Old Fashioned Popcorn Balls

Pop enough popcorn for the amount of balls you plan to make. For just one recipe batch, pop exactly 8 cups of popcorn. When I make them (see related post), I do eight batches to last me from Thanksgiving to Christmas. That amount of popped popcorn is a heaping grocery bag full. I use a StirCrazy popper and it works great. I always lightly salt the popcorn as I go.

CALIBRATE YOUR THERMOMETER! Candy thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. Calibrate it by putting it in boiling water. If it doesn’t read 212 F, then make note of how high or low it is and adjust your recipe accordingly. Don’t take this step lightly. Undercooked syrup won’t stick together. Overcooked syrup will hurt your teeth.

Do not double or halve this recipe. It does not work.

Place all ingredients (except the popcorn) into a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil. DO NOT STIR. You may gently swirl the pan in the beginning melt stage, but then just leave it alone.

Boil to 240 degrees F. It will rise to about 235 fairly quickly and a take another minute or two to reach the last few degrees. Be sure to take any thermometer inaccuracies into account at this point!

Immediately take off heat and pour over 8 level cups of the popped popcorn (use a large 8 cup measuring bowl to scoop and measure popcorn into a large bowl). Use a rubber spatula to get every last drop of syrup out of the pan.

Stir syrup into popcorn well, so that kernels are evenly coated. Using the rubber spatula, be sure to keep scraping the bottom, where the syrup pools.

Butter your hands well (to protect from heat and to prevent from sticking) and begin forming into small balls. Work quickly! It gets harder to form balls as the syrup cools.

Place balls onto waxed paper.

Store the balls in giant, 2-gallon zipper bags to keep from drying out.