Kettle corn is a crowd favorite

Delicious, fresh popped kettle corn is available at the Scripps Ranch Farmer’s Market from the Gold Mine Kettlecorn booth. (photos by John Gregory)

Kettle corn is a crowd favorite

While it’s not a new item, kettle corn remains a favorite snack at community street fairs, county fairs and carnivals. Now, Michael Mogge brings kettle corn to the Scripps Ranch Farmer’s Market on Saturdays with his Gold Mine Kettlecorn booth.

Just follow your nose and the sweet scent of fresh popped kettle corn will lead you to his booth. It’s worth the trip just to see the corn being popped in an industrial looking contraption that includes a huge kettle, an automatic stirrer on top and a sifting table. Mogge also uses a hand stirrer to make sure the product he pours into bags is of the highest quality.

But the real draw to his booth is the irresistible taste of the puffy kettle corn, which features a sweet glaze.

“It’s a little different than the normal popcorn that people are used to having at the movie theater or that they would make in their microwave,” he explained. “It’s homemade and popped fresh. So, the popcorn that you’re getting here was popped this morning. It’s coming to you fresh and flavored with some sugar.”

Mogge purchases his special popcorn from a distributor in Santa Ana. The recipe is simple: for every two cups of popcorn there is roughly a cup and a half of sugar. All of it is added together in the big kettle. Mogge flips a lever that ignites the heat from a propane source. The popcorn pops, the stirrer automatic stirs it and then Mogge tilts the fluffy contents of the kettle to pour it onto the sifting table once it’s ready. It’s a sight to behold and the finished product is nearly impossible to resist.

He is selling his kettle corn in long 18-inch bags and 24-inch bags.

Mogge’s kettle corn business is fairly new, but he is no stranger to kettle corn. He used to plan events and worked as a director for a recreation center in San Diego. Kettle corn companies would come to his events to sell their product, and Mogge became familiar with the process. In addition, Mogge said that 20 years ago he was the event coordinator for the downtown business association in Monterrey, and that is where he was first introduced to kettle corn vendors and kettle corn itself.

“I’ve thought about it for a long time and decided to take the plunge,” he said.

Today, Mogge and Gold Mine Kettlecorn are available for farmer’s markets, fundraisers and other events.

Reach Gold Mine Kettlecorn at (831) 345-9363.

The Scripps Ranch Farmer’s Market is open for shoppers from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every single Saturday at 10380 Spring Canyon Road, in the Innovations Academy parking lot. Visit srfm.org.