On the Job: Fisher’s Popcorn

– or just looking for something to snack on – popcorn is always a good fit. especially if it’s world famous fishers popcorn. this week on the job 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie heads out to ocean city to see how they perfect their caramel popcorn. track 1 whether you like caramel – white cheddar – cinnamon caramel – or kettle corn – fishers popcorn has it all. around since 1937 – their ocean city boardwalk location is their original store! they also have several other locations including fenwick island and bethany beach. bill wootten is the store manager in ocean city – and today he’s going to show me what it takes to make all their delicious popcorn. “so what are we going to be doing today – well today its not too busy on the boardwalk but we do have fund raisers.” “so we have a couple of those to fill today plus we have mail orders to fill so ill teach you how to make popcorn and just show you everything else that goes on in a day in the life – ok i’m super excited i love popcorn and if you put caramel on top it just makes it ten times better in my opinion so i’m super excited to learn so i guess we should get started – alright lets go – alrighty lets go.” track 2 first up – bill showed me around the place – explaining all the machines they use. the first station that you start at is called weigh up. here – they weigh their top secret brown sugar recipe and cornsyrup. this is the mixture that goes into making their famous caramel popcorn. “this is going to become the caramel this is the fun part – oh my gosh – corn syrup can make a mess if you’re not careful with it so you have to spin it like that and get it just right – now when the new guys start this area is a mess – the area’s going to be a mess just because of me i’m just letting you know.” track 3 another ingredient that goes into the mixture – butter. and a lot of it. “oh my gosh the fridge is just labeled butter – yeah that’s all we keep in here – a fridge full of butter – yep a fridge full of butter.” track 4 after you have all your ingredients – you’re ready to start! first you add your sugar and corn syrup mix – then a small cup of water – a spoon full of salt and finally your butter. “so we just dump it in there – alright and then you want to cut your gas on and thats this right there – other way – and then you want to start mixing everything together – oh my gosh it’s sticky.” “right now you’re just making sure the brown sugar gets mixed in with the water and becomes the caramel.” “ugh my arms hurt – i can take over for a minute.” track 5 thank goodness. “like look at this – i mean he makes it look like it’s so easy i promise you it’s not that easy.” track 6 after mixing for about 5 more minutes – the caramel is ready! but before you a the popcorn – you have to prep it. after it’s popped – it gets put into big plastic bins. you then dump the bin into a box that has grates on the bottom — to release any uncooked popcorn kernels. when that’s finished – it’s dumped into smaller cans which are ready to use! “oh it’s so light.” track 7 after the popcorns in – you need another stick of butter – and you have to make sure you butter the sides of the pot – before dumping the rest in. after thats all done you tilt your pot so it’s easier to mix. and its heavy. “maybe easier said than done – is that good – yeah its going to fall – oh – there you go – ok.” track 8 bill gave me a good trick — lean the wooden spoon against the pot. this makes it easier to churn. “so you’re getting all the caramel from the bottom of the kettle and you’re mixing it all over the core.” 23:53:59″lift – oh my gosh i feel like i’m at the gym.”23:54:05 track 9 finally all the popcorn was coated in caramel. it was time to take the kettle and pour it into the containers they have in the front of their store. but it was a little heavy – so bill helped me on this one. next – one of bill’s coworkers needed more of the secret recipe for another batch! and this time he let me do it. “ok so i told her the secret recipe – but she says she’s not going to tell anyone – i know the secrets but i cant tell you.” “alright so you just want to spin it around – alright start from the center and pull out and up towards you.” “oh my gosh im so bad at this.” track 10 finally we had a small hole for the cornsyrup. “this part can be tricky.” “keep spinning all the way over there and you’re going to let it fall.” “oh you spilled a little bit – oh my gosh that’s bad. – you’ll be alright – oh my gosh – alright.” track 11 time to go in the pot! “ok so you just take it – and you just dump it – yep you just throw it in.” track 12 one of the final steps – putting it in tubs and sealing it for shipment! for this – they use a shrink wrapper gun to help seal down the plastic! the last step – packing them in boxes for shipment! bill says they offer tins in all different sizes and designs and get requests from all over the world! after packing a few boxes – our job was done. “after everything today how did i do – i think you did a great job – really – if journalism doesn’t work out you can always come apply ill put in a good word for you – ok i had so much fun there’s so much more that goes into making the popcorn than you think – yeah i mean you did all the steps so you know its not just making the popcorn.” “i will vouch for all of you this is not easy this is a hard job but it was so much fun and i had a really good time.” “so do you think you would hire me to come on to the team – yeah- you would – you can start today lets go – really – we have plenty of orders to go out so – alright i’m ready.” track 13 michelle mackonochie 47 abc. michelle says making the popcorn wasn’t as easy as she thought – but it was certainly fun. next week on the job michelle heads to one more rep in salisbury to do some resistance traning with a coach – so be sure to tune in for that.