I know I'm going to love this recipe when I get it right. My popcorn burned, and seemd to take a long time to start popping. Did I put the corn in...

It could be your popcorn, too -- if it isn't dried to the correct percentage (needs some H20 to "pop" from what I understand) it might not pop as quickly. I had some lovely locally-grown popcorn that had a 50% popping rate at first (and I burned a few batches before I figured out the issue). After a while it dried out enough that it popped more quickly and fully. I follow the heat oil-add a few signal kernels--wait til they dance and add the rest process. Youv'e inspired me to try this recipe, too!

My favorite popcorn is made with olive oil. I use a heavy bottom pot and put just a little more than a tablespoon of olive oil in the pot and all the corn. When I hear the first pop I start shaking the pot to keep the corn hopping and popping. When the noise slows to a few pops every few seconds, I take it off the heat and immediately dump it into a large bowl.

Sorry that your popcorn burned! All the advice already here is great. I would just add that you need to empty out the popcorn into a bowl very quickly. Once there's more than a couple seconds between pops, pour everything into a bowl straight away.

If you have an air popper, you can feel free to pop the popcorn that way, too!

Love my cheap 'Whirly Pop' pot! Quarter cup of organic popcorn:less than 1 T grapeseed oil. Ten minutes from start to finish. Helped me lose a stubborn 10 pounds.

I haven't made it in a long time, but when I was young we'd put the oil and four kernels in the pot, heat it, and when the four kernels popped we'd pour the remaining kernels into the pot. Then we'd shake the pot gently until the kernels started to pop, and shake vigorously until popping was about done (similar to listening to a microwave bag) and pour out into a bowl immediately. We used generic vegetable oil and thin Revereware pots (steel coated with copper; heavier than the modern version, but not really heavy) on an electric stove ("medium" most likely, but that's up to experience with your stove. I point it out just to say there is hope that it'll work - you don't need the perfect equipment!). One other possibility is old kernels - if they've dried out they won't pop quickly, reliably or fluffily(?) if they pop at all.

Popcorn is my go-to comfort food! I put the heavy bottomed pot on high heat, put in the oil and 3 popcorn kernels right away and put the lid on. Then I stand around, listening for the pops. Do not leave the kitchen. When the test kernels pop, fish them out quickly with a slotted spoon and dump the rest of the popcorn in. Slap the lid on and TURN OFF THE HEAT for 1 minute. Then turn the heat back on to medium-high. As soon as it starts popping, grab your potholders and shake the pan back and forth across the burner to make sure all those heavy little kernels get to the bottom. When the popping slows down to 2 seconds between pops, you are done. As you get better at this, you will be able to vent the lid a little bit to release some steam as you shake the pan.

I love stovetop popcorn. The tricks are to use a heavy bottomed pot (I use my Le Creuset dutch oven), use a high smokepoint oil like grapeseed or peanut oil and move the pan back and forth to keep the corn moving. Also, heat the oil and when you think it's ready, toss in 3 kernals. When they pop, it's time to put the rest in. When the popping slows to a pop every 3-5 seconds, it's ready. You'll get the hang of it.