted by brookquarry

"Jiffy-pop, Jiffy-pop
the magic treat
as much fun to make
as it is to eat"

Growing up in the sixties, making Jiffy-pop counted as serious entertainment on a midweek winters evening. Those were simpler times

we always burned it so we used to say, Jiffy Pop,Jiffy Pop the magic treat MORE FUN TO MAKE THAN IT IS TO EAT!

I also burned it growing up on my parents gas stove. The top was great and the bottom was black.

The only time we had Jiffy Pop was on a camping trip (and it was only once). We kids were thrilled because it wasn't ever bought for home. Oddly enough, I don't remember anything about it. Couldn't have been as good as Dad's old-fashioned-in-the-pot-on-the-stove popcorn, though. He actually measures the oil and corn. Don't forget to put in a couple test kernels and let them pop before pouring in the rest. The microwave ones are getting better, but still have a lonnnnnngggg way to go.

My favorite popcorn incident was the time Dad tried to pop the "stove-top" popcorn in an empty soda can over the campfire. I'll have to ask my brothers if they remember the "popcorn skyrockets"....

I loved, loved, loved it as a kid.

a haiku


corn kernels applaud
over a circle of flames
metal mushroom bloom




Copyright © 2005 Rickie Elpusan

quote:

Originally posted by thericker40

a haiku


corn kernels applaud
over a circle of flames
metal mushroom bloom




Copyright © 2005 Rickie Elpusan

Excellent! (I need an applauding smilie!)

I also LOVED watching the "metal mushroom bloom" as a child in the '60's-- the best part of the Jiffypop Experience! As others mentioned, ours had many blackened pieces, probably because Mom was nice enough to give us kids a turn shaking it over our electric burner and we weren't quite fast enough. (I can still hear her saying SHAKE IT! SHAKE IT REAL GOOD! Hmmmm-- sounds like a 70's Disco song...)

Was up in Lake George last month at the Classic Car Show with my son, and we spotted Jiffy Pop in the grocery. HAD to buy it, as we were in a motel with an efficiency unit that had an electric stove. Have to admit, it popped up fully, fluffy, and didn't burn. Guess I've got the patience now that I didn't have as a kid/teen. It was actually tasty and enjoyable - better than microwave, and I will buy it again.
And, by the way, does anyone else remember there was a Jiffy Pop clone back in the '60's? It may have been "Reddi-Pop", I distinctly remember that the foil cover had a different pattern than Jiffy Pop did. Jiffy Pop has a swirled foil top, the other one was concentric circles.

Walmarts in San Diego have it for 97 cents compared to $1.99 in the supermarkets. I bought 2 and both of them had the foil break open during popping. It brought back some bad memorys of getting burnt as a kid with these things.