POPCORN POPPER Best ??

Question

Micro went out, ended my popcorn/movie evening
Missed, so went natural, stovetop pan. Kinda tough popcorn.
Fixed micro, news notes micro popcorn unhealthy so stayed a-la-natural. (but nothing beats micro's convenience)
Got Westbend's Stir Crazy - pops a nice light corn, top-cap buttering function not that great -- need spatula to get butter thru holes, some remains on top.
Baked during holidays, did decent job at toasting nuts.

Problem > Huge on countertop, top plastic bowl will likely scratch or break. in time - otherwise good
Recently seen Microwave bowl popper in an Ad - costs about 30% less than Westbend

Considering purchase as late gift:

1) Which type of Popper do you think is best ?
Stovetop, Electrical, Microwave
2) Are results very noticeable ?
3) Preferable brand ?
4) What are your experiences with assorted poppers ?
5) If you were to give one as a gift, which would it be ?

Thanks for the help

Answer 1

1) Microwave packages are best b/c its pretty easy and there's not really a decline in taste. The price of microwave popcorn is also comparable to buying your own seeds/oil. As long as you don't stick your head in the microwave, it's not going to hurt you (microwave just "excite" water molecules, causing whatever is it to heat up).

2) Stovetop is hard to do correctly and often doesn't taste as good as electrical or microwave. Electrical and microwave will taste nearly identical (slight edge to electrical).
3) Act II (packages again) is always good (kettle or regular), Pop Secret is okay, and I personally don't like Orville Reddenbacher or most store brands (they have a funny taste). Adding some Molly McButter salt is always a nice touch.

4) I'd give a large box of ACT II microwave popcorn. Not a microwaveable bowl, though. If you're going to bother with a bowl, get an electrical (Westbend's are the best).

Answer 2

Proctor-Silex Popcorn Pumper
I bought it for about $20 new about 15 years ago.
No problems. Use it many times a week.
We usually buy a sack of organic popcorn.
Just go through a natural wholesaler and it costs about $20 Canadian for a huge sack of popcorn. Retail for a sack would be perhaps double that or more, for course. Would last almost a couple years with daily popcorn eating. I thought my popcorn popper must be getting all gross inside with dried bits etc. So I recently opened it up and it was totally clean inside. No need to clean it. There definitely is a huge flavour difference between organic and non-organic popcorn. Also, the regular popcorn looks more white -- perhaps they've taken off the outer 'shell' or maybe it's just a different breed of popcorn, but whatever the reason, it really tastes like Styrofoam. We find that we get about 5-10 half-popped kernels each time with organic, while the non-organic regular store-bought stuff 100% pop fully. I eat the half popped ones too, so no loss of money or anything, and five times the flavour.

I think microwave popcorn tastes gross.
The poppers that use oil, those from the 1970s, Yuck! What a mess. Air poppers all the way.

Answer 3

The microwave bowl popper is not bad but the little cardboard pieces have to be replaced about every other use and are not that easy to come by. Make sure you can get them where the person lives that you are giving it to. Advantage: no oil needed Disadvantage: papers need replacing
I have not heard that is bad to have micro popcorn. They are always coming up with something on anything though. I would not worry about that. I like my microwave kettle corn.
I Like the air popper but it does take more space. Advantage: it makes fluffy popcorn. Disadvantage: more chance of uneven butter coverage.
If I gave one it would be the air popper - it is easy to use

Answer 4

I WOULD GET A HOT AIR POPPER BUT I WOULDNT USE THE BUTTER FEATURE. JUST GET THE POPCORN IN A LARGE KETTLE W/COVER AND ADD BUTTER OR OIL A LITTLE AT A TIME HOLDING THE KETTLE W/TOP IN PLACE. ADD A SLIGHT BIT OF SALT AND DO THE SAME AGAIN. ANOTHER GOOD WAY IS TO PUT THE POPCORN KERNALS IN A BROWN PAPER BAG. ADD A BIT OF CANOLA OIL TO THE KERNALS JUST ENOUGH BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN THE BAG THEN FOLD OVER THE END OF THE BAG AND STAPLE IT WITH TWO STAPLES AT OPPOSITE SIDES AND POP . THEN DUMP IT INTO A CONTAINER AND ADD A BIT MORE BUTTER AND SLIGHT SALT. AS FOR BRAND OF HOT AIR POPPER ASK SOMEONE THERE OR GO TO THE RETURNS SECTION AND FIND OUT WHICH ONE IS RETURNED MOST OFTEN THEN CHOOSE A DIFFERENT BRAND.

Answer 5

Air poppers are the fastest and really cheap at Walmart or sears

Answer 6

i say microwave because its quicker to me,i think the results are about 70 percent noticeable,i reccomend movie popcorn extra butter and if ur talkin bout micro wave i reccomend goldstar brand,and i accualy never treid stovetop but electrical burns it alot if u dont know how to use it and microwave u just press the button "popcorn" :).......anyway for the gift i choose microwave :) good luck!

Answer 7

Just use the microwave, and stay away from the Butter Lover's popcorn.

Answer 8

Yes, I remember that thing! And yes, I believe it was West Bend. So much easier these days with the microwave!