How To Pop Sorghum!
Sorghum can be trickier to pop than corn, but here are our tips, tricks, and suggestions for getting a good yield!
IMPORTANT: We do NOT recommend popping black sorghum; it is especially difficult to pop and often leaves large amounts of burnt or wasted grain. Instead, you can use our DIY white sorghum products that come in sizes of 1-lb, 1-lb 2-pack, and 6-lb: https://naturenatesllc.com/collections/organic-popping-sorghum-diy-do-it-yourself
Before popping, please be sure to sort out anything in the grain that is not sorghum. Our popping sorghum is a natural organic product, and may contain occasional pieces of debris such as plant stems.
We recommend stovetop popping since it often delivers the highest yield of popped sorghum; however, you can also microwave or air-pop sorghum as well.
Stovetop Popping:
What You’ll Need:
- ⅓ cup Nature Nate’s DIY Popping Sorghum
- 1 tsp water
- 1 tbsp oil of your choice
- Bowl
- Small saucepan with lid
- Stirring spoon
- Hydrate the sorghum grain by adding ⅓ cup sorghum and 1 tsp water to a bowl and mix until the grain has absorbed the water.
- Pour 1 tbsp of oil into the saucepan and turn heat to medium-high.
- Once the oil begins to smoke, pour in the sorghum and stir briskly with the stirring spoon.
- Put the lid on the pot once it starts to pop.
- As the sorghum pops, shake the pan back and forth once or twice every 5 seconds.
- When the popping of the sorghum slows down, turn the burner down to medium.
- Do not attempt to get every kernel to pop, or it may scald or burn. Expect 70-90% to pop, or 2 to 4 cups yield of popped sorghum per ⅓ cup grain.
- You may sift out the unpopped kernels, but it is not necessary.
- Season with whichever salts/seasonings you prefer, if any.
- Enjoy!
Microwave Popping:
- In a small paper bag (2 lb) pour ⅓ cup of popping sorghum.
- Stand the bag up straight, and close the top of the bag by folding it down several times.
- With the microwave on high, set for ~2 minutes (time varies per microwave and/or location and time of day). If it scalds or burns, try it again with slightly less time.
- When it’s finished popping, remove it promptly and pour into a bowl or strainer. This method yields a little less than the stove/pan/oil popping method.
Air Popping:
- Preheat air popper.
- Pour in ⅓ cup popping sorghum.
- The grain is smaller and lighter than corn; you may need to tilt the popper back about 40° to keep the grain from blowing out.
- Once popping slows down, turn air popper down/off and empty popped sorghum into a bowl.
Video Tutorials:
Here are some videos showcasing different methods of popping and tips for popping effectively:
Increase yield: https://youtu.be/0ne8xtw3jsU
Increase yield (no music): https://youtu.be/v_3tLrfnAAA
Stovetop popping: https://youtu.be/cLd1aYq1-AQ
Microwave popping: https://youtu.be/l4IxWDEtkFs
Hand crank stirring pot popping: https://youtu.be/2RmnPYnLD74
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at nate@naturenatesllc.com, or give us a call/text at (360)-901-4340. Thanks, and happy popping! :)