I AM A 73 YEAR OLD SENIOR CITIZEN. I LOVE,LOVE ANY KIND OF POPCORN. I BUY MICROWAVE BUTTER FLAVORED POPCORN AND EAT 1/2 BAGFUL EVERY EVENING WHILE WATCHING T.V.
I ALSO LOVE KETTLE CORN. WHAT I AM CONCERNED ABOUT IF IT IS BAD FOR ME TO EAT IT EVERY DAY. I HOPE NOT, CUZ I JUST LOVE IT. I AM VERY HEALTHY FOR MY AGE AND WOULD NOT LIKE TO GET SICK. PLEASE LET ME KNOW. GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MARGARET MORENO

Tynan,
Thanks for your tip on the Stir Crazy Popcorn Popper. We have been looking for a popper that could pop "perfect" popcorn.

My company has been selling popcorn popping oils to the theatre industry for over 40 years. We recently introduced a 'theatre style popcorn kit' which has become very popular. Our customers have been asking for an inexpensive home popcorn popper and I think the Stir Crazy Popper is a great solution for them.

Arthur

I'm interested in this popping solution, though I dare to interject another cheap alternative.

http://www.amazon.com/Presto-04830-PowerPop-Microwave-Multi-Popper/dp/B00005IBXK/sr=8-2/qid=1169795508/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-4993335-2675633?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden

The Powerpop is a Microwave device. The only downside is that it requires these little inserts that you're supposed to replace every few uses. But you just ass 1-2 tbsp of vegetable/olive oil, and exactly 1/3 cup of popcorn. If you have a high powered microwave the popping only takes about 1 minute and 40 seconds and rarely leaves much unpopped. The popcorn is delicious.

The Stir Crazy popper cooks a whole cup of popcorn per batch? Is that just for you or often for others as well? My popper uses 1/3 cup of popcorn and it is a good amount for myself.

Addison,

That thing does look pretty cool. I personally don't ever use microwaves and I'd rather have the capacity to pop more if necessary (although maybe yours could pop more in the same amount of time if you did several batches).

I can eat about half to two thirds of a cup of popcorn. A full cup is just about perfect for two people.

Thanks for reading and sharing your popcorn popper,

Tynan

Seeing this post brought back some memories of going to my grandparents house when I was younger and eating popcorn there. I've always wanted a popper like this ever since I first saw my grandparents, thanks for this discovery Tynan. I think I may actually buy one tomorrow.

I have had this stir crazy popcorn popper but the one thing I didn't like about it was that the pop corn wasn't as fluffy but a lot harder and often times more of that kernel flake stuff that gets stuck in the gums. I personally use the Air popper because it doesn't require much counter space and if I ever need a hair dryer or run out of hand towels I have a nice alternative.

A nice popcorn topping is A mixture of Brewers Yeast (nutritional yeast full of B vitamins) and butter or butter alternative. Make a this paste and pour over your popcorn! Amazing and delicious!

Ah this looks great - air poppers are probably pretty similar, but the thing that stands out to me is that there is a huge half sphere transparent cap. All the ones I've seen up until now were more like vertical devices, where the popcorn was released into an external bowl after they get fired up into the air.

I mostly use microwave popcorn, simply for the fact that it's easy to get an even distribution of flavour on the popped corn, whereas with the air popper, pouring something over after it's popped can be real uneven.

You say you pour some olive oil into the machine prior to popping, how do you prevent olive oil from getting into the hot air vents and damaging the machine (say, when you're wiping out the inside of it after popping - I imagine be easy to slowly wipe small amounts of oil into the vents until there is internal damage after a few weeks)

The popcorn popper mentioned here does not use air. It is a heated plate with a spinning metal arm that moves the kernels around until they pop.

Putting any kind of oil or anything other than popcorn seeds in an Air popper is most likely a bad idea and could ruin your machine.

We have been using the Stir Crazy popcorn popper for around 20 years. Ours finally quit working and we got another one. Everyone loves the popcorn we pop. We have tried air poppers but only because they were the in thing at one time but there is no comparison if you are a true popcorn lover when it comes to taste. If you like butter on yours there is a place at the top that you can put butter in and it will slowly drip onto the popcorn as it pops.

PS-Margaret- popcorn is a wonderful fiber food. As long as you do not have anything like diverticulitis you will be fine. I also eat popcorn almost everynight.

I have had a Stir Crazy popcorn popper for over 20 years as well and mine is finally on the blink. I've asked my kids to get me a new one for my birthday.

A few pointers:

- you can make a batch of popcorn as small as you'd like. To get the correct proportions of oil and popcorn seeds, I select a dry measuring cup, 1/4 - 3/4 size, fill it with popcorn seeds, and then pour the cooking oil over the top of the seeds just until I can see it begin to surface, and then pour the seeds and oil in the popcorn popper.

- if you like butter on your popcorn, the butter well works fairly well, and works best if the butter is soft (room temp) to begin with to ensure it completely melts by the time the popcorn has finished popping. Surprisingly, it's not messy.

- if your popcorn seems too coarse after it's popped, consider trying a different popcorn. Yellow popcorn pops larger and softer but has many more hulls than white popcorn. Personally, I prefer Black Jewel popcorn (black seeds that pop white) and Crimson Jewel popcorn (red seeds that pop white), which seem to have more flavor than white popcorn, but still lack the hulls that yellow popcorn has.

- if you like a crisper popcorn, remove the lid from the butter well while it is popping to allow the steam to escape. Of course, if you are melting butter, be sure to secure the butter well lid before turning it over after popping has completed.

I've never tried olive oil instead of cooking oil, but I'm going to. It works well for frying potatoes, so I'm sure it will be good for popcorn, too.

Little kids love to watch the popcorn pop, just be sure they don't get burned by touching a hot popper.

The bowl is large and somewhat clumsy to clean, and the base is a bit difficult to keep from oil eventually building up (after 20 years) but it's worth it.

I have kept very few small kitchen appliances as well, but if you enjoy good popcorn, this is one you'll find a place for!

It sure beats microwave popcorn, which is not good for you.