Grandpa's Popcorn Balls

"oh boy, these are really good. It is really important to reach hard crack stage with these candies. To test for hard crack stage without a candy thermometer, use the ice water method. Have nearby a bo..." See morewl of ice water. Periodically test the syrup to see if it has reached hard crack. To do this, drizzle a small amount of syrup off of a spoon into the cold water. When it has reached hard crack stage, it will form treads in the water. When you take the threads out of the water, they will be hard and brittle. If they are still soft and pliable, or if it forms a ball instead of threads, keep cooking and checking until you get hard, brittle threads."

"If you dont cook to the hard-crack stage, you will end up with sticky "caramel" on the popcorn. At the hard-crack stage, it becomes crispy when completely cooled. When you bite off a piece from the ba..." See morell it is like caramel corn. As the mixture was cooling, I added some red hots to give it a Christmas theme look. Another tip is to put each hand into a plastic sandwich baggy's and mold the popcorn into balls with these on. That way the warm caramel wont stick to your hands. These are sweet caramel corn tasting popcorn balls. Very delicious. If you dont like them sweet, you add the vinegar to tone it down. I used my hot air popcorn popper to pop 1/2 cup kernals."

"These popcorn balls taste just like a gourmet popcorn shop from back home. They really taste rich and buttery! We must have popped too much corn, because ours weren't covered as much as the photo. ..." See moreDoes anyone know how many cups of unpopped kernels makes 5 quarts popped?"