Why Every Microwave Has a “Popcorn” Button, But Every Bag Warns You Not to Use It

What happened

Microwave ovens are amazing things , but the popcorn setting on any given microwave oven could be anything from just a dumb timer, to a setting that tells the oven to monitor popping sounds or humidity levels (because popping releases steam). [Hyperfixed] has a podcast episode that does a deep dive into exactly why bags of microwave popcorn advise against using your microwave’s popcorn setting (in North America, anyway.) The answer is probably more complex than one expects, and involves the long history of microwave oven development as well as consumer behavior.

The answer to the first question is “it depends”. These kinds of microwave oven features were figured out ages ago, meaning the technology to precisely handle a bag of microwave popcorn not only exists in equipped ovens right now, but has existed for decades.

The problem is not all microwaves are so equipped. A microwave oven where the popcorn setting is just a dumb timer is really an invitation to under- or overcook the bag.