D and I love watching movies. On the weekends we watch a few since we have a lot in our collection that we haven’t seen. We usually purchase on-sale popcorn at the store for our movie time, but recently D made it with a blower-style popper when he was back home. It brought back childhood memories and the smell was just devine! If you read my Father’s Day article, you’ll know that I got him a popper for the special day. We’ve been popping so much corn now, even during the week, that I was wondering about the cost of it. Here’s my grocery store study…
Team “Kernel”
- Iowa State Popcorn from Brandmeyer Popcorn Company = $1.29 for 2 pounds of kernels (27-2 tbsp servings)
- The cost comes to $0.05/serving!!!
The Competition
- Orville Redenbacher = $3.98 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.66/bag or $0.22/serving
- Blast O’ Butter = $2.97 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.50 per bag or $0.17/serving
- Store brand (Hy-Vee) = $2.82 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.47 per bag or $0.16/serving
The Verdict
In the microwavable popcorn bags, there are approximately 5.75 tablespoons of popcorn kernels or 34 tablespoons per 6-bag box. According to the box, this comes to about 18-2 tablespoon servings (I know the math is a little off!) – you can see the cost per serving above.
The recommended amount to pop in our popcorn maker is 1/2 cup aka 8 tablespoons or 4-2 tablespoon servings.
I know what you’re thinking – “K, obviously the Iowa State kernals win over the microwavable stuff!” Well, I’m going to take it one step further. I just bought the popcorn maker. How long will it take for the popcorn maker to pay for itself???
Kristen,
This was a great analysis. And thanks for breaking down the pricing like that!
I learned a frugal way to make popcorn from Real Simple Magazine.
All you do is pour loose popcorn kernels into a brown paper lunch sack and roll up opening so it’s closed tightly.
When it comes to cooking time, every microwave will be different, and it also depends on how much popcorn you poured in there. I think we do ours for 1 min. 30 seconds.
Sure it’s just plain popcorn, but you can dress it up with butter and salt when you pour it into your bowl. And making it this way is far cheaper than buying name brand!
Comment by Heather@TheGreenestDollar — July 13, 2009 @ 2:43 PM