How to minimize the impact of unpopped kernels and kernel shards in popcorn? I've always had a fear of eating popcorn. The idea of breaking my tooth on a popcorn kernel is terrifying, the thought of getting a kernel shard lodged between my teeth or gums makes me squeamish, and I cringe at the possibility of chomping on a burnt piece. I suspect this all stems from some badly-made Jiffy Pop that my mom would serve up as a kid. It's not a debilitating fear or anything, I just avoid eating popcorn.

I don't really talk about my popcorn-phobia, so I can't really blame my brother-in-law for getting me a subscription to a "popcorn of the month" club for Christmas. But that said, I'll be soon stuck with bags and bags of popcorn. I could offload these to my co-workers, but instead I've decided to overcome my fear of popcorn as one of my New Year's resolutions.

It's been a solid few decades since I've tried popcorn, so I'm taking some baby steps and any tips would be appreciated. Specifically, my questions are:

How do you avoid breaking your teeth? Does shaking the bag force loose kernels to the bottom? Is there a type of popcorn that doesn't "shard" as bad?
Don't eat the popcorn straight from the bag. Put it into a nice large bowl. This will provide enough room for the unpopped kernels to fall to the bottom. As for hull shards between your teeth, dental floss or a toothpick will take care of that quickly and relatively neatly. Avoid burnt pieces by watching as you pour the popcorn into the bowl and as you take pieces to eat from the bowl.

Alternatively, set it all aside and serve it (in a nice bowl) when you have guests over. They are unlikely to notice you're not eating any.