Original Whirley-Pop Popcorn Popper Kit - Metal Gear - Stainless Steel - 1 Real Theater All Inclusive Popping Kit

Let me first say, that I almost never leave a review that’s positive, because I think something is SUPPOSED to work as described, and that doesn’t warrant a pat on the head, so when something does what it’s supposed to I pretty much just move on with my life. Things shouldn’t require modification or repair to do what the manufacturer claims it is supposed to do right out of the box. Having that been said, I just abused the crap out of this thing and it beat me. You guys like popcorn, I LOVE popcorn (Pizza, Beer, Popcorn and a good movie don’t always require a date as far as I’m concerned; almost just as great all by itself). No, I don’t plan to live to be 46, but I also rarely indulge in any of the above (though, those days might be over now).ConstructionI miss real Stainless Steel. Farberware is mostly crap now, and almost nothing you buy for under $20 is worth the trip to the store (I’m talking about one single chef’s knife, et cetera; not a set). The reason is because there are actually MANY grades of stainless steel (regardless of what you are making out of it) and you can CLAIM something is stainless in your advertising EVEN if you use the absolute cheapest grade available. There are items made of grades of stainless that will rust just sitting on a shelf in its packaging, or because of the humidity in the air. Wal-Mart sells a lot of them. However, one thing that Wal-mart does sell is a brand called Tramontina, that is actually a Brazilian Company, and they make their pots like they make their bikini models. Multi-layered bottom! REAL stainless Steel. I’ve soaked knives in soapy water for a week in one before (got busy/stuff came up). The knives were done, and the water was rust brown, but the POT was fine; just had to wash it out – it was like rust wouldn’t stick to it…THAT’S REAL STAINLESS STEEL!+I wouldn’t doubt it at all if the pot portion of this was actually sublet to Tramontina for production; it’s built that well. I expected thin sheet metal. One layer; the kind that everything burns too. The thick bottomed pot you get alone is worth the item price. You can probably use it for a ton of different other things by itself, and it will probably outlast the top/mechanism (which I also suspect is actually made out of a good grade of Stainless – garbage stainless often comes out of the box with little rust specks in corners of parts, and this is pretty perfect so far).Oh, and if you haven’t already heard, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE MODEL WITH METAL GEARS!!!Delivery – Inside a week, and the item was very well packed.Experience – First use.I just popped 8 pots in this in a row; guys, it actually seems built to do exactly that. After “seasoning” the pot with olive oil, I used Orville Redenbacher 100% Natural Popcorn (Wal-Mart), Act II Buttery Popping & Topping Oil and Mighty Pop Popcorn Salt (both from Sam’s Club). Once everything warms up you can set your watch by that 5 minute time (per instructions). The first batch I measured everything out and poured it in (Kernels, Oil, and Salt in that order). I spun the handle a few times to mix it all up and waited. After about 3 minutes the first kernels start to pop (I actually timed it), and it’s done at right around 5 minutes (on medium heat). I then dumped it into a bowl and reloaded everything, EYEBALLING the ingredients every time after that. After the first batch I looked in the pot and thought for sure all the “stuff” left in the pot would burn on the next run. So I decided that I would keep reloading components by eye and run it until something burned. Nothing ever did.I kept the burner on medium, and just took the pot off to dump and reload. I kept pouring about the same amounts of kernels, then about the same oil/topping, and sprinkling the same amount of salt, then turning the handle to mix it up. CONSISTENTLY, I would wait 3 minutes and then hear the first pop (I might have spun the handle once after mixing just to move things around once). After the first pop I then moderately turned the handle until I couldn’t anymore (think 1 spin for every “One-one-thousand” count). DON’T FORCE THE HANDLE! Just take the whole thing off the stove, (I would hover it over the burner and movie it in circles as the last kernels popped; see the tip below) and let it stop popping. Then reload or shut-off the stove.I could have kept going, but gave up after the eighth batch. After it cooled, I wiped the pot out with paper towels, wiped down the top and stirring mechanism real good, reassembled it and placed it in a brand new Kitchen garbage bag to help keep the dust out of it. I’m pretty retentive about cleanliness; I hand scrub my dirty dishes thoroughly before putting them in the dishwasher (use it as a sanitizer). But they claim that if you use this once a week you don’t have to clean it out, which makes sense since you are mostly talking about steam, oil, and hard kernel shells/skin (like an abrasive) ever touching the cooking surface. I plan to wash it monthly because oil does go rancid after a while, but the more the oil stays on it the less likely it is to ever rust. It’s like a cast Iron Skillet, you season it, and then you care for it a little differently than other pots & Pans.A few tipsTry not to over fill it because it will bind up the handle once everything pops, but if you take it off the burner once the popcorn starts coming out the lid, you probably won’t burn anything, you just end up with more un-popped kernels (which you could probably actually save and try popping later, but I think that’s a little unsanitary myself.)Don’t slide it back and forth across the burner like the old Jiffy Pop “pie pan with a handle” packs of popcorn you would make on the burner and that would expand into a big foil bubble as the popcorn popped. BUT, once the popcorn popping slows down, I make the same motion with the pot about an inch above the burner. This way, any kernels that were JUST about to pop, but might not have because the heat was removed, still get a little heat applied to them, but the popped popcorn doesn’t get burned.I’m not excited about putting the top/mechanism through the dishwasher, but the bottom pot could basically LIVE there. Very sturdy (think decent Wolfgang Puck/Emeril pots and pans quality – definitely not the lowest grade, but not $100 per piece either).One ComplaintMy one minor, minor gripe; when you go to dump the popcorn, sometimes both flaps open unexpectedly and you make a mess. The bottom is heavy duty as I said above, and the first part of that is HEAVY. For its size, it takes a bit of wrist muscle to deal with this one handed, and when you go to shake out the popped popcorn you have to remember that the handle itself is attached to the TOP mechanism. The top is only attached to the bottom by two spring clips built onto the top mechanism. A third spring clip holds the one flap closed while the other flap is free to open, allowing the finished popcorn to come out and pour into a bowl. If you have to shake out the popcorn to pour it into a bowl, the bottom begins to slide off of the top. The spring clips appear to begin to slide off the bottom pan (though it is actually the weight of the bottom pan pulling it off the top), and the spring clip holding the other flap moves away from the bottom pot, allowing it to release.The solution is simple – either take off the top and pour the popcorn into a bowl using oven mitts (it’s HOT!) OR just using one oven mitt/pot holder, support the side of the bottom pot with one hand as you shake it with the other (will probably better reduce wear and tear on the spring clips over time versus removing it every time). Not a big deal, but it could be called a flaw in the design I guess.Final WordI don’t do infomercials every time I buy something…In fact, I could probably make a living doing angry A-hole reviews of things that turn out to be crap. I bought this, it wasn’t sent to me for free to review. I just had to share my experience so far because I honestly haven’t bought anything for the kitchen in a VERY long time (at least a decade) that I was this pleased with!

I seriously LOVE popcorn. Over the years I have purchased just about every corn popper there is available in the home use category. I even bought one small commercial grade popper. The trouble with most poppers is the cleanup. A lot of good poppers are just not worth the fuss. The electric "spinning" models are only fair in my opinion because of the sogginess inside due to poor steam release. They are also a lot of trouble to clean.I wrote off Whirly Pop as a possibility for me mainly because my cooking surface is induction and it simply would not work. Also, I thought the plastic gears and function SEEMED a little on the cheap/poor quality side WITH THE AMOUNT I use it. The Whirley Pop is a great popper and is perfect for most home users. I do not insinuate the plastic mechanism does not function well.I just came back in the market for a new popper since my small commercial popper died. My research for a new popper revealed the Stainless Steal model of Whirley Pop. I had no idea they made one. This is THE BEST of THE BEST - even if you do not have an induction cooktop. It will work with any method and I imagine is pretty awesome on gas. The quality is top notch and the look and feel are great - but do those extra perks really matter? Not at the end of the day. They are just great perks and well loved ones at that.What really matters is the popcorn. I have never had a popper that I love as much as this one. It's use is just as customizable as the connoisseurs that use it. It is awesome!The bottom line is that it is the BEST corn popper on the market for home use (and even for commercial use I imagine if you have an available heat source). The clean up is so easy and the popcorn is perfection. Thank You Wabash Valley Farms for upgrading your amazing corn popper.

The stainless steel version is gorgeous and well made, but it is heavy and hard to handle when emptying. The smooth handle does not help. The aluminum version is not as lovely, but is much easily to empty as it is light weight and has grooves for your fingers. The stainless steel one has metal gears. The aluminum one has plastic gears that lasted pretty well until a great grandchild was playing with it on the counter and decided to hold the bottom gear stable while he turned the other gear. It is now missing a tooth.They do make great popcorn. Easy. Here's how I do it. Pour canola oil in the bottom, enough to liberally cover the bottom. Add any salt, etc. I add a little pepper, too. Add the popcorn, enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I put it on my electric stove on medium. I may turn it a time or 2 as I put it on the stove. Then I stay close. Do not go to the basement to empty the dryer. You will forget and burn your popcorn. When I hear it pop a couple of kernels I begin to turN the handle. When the popping becomes rapid it, I turn the heat to low, unless I forget, no loss, and continue to turn the handle until it will not turn (the popper is full to the top) or it isn't popping much anymore (this happened with the popcorn that came with it. Not full, but all popped. And messier than doing your own popcorn. By that I mean lots of really yellow stuff coating the popper, their fake butter.). Immediately remove from the heat. Unlike that ignorant, ignorant u tube video, do not remove the lid to empty as one side opens easily to pour it out. Plus the popper is hot. Some people if they had a brain would play with it. When the popper has cooled, just wipe it out with a dry dishcloth or paper towel. You are ready for next time. Great popcorn.