West Bend Popcorn Machine, Stir Crazy Black

Since my husband's heart attack and since we learned how to reverse his type 2 diabetes, we avoid *all* food chemicals as much as possible. We both loved popcorn, but we tossed out the door the chemical laden microwave convenience popping brands. The past few years we've used the Nordic Ware 60120 Microwaver Popcorn Popper 12 Cup and were satisfied.. until our microwave died. Once we went through the hassle of replacing our over the range microwave, my husband admitted popping popcorn was very hard on a microwave. Just Grrreat. So we were again on the search for a healthful solution to having our favorite healthy snack - popcorn! without destroying our microwave. We knew we did not want a hot air popper - we like the taste of the oils and we realize the important roles of healthy fats in the diet. Growing up his family had a West Bend. I had experienced the delicious popcorn at a friends house, but had never tried one myself. The West Bend arrived last week. We immediately unpacked it, washed the plastic bowl and ensured the prongs did NOT rub the non-stick coating (thanks to comments from previous reviewers!) With nothing to assemble it was mere minutes before we began experimenting with batches of popcorn (we have german shepherds who enjoyed the fruits of our endeavors!) We found the perfect mixture is simply: 1 cup popcorn, 2 tablespoons peanut oil, 2 tablespoons butter. (We realize per the manufacturer the butter is supposed to be in the butter cup above the popcorn - but we don't like any unnecessary mess to clean up!) Plug it in and monitor until the kernels slow / stop popping. We found for the most efficient pop was to warm the kettle for a couple minutes before loading with ingredients. Our granddaughters were coming over, so of course we had to experiment with "kettle corn". It came out amazing! We simply added a small amount of sugar to the above ingredients. There are a number of other recipes in the West Bend Popper manual that we still intend to try. Happy Popping! Update: The popper is still going strong! We have not experienced smoking issues when adding the butter directly to the kettle when adding the oil and popcorn (as has been otherwise indicated). We also add a bit of sea salt (good source of trace minerals!) for perfectly flavored popcorn, every time. We simply warm the kettle a few moments (since it's currently winter here in the Midwest), unplug, add the ingredients and start the popper - perfect results every time. One cup of kernels perfectly fills a Plastic Popcorn Tub - 8.5" Square however ours was very inexpensive from the local dollar store ;-) My husband has limited use of his hand, yet he finds this popper relatively easy to flip when finished. Pr-adolescents may need assistance to flip the hot popper over, but most older adolescents should be able to use this popper - with adult supervision of course!

For the record, I've only used this popcorn popper once. That said, I spent a lot of time reading reviews before spending the $28 that I did to buy it from Amazon. I also researched the other ingredients I needed to make the Movie Theater popcorn experience I was after, and found using the right ingredients. First of all, what almost no one mentions, or perhaps they don't think about is this has a 1000 watt rated heater, which means it pops the corn quick and efficiently. I looked at the professional models of popcorn poppers and the best (IMO) made in the U.S. uses a 1200 watt heating element, in all of their commercial poppers, so for this consumer model to have 1000 watts, that's saying a lot Anyways, I doubt once the corn kernels started popping, it didn't take but a minute to pop all of the 1/2 cup of white popcorn kernels I added. When I bought this popper, I also bought these ingredients in the same order: Flavacol Seasoning http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W8LT10/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 4 lbs. Snappy White Popcorn Kernels http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00382UXU4/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 1 gallon of White Coconut oil (Snappy's) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A2A88ZW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And a Gallon of O'Dell's Super Kist Two Topping http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YLNUL4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 the O'Dell's product is a butter topping you add after the popcorn is popped. I bought a plastic mustard squeeze bottle to pour the O'Dell's topping into then I ran it in my microwave oven for about 45 seconds to heat the oil up. This oil is soybean oil with flavor enhancers added. As I read others say and I agree with them, you use this topping for the texture it gives the popped corn, and you squirt it on like you would add melted butter to your popcorn, but this has no water content like butter has so your popcorn wont get soggy I also followed the advice of others when I made this first batch of popped corn. What I did was to add 3 tablespoons of coconut oil directly to the popper before plugging it in. I then added 1 teaspoon of Flavacol Seasoning on top of the coconut oil, then I plugged the machine in which turns it on as there isn't an on and off switch. When you plug this machine into a wall socket, it's running and wont stop until you unplug it. That said, I did a short dry run with my popper by plugging it in and observing how the wand rotated in relation to the bottom of the popper. Some have had the turning wand arms touch the base of the popper and remove the non stick coating after so many uses. Mine did not touch but if they did, the gage of the metal wand is light enough you can bend the metal to eliminate a rubbing possibility. On that note, on these newer Stir Crazy corn poppers, the center nut which holds the wand in place is a threaded cap, is spring loaded, and enables the metal wand to not touch the popping surface, so the new models like this one have been improved Okay so the dry test run was completed, making sure the popper got hot and the wand wasn't rubbing...I added the 3 tablespoons of coconut oil, 1 teaspoon of Flavacol and only 4 kernels of popcorn. I then plugged it in. I didn't add the entire 1/2 cup of popcorn as I read it's best to get the machine up to operating temperature before adding the popcorn, and by adding only 4 kernels of corn while it warmed up, once the 4 kernels popped, I knew it was hot enough to add the rest, which I did and that 1/2 cup of pop corn popped in under a minute. Yeah!, it went that quick. Pre-heating your popper eliminates the possibility of over cooking your popcorn I want to mention. You don't want to leave the center removable lid on the clear inverted bowl/cover on while the corn pops. The top of the bowl with the holes drilled in it acts as a vent so steam from the corn kernel can vent. If you keep the cover on the vent, that moisture wont escape and you will have soggy popcorn, so leave that lid off while you pop your corn So how did the popcorn taste? IMO?....it tasted better than what you buy at the movie theater. I was concerned that 1 teaspoon of the Flavacol seasoning might be too much, giving it way too much of a salty taste, yet my biggest critic (Mrs. Jake) told me (when asked) how my popcorn rated on a scale of 1 through 10 with 10 being the highest score. She told me she rated my popcorn a 20. It doesn't get any better than that, and she's hard to please Another point worth mentioning...you want to add the Flavacol to you oil and not shake it on the popcorn after it's popped. It's flavoring salt (giving the popcorn a buttery salty taste) but this salt is flaked salt and not granular. It's designed as a cooking salt and meant to be added to the oil while the corn pops Seriously, if you research how to make Theater Popcorn at home, you can do it with this Stir Crazy popper and it only costs $28 and not $300 like the better home theater popcorn machines start at. Plus, the Stir Crazy has a smaller foot print, and is much easier to store in a cupboard than a professional popcorn popper for the home, which most leave out in their home theater. I thought about all of this before deciding to buy the Stir Crazy instead of a home theater popcorn machine. I like quality cooking gadgets, but I also like simplicity in my life and I doubt you can get any simpler than a Stir Crazy corn popper, if you want a plug and play corn popper and not the type of machine you have to attend to every second while it's running like you do with the hand crank poppers you use on top of your stove I also researched what type of oil to use and my research led me to use coconut oil. I also bought the white instead of the yellow coconut oil as I didn't want the beta carotene food coloring that comes with yellow coconut oil, the type that is used for popcorn popping. I'm sure the yellow colored coconut oil is fine for popcorn but I will also use this coconut oil for other cooking tasks, hence the desire to not have yellow enhanced coconut oil for other types of cooking In closing, it might seem on the surface that buying a gallon of coconut oil and a gallon of O'Dell's Super Kist Two topping is a bit over board, and you can buy smaller containers, but the smaller sizes end up costing a lot more per ounce and if you like to make popcorn, you will be using all of these oils up before they go bad. Same with the Flavacol Seasoning, but I have not seen a smaller container of it for sale. Coconut oil will store for two plus years if stored correctly. Even if I don't use up the entire gallon of topping within the year pull date it comes with, it's still cheaper buying it by the gallon than buying the 16 ounce container of it. I'm totally happy with all of these Amazon purchases

Yep, the Whirley Popper went out to the recycle trash contrainer this week! I believe the tough corn we were getting was because the Whirley didn't eliminate the steam as well as it should, tough corn almost everytime. Enter the Stir Crazy. After reading the reviews I decided to order one and we sure are happy with ours. We use coconut oil (I know I know) which makes excellent tasting corn. I use about 1.5 table spoons of coconut oil and .75 teaspoon of popcorn salt and that seems to be just about right. The grand kids enjoy watching the corn pop in the plastic lid and the steam comes out the top, a lot of steam, and with that, we get very fluffy non rubbery popcorn with excellent flavor. The metal stir rod is easy to take off and put back together after cleaning. After making the first batch of corn, my wife told me "honey, we've been missing out by using the Whirley Popper, this corn is the best we've had in years!" She's right, as alway ;>) Easy to use, 3/4 cup of corn will fill the bowl and pops pretty much all the kernels, the corn is fluffy and crunchy, we love this popper, order yours and enjoy it too! ;>) UPDATE: Ooops, we must have gotten a lemon here, 6 months after we purchased this popper, it would no longer work and the Teflon had all but rubbed off in the center of the pan. I did order another one and the newer ones have a "B" in front of the serial number and they have a deeper pan, so this one is working well and popping the corn very quickly and without removing the Teflon from the pan ;>) Still a happy customer, what's $28 with free shipping, that's about the cost of 3 large popcorns at the movies ;>O

I miss my old West Bend popper. It worked great for over 10 years and I was bummed when the heating element finally gave out. But, at least it popped great popcorn without a fancy "motorized stirring rod" that will likely break within a few years and didn't work on the first unit received. Don't get me wrong, this newer unit cooks great popcorn with most kernals popped, but the stirring rod scraped the bottom of the pan and would get stuck, so I had to return it for a another one. Grrr. The motorized stirring rod will likely break either due to water getting into the mechanism (from cleaning), or likely just from wear, so if W.B. resumes selling a model without the stirring rod, I'd say go for that one. My only other problem is this thing is HUGE. That may work for a large family, but it is way too big for just one or two people. It takes up a lot of room in my cupboard. Edit 9/2/10: Well, replacement unit is still going strong, with no real problems so I've upped my rating. I've been gentle with it using only a soft sponge to clean so maybe that's why unlike some others the teflon coating appears to be still on the base.

I purchased this to replace the Kettle Crazy model which lasted many years until the teflon wore off. By comparison, the Stir Crazy is terrible. Here are my complaints: - Cheap, thin metal cooking pan. Heats quickly, but also very quickly burns the popcorn if you don't immediately turn it off and flip the thing over to remove the corn, and I'm talking within 15 seconds or you'll have scorched corn. The Kettle Crazy is heavier metal, and you can therefore wait until the pops die down a few seconds. - Cheap, thin metal stir rod. Doesn't sit evenly on the cheap plastic center pivot, which means it doesn't move corn on 50% of the sweep. No way to bend it down closer to the pan, because of how it already bends from the pivot. The Kettle Crazy has a thick aluminum bar to stir, and it rocks, plus bendable because the angles are different. - Cheap, thin nonstick coating. Already at the edges I can see where the coating didn't quite get applied. Seriously? Very poor quality. - Cheap plastic bowl material. Again, comparing to the Kettle Crazy, the bowl is very flexible at the handles when it gets heated by the machine during popping. The handles and bowl feel like they're approaching putty softness, although I haven't seen them deform permanently. When I take the bowl off, it's surprisingly supple, let's just say. - There is a gap between the metal pan and the plastic inside edge of the housing for the burner. Predictably, water and popping oil will enter this gap when popping or cleaning. The oil then smokes and burns off during the next cycle, which is a complete house-filler. A ridiculous flaw that should never have survived the first draft of the plans for this unit. Your option then is to wipe down the unit with a wet cloth, and somehow rinse away the residue without subjecting to a stream of water, or to orient the gap so that water runs away from the housing (upside down in the sink). The Kettle Crazy is a continuous pan, teflon coated, and easy to rinse in the sink without fear or water entering the unit. - Cord needs to be 1 foot longer, at minimum. Another inexplicable decision, probably a result of the corporate legal team and the UL conspiring to reduce wire gauge to a minimum while ensuring no one will be able to pop more than a couple feet from an outlet. Irritating. I can't believe the difference between this product and the Kettle Crazy, both by West Bend. Obviously not a collaborative effort. Here's what I do like: - Pops quickly and reasonably few unpopped kernels - Bowl shape on this has a little more side bulge than the Kettle Crazy, which allows the popped corn to expand and the unpopped kernels to fall back down more easily. It's a minor difference, but I did notice it during use. - It is somewhat lighter overall than the Kettle Crazy, undoubtedly due to the inferior quality of materials chosen, however.

FANTASTIC REPLACEMENT IF YOU LIKE MICROWAVE OR MOVIE POPCORN!!!!! My kids were addicted to microwave popcorn.... I loved to snack on it too but I was worried about all of the chemicals in that stuff. :-( I wanted a tasty, safe alternative but, I also had one of the old air poppers sitting in the cabinets and when I pulled that thing out, all of the kids would grimace and say that air popped popcorn was GROSS. An acquaintance of mine told me about this Stir Crazy popper and how her grandchildren all ask her to get it out when they come over. It took me about three months before I finally ordered it...AT THIS POINT WE WERE DRIVING DOWNTOWN RENO TO ''take a walk by the river'' and really just making an excuse to stop at the movie theater for popcorn to take on our walk!! LOL. This thing makes awesome tasting popcorn that is nice and crisp! It is also FAST! I thought the kids would be standing around, grumbling, losing interest and waiting.... but we were all amazed at how quickly the unit heated up and popped the corn within minutes...just barely a tad longer than the micro popcorn. There are some recipes included in the instruction manual, and although we have not tried any of them, it did spur our imaginations to have a tasting party in the kitchen. Everyone agrees though that we like it best with real melted butter and sea salt. YUM! Just like the movies anytime. We have had this for a week now and have made a dozen batches.... so far it has not gotten put away. I'd like to say this is great for snacky kids - especially hungry teenagers who bring hungry teen friends. Satisfying & also much better than chips & other junk foods. I purchased this machine along with a 4lb tub of kernels https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00382UXU4/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_47

Our first Stir Crazy lasted 20 years. We decided to retire it, and the replacement that arrived had a chip in the plastic rim around the base, exposing the metal cooking plate. Back to amazon for sample number two. This was cosmetically/functionally fine. With light use -- perhaps once every two weeks -- the machine has lasted perhaps three years, and now the stirring rod turns but the heating element no longer heats. Useless. I don't see a good alternative but to order another one, but these cheap foreign-made items appear to be more expensive in the long run than well-made domestic ones. As Sting said, "When the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around." The name brands no longer offer the quality they used to, but other options are hard to find. I would be willing to pay more for something durable. I am very disappointed. But while it lasted, the popcorn was good.

I absolutely love this Stir Crazy. Popcorn cooked in the Stir Crazy taste like popcorn that you used to make on the stove top. Microwave popcorn cannot compare to the taste of popcorn made in the Stir Crazy and the popcorn pops just as fast or faster than Microwave popcorn. All you have to do with the Stir Crazy is plug the machine in, place a small amount of oil on the non-stick heating plate, add whatever quantity of popcorn seeds you want, place the clear plastic cover on and in no time the Stir Crazy is popping popcorn like Crazy. The Stir Crazy has a thin metal stem which extends almost all the way across the heating plate. This stem is attached in the center of the heating plate by a screw cap that has little ridges on it for an easy grip when screwing on or off. (This also allows for easy cleaning.) The stem will starting turning clockwise for so many seconds then reverse itself and start turning counter-clockwise and repeat this step. This stem stirs the popcorn seeds and keeps the seeds from burning. The oil heats up in no time and the seeds start popping, within a few seconds you have a bowl full of popcorn. When the seed have slowed down on the popping just unplug the machine and turn the whole thing over causing the popped corn to be transfered into the plastic dome cover which is the serving bowl. There is a small place on the top of the dome that has plastic lid on it. You can take this little plastic lid off and there is little steam holes on the dome. This is where you can put butter to be heated up by the steam from the popcorn popping and lets the butter drizzle over the popcorn. I personally do not use this feature. I do not think there is enough time for the butter to melt before the popcorn is through popping. I just heat up my butter seperately and drizzle the butter the popcorn when it is done cooking. You will not be unhappy with this popcorn maker. Happy Popping!