West Bend Stir Crazy Hot Oil Popcorn Popper, Popcorn Maker Machine with Large Serving Bowl Lid and Stirring Rod Perfect for Movie Night Snack Time or Parties, 6-Quart, Red

In 2010 I purchased a used hot air popcorn popper for $2.00 bucks at a thrift store. It was probably from the 1980's and it worked faithfully until a couple months ago. But it finally died, so I went on Amazon to search for the same style popper, the kind you put the bowl under with a vented hood that shoots it toward the bowl, ideally. But man, the reviews made me feel so discouraged. I ignored the reviews that said they shoot popcorn all over the place because I already knew that to be an issue with my old one, and to be honest, it really wasn't a big deal for me (just a few strays here and there that my dog grabbed up). But what DID concern me was all the reviews saying the tops were melting, and pictures of them with melted tops. And different brands too, not just one. I read dozens of reviews and even when I begrudgingly increased the price range, they still had lousy reviews about melting tops. So I started looking at other options... Enter this style of popper. I compared a bunch of brands for these types since I've never used this kind of popper. Eventually I resorted to watching Youtube videos (I take my popcorn very seriously, LOL) and was finally sold on this style, brand and model after watching a guy demonstrate and test several types of poppers. I am extremely pleased with it and have ZERO complaints! First and foremost: It pops ALL the kernels, literally EVERY SINGLE KERNEL! It doesn't get more impressive than that. The very first use I got nervous and shut it off a few seconds too soon and had about 10 or so kernels left, but once I realized I can wait until it all stops without it burning, I haven't had a single unpopped piece since! Because the bar constantly moves it around, you can listen and make sure it's completely stopped without it burning. I don't use the included top/bowl to eat it from, I dump it into my own bowl of choice instead, it's just my preference. My own bowl is a little wider so I can toss it around with oil and salt that way. It was hard to visualize the amount of popcorn described in the description, but I was pleased to discover it pops exactly the amount I have always popped, which is a BIG family-sized bowl full (which I eat all myself because I'm single and that's how I roll). As far as oil, I'm not used to using oil since my old popper was just a dry air popper. What I would always do is drizzle the oil and salt after popping it. So I initially used olive oil (which is what I drizzle on it anyway) but then decided to experiment with coconut oil because it has a higher smoke point and the healthy properties of coconut oil can withstand the heat of the unit. That was even better, it's fantastic with coconut oil and tastes more like theater popcorn. I still drizzle olive oil and salt on it afterward however, because the coconut oil serves the purpose of coating the kernels, but it doesn't really give it the buttery feel after it's popped. But that's fine with me because I'm so pleased with how well it works that I'm willing to use oil with the kernels now. It all comes out fluffy and perfect, NO BURNED pieces ever, so far. You can put the unit inside the bowl to store it, but I prefer to keep the bowl on top to keep dust out. The cord easily wraps around underneath the bottom, which is something that annoyed me about my old popper, which had no way to store the cord. I also like having an off/on switch too, as opposed to just yanking the cord out of the wall while it's running like many of the upright air poppers will have you do. It takes a couple of minutes for the kernels to heat up but then it pops incredibly fast and the whole batch is done in the blink of an eye, it's pretty wild. I wondered if it would be awkward to lift and flip the unit to dump it in the bowl but it's not, it's lightweight and easy. ONE IMPORTANT THING: I almost didn't buy this because even this style of popper has some pictures of the top piece melted. This surprised me until I watched the videos on this page and did a few face-palms. Watch them for yourself and you'll see they leave the red piece on the lid while it's popping. I couldn't believe how any videos show people doing this. The vents in the clear bowl/lid are there so that it VENTS while popping! The smaller red lid is included to put on AFTER you shut it off. It's simply to keep small pieces from falling out once you flip it over. Keep it off while it's popping, of course it's going to melt if you keep blocking the vent holes, good grief! Makes me wonder what people were doing with the other kinds of air poppers to make those ones melt, maybe covering them with sweaters?? But I'm content to never know. When reading reviews, keep in mind that a lot of people have only ever used microwave popcorn. Some of the reviews about flavor and whatnot make me think these people are simply used to microwave junk and so it's probably no reflection on this popper. That, and people blocking the vents with the red lid and then complaining that it smells like plastic. Sigh. Like I said, I have no complaints whatsoever and am glad I decided to try this type of popper. Easy, perfect results and kinda fun to use.

Previous to this corn popper we had been using microwave popcorn for years. We used to use a pot on the stove, but with the new glass tops the stoves are not at all friendly to use by shaking back and forth. Now back to our love of popcorn! This West Bend product is excellent, low cost, and makes the best popcorn we have had in a long time. One of the things about the Microwave popcorn that is bad, you never can get the right timing so that there are times when you burn the stuff in the back. Also, when opening up the bag, steam is your enemy, it seems to scald you most of the time. West Bend has designed this Stir Crazy Popper so that you can watch it pop in about 4 or less minutes. 1/2 cup provides about 2 bowls of popcorn per couple or 4 bowls total. 3/4 cup provides 6 or so bowls. We love the fact that there are very few kernels that do not pop. Instruction are given for both regular popcorn or premium, we like the premium which really does not cost that much more. Using the flavored oils is what we tried and they worked very well. We felt that the use of butter was out of our diet range. Salt is optional, but we used a little sea salt to enhance the flavor. Clean up is very easy! Take the top and wash it with some dish washing soap and wipe dry with paper towel. Since you cannot put the bottom part of the unit in the water, use a paper towel to wipe it out. Dampening the towel really helps, we thought that the idea of soap there was not necessary. The red cap on top must be removed before popping so that the steam will escape. Then, you turn over the whole unit so that with the top back in place you can use the cover as your bowl for serving. We highly recommend this popper to you lovers of popcorn when watching a movie on TV!

We stopped going to theaters because of Covid, meaning we're missing out on delicious movie theater popcorn, and we also haven't had a microwave for the past few years. Popcorn is really the only thing I miss about that. I finally gave in and started looking for a popcorn maker and the Stir Crazy had some good reviews. My husband had one as a kid, too, so it was familiar to him. One of the big selling points for me is that it has an on-off switch. That might sound odd but the air popper I had as a kid did NOT and you just yanked the plug out of the wall, an action accompanied by sparks. This is way safer. What we do is put 1 1/2 tbl of butter flavored popcorn popping oil and 1 tsp of flavacol (a flavored popcorn salt) in the bottom of the machine, then 1/2 a cup of popcorn. Then the cover goes on (MINUS the lid that snaps on over the butter well!!! leave that off). Then we switch on the machine and wait. I don't use the butter well because the butter doesn't seem to melt that well, or drain through the holes that well - a lot of them have raised rims which prevents butter from dripping easily in. Once the popcorn is done popping we turn it off and snap the lid on over the butter well. This can be hard to snap into place. Then unplug the machine, hold both sides of the handles, and flip the whole thing over and give it a shake. That's it. My husband likes to eat out of the cover, I dump the popcorn into a bowl. The cover can feel really greasy, even after a washing. I wash it in VERY hot water with a lot of soap and let it air dry - it feels like the kind of plastic that will warp in a dish washer, even in the top rack. We wipe out the base plate very carefully, wash the metal arm and the plastic screw top. My one issue with the ease of wash is that it's not super easy to clean the base with hot soapy water. Basically I wipe out as much salty oil as possible, then give it a wipe with a well-squeezed sponge and then rinse it, then wipe it again. But I worry about leaving soapy residue. It hasn't been a problem so far, at least. We're no longer buying bags of popcorn at the store, and have cut back on buying chips and crackers as well. It's only been about a month and this has already paid for itself due to that alone. I wish we'd gotten one sooner.

Makes great popcorn! I like the cord storage beneath the popper. I HATE the plastic lid that goes over the butter well, it’s very hard to get it to stay on. It’s stiff, not flexible and feels like it won’t last. My old stir crazy had a flexible lid that worked well, but it’s a different size so I can’t switch them out. I’ve been using it for a few months now, and I’m happy with the popcorn it makes.

The first time I used this popcorn maker, I was disappointed. The corn tasted stale. However, the second time was better - same brand kernels - and the third and ongoing times were great. So, give it a second chance before returning it. I now love it. It's so much easier than making popcorn on the stove and easier clean up. I still melt the butter on the stove though. Using the top holes didn't work well for me.

My love affair w STIR CRAZY IS OVER! I've had 3 of these since 2006. I use it a few times a month. Westbend, like the majority of American Companies, has cheappened the product, but didn't lower the price. They now last 2-3 years with low use. These pics are from the one that died last night. The last 2 deaths were the same. You put in the oil and popcorn and then very slowly (much slower than normal) some of the popcorn pops until the bowls is about half full. The popcorn is edible, but TASTE'S BURNED. I spend decades as an engineer. I beleive the premature failure of my last 2 is due to a design change made to lower the cost of production. Look at the picture with the toothpick between the handle and the heating surface. (I stuck the toothpick to show what changed.) My first popper, lasted 10 years until the plastic bown cracked. Originally, the handles and heating surface was a solid piece. When I washed it, water could not drip inside the unit. The current design has a round heat surface surrounded by a seperate plastic handle. In between is a small gap. THE GAP IS THE PROBLEM. When I washed my first popper with the solid top (handle-heat surface-handle) water could not drip down into the heating compartment. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. The design change has caused my last 2 poppers to fail 80% FASTER than the very first one with the one piece top. Westbend is pricing thier popper as a PREMIUM PRODUCT. It used to be, but NOT ANY MORE. I like this style of popper and buying a replacement. At my cottage, I previously purchased a knockoff after a similar failure, and it works as well, if not better (Cover is bowl shaped and the popper nests inside when stored). TAKE THAT WESTBEND!

West bend popcorn maker. The price is fair It only takes 4-5 minutes to make a batch. When popping remove the red lid. For me I don't melt butter in the top. I use butter flavored oil and flavacol . I have tried making batches 1 with the oil and flavacol in the oil and 1 adding the flavacol after it is done. In my opinion I added afterwards is the best. When it is done popping put the red cover on the lid and hold the handles flip it over add your salt or flavacol then use the large Tupperware bowl and hold the 2 together and shake and add more as needed. One thing the flavacol is very strong use sparingly to your taste. Stupid easy to use, I personally wash the rod and nut and top cover by hand. And no it's no loud. It's when you make a batch all the noise is the popcorn popping Start to finish it's like 4ish minutes. I haven't had any un popped corn's

This thing cost be an extra $7.00. My wife had been complaining that the microwave popcorn smelled like chemicals and she didn't like the taste. There were also a lot of un-popped popcorn unless you burned the rest. So after reading reviews I decided to buy the stir crazy. Like some have said, I put the corn and oil and it did not pop. I waited, waited, and waited. Nothing. Almost 10 minutes - nothing. So I dumped the corn and oil out and started all over again. I measured the oil and popcorn (1/3 cup corn to 2 tablespoons oil). I realized I did not put enough oil in the first time and used a teaspoon. This time it started popping (more like exploding) and was done in about 4 minutes. There was only one uncooked kernel. The popcorn was fantastic. We made another batch. We have used this machine about 40 times so far. It does make some strange noises sometime, but the machine works fine. I suggest not putting more than 1/3 cup of corn in the machine so the stirring device does not have to work too hard. 1/3 cup of popcorn makes plenty for two people. I also started using sunflower oil and it tastes great. No more nasty preservatives, just plain corn and sunflower oil. So where did the extra $7.00 come from? After the second batch my wife went and got a brand new $7.00 pack of microwave popcorn and threw it in the garbage saying " I am not eating that horrible stuff again". She's right. Compared to popping in this machine, even the most expensive microwave popcorn tastes like chemicals, salt, grease, and is horrible. My experience - Use more oil and it pops even better. I now use 2 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Super easy cleanup. No complaints or problems at all. We love it. It cooks super fast and tastes great. Based on the price of gourmet popcorn and the oil as compared to high end microwave popcorn packs, the machine has already paid for itself and then some. IMPORTANT USAGE TIP: After making a LOT of popcorn in this machine, I have found that the amount of oil is critical. If you do not put enough oil in the machine, it will strain and make a grinding or rubber on rubber squeaking noise as the stirring device strains to slide the popcorn around and it will not pop all of the corn. Lack of proper amount of oil will also result in a lot of kernels that will get stuck in your teeth. In my experience, the proper mix is 1/3 cup of popcorn (I use the cheap store brand in the plastic bag with great results but I keep it in an airtight container) and the proper amount of oil is 3 (Three) TABLESPOONS of oil. I think the instructions say 2 but that is not really enough. I use the butter flavored oil and it tastes great and 3 tablespoons of oil still does not leave your popcorn greasy and pops almost every single popcorn. Best popcorn I have ever tasted. Now if you want REALLY great popcorn, use coconut oil but that is too expensive for me.

Ürün herşeyi ile harika, malzemesi kaliteli ve çok şık görünüyor ama sipariş verirken 110V olduğu bilgisini atlamışım, kutuyu görünce eşim burada kullanamayacağımızı söyledi. Çok çok üzülerek iade ettim. Umarım en kısa sürede 220V içinde üretilir ve satılır 🙏🏻😊

ネタが半分も弾けないまま焦げて終了。 こんなマシンに１万円以上もだすのは無駄です。 それから販売する方も、自分たちで使ってみてから販売してください。 いかにダメかわかります。

The popcorn popper works fine. I'm now in India and I have a voltage step-down device for using this machine: If you have a different voltage than in the USA (120) as in India (240), be sure to use a voltage regulator or the popper will die an instant death. If there is a power-cut (happens in India all the time), just wait and it will begin when power returns. Oh, the popcorn? It's great. I've used it a few times and really enjoy it.

Produto excelente....top \o/ =D

Works excellent. Barely any un-popped corn left. The same popcorn was coming out small and tough out of the air popcorn maker that I replace with this one. Big and fluffy and delicious. Only thing not working out is the cap for the bowl part. It refuses to stay attached for storage, pops off immediately every time. I can live without the cap. Right now I am super pleased, I hope this machine lasts and performs this good for many years.