Features:

  • Pop up to 6 quarts of popcorn at one time - enough to treat the whole family!
  • Clear, vented cover can be used, with the butter cap, as a popcorn serving bowl
  • Motorized stir rod ensures even popping result. Automatic reversal will prevent kernels from getting stuck
  • Removable heating plate is dishwasher-safe
  • Handles are heat-resistant for easy grasping.
Automatic popping, great popcorn

I used the old West Bend popper for years, but like this new one better for several reasons. First of all it pops the same amount as the older model but has a smaller footprint. It seems to operate just the same as the older model but I find it's easier to turn over when popping is complete. I do transfer the popcorn to another bowl for eating since the steam that dots the popping lid/bowl would seem to make some popped pieces less crisp. I like that this model has an on off switch where the other turned on when you plugged it in and you had to unplug it to turn it off, which in my small area, meant reaching across the hot surface. Now I can turn the popper off and wait for it to cool before unplugging it. That depends on where you plug it in however since the cord is relatively short and you still have to invert the unit to transfer the popped corn to the bowl so you have to have enough flexibility in the cord to do that. This popper certainly looks smaller than the other one, but also holds six quarts and pops it all thoroughly and efficiently with almost no unpopped kernals. Because the popping 'well' is recessed (the other popper had a flat surface), it's easier for me to judge how much oil and corn to put in without measuring, another convenient feature. When my old Stir Crazy popper gave out after many years, I wanted to save counter space and bought a stove top model popper. It took me one use to decide that I really didn't want to stand at the stove turning a crank for several minutes and that unit was hard to clean. You can wipe out this one very easily and if you don't use butter, either in the popping or the drip well above, that simple wipe-out cleaning is all you need time after time, year after year. I was willing to give up the counter space again just to get the automatic pop and was extra delighted to find this newer model takes up much less space. I highly recommend this unit.

Makes Popcorn Quickly, Easily, and Efficiently.

Perfect popcorn machine for people who love popcorn and being a little bit lazy. Also, it is free entertainment for you, your children, or your cat as the seeds pop into kernels. Easy setup and cleanup, and the dome becomes your bowl. There's plenty of space to make a ton of popcorn so you can gorge yourself while binge-watching your favorite series and no need to worry about "duds" because the Stir Crazy if very efficient and pops nearly every seed every time. Popcorn recipe: Dump a bit of olive oil into Stir Crazy, add amount of popcorn seeds (white popcorn seeds are our household's favorite) desired. Cover Stir Crazy with Bowl, turn Stir Crazy on. Lift lid off top (technically bottom, but currently, it is the top) of the bowl and place desired amount of butter (we typically do 1 TBSP). Replace lid, then walk away and go about your business until you hear the popcorn begin to pop. Come back and enjoy the show! Turn off Stir Crazy once popcorn has stopped popping. Flip bowl right side up and add Lowry's season salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Enjoy!

Best Popcorn Maker I've Ever Had!

I've gone through quite a few popcorn makers in my fairly long life and this is easily the best I've ever used. Back in the 1950's I used my grandparents stove popcorn maker. It was the type that your stirred by hand over the stove. It popped all the popcorn kernels. You had to be careful to use the right about of heat, however. More recently I used an air popcorn maker. The one I had scattered the popcorn all over the kitchen. I tried different kinds of bowls but nothing I did kept the popcorn in the bowl. It pop most but not all the kernels. Then I tried my microwave oven which even has a popcorn setting. I tried both the popcorn in a bag that you can buy at the grocery store and a popcorn microwave bowl. The problem with microwave popcorn making is that you have to stop it early before it burns the popcorn which tastes awful and leaves a lot of unpopped kernels. I've been using the West Bend popper for awhile now. It is much better than the ones I mentioned above. It is a lot like the one my grandparents used except it has its own heater so you don't use the stove. It also has a motorized stirrer so you don't have to that yourself. Another feature is that it has a Teflon stirring plate which makes it very easy to clean. You can also stick the plate and the bowl in a dishwasher and that works very well. (It uses a lot of space in the dishwater, though.) This West Bend is unique in that timing is not critical. Even after all the popcorn kernels have popped you can leave it stirring a little longer and it won't burn the popcorn. In summary, the West Bend is easy to use, it pops all the kernels every time, you can have it add butter at the end of the popping phase if you want, it is easy to clean, and the popcorn tastes great! To West Bend: With this model you've nailed home popcorn popping machines!

Great for kettle corn

I love kettle corn. Real kettle corn has a light coating or slightly caramelized sugar and salt. That’s not possible in microwave popcorn, so I was going to need to make it the classic oil popped way. This thing was priced very reasonably compared to stovetop whirly pops so I thought to try it despite some answered questions saying they would be reticent to put sugar in it. It took some experimentation to get it perfect, so I’m going to detail the method here. First off, I highly recommended getting mushroom type popcorn as the round shape just works better for kettle corn. You can buy it off amazon quite reasonably. Step 1, melt about 3 large spoonfuls of coconut oil. Once it’s all melted, add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.* After a few seconds, add 1/2 cup popcorn kernels and cover with the plastic top (leave the red cover off to vent). When the popping starts to slow, turn the machine off, unplug, attach red cover and flip and remove base. It’s better to have a few unpopped kernels than to overcook. With a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, toss the popcorn while. Add salt generously and toss again. I do this about 3 times. You want the salt to stick to the sugar while still tacky, and to keep the popcorn from clotting as it cools and the sugar solidifies. To me, perfect kettle corn should be light in color and saltier than sweet. If you add more sugar it tends to get too inconsistent and over carmelized. *At first I tried letting the oil re-melt and the sugar dissolve before adding the popcorn. Trust that it’s not necessary and ultimately overcooks the sugar. It’s also harder to clean afterwards if you do that. Incidentally, I recommend an abrasive nylon sponge, soap, and warm water to clean. It’s surprisingly easy to clean like that, but if you just use your hand you may cut yourself on a calcified kernel shell.

A great addition to the kitchen!

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!

Wish We Bought It Sooner!

I wish that I had purchased this West Bend 82505 Stir Crazy Electric Hot Oil Popcorn Popper long ago. It is a remarkably easy-to-use and clean specialty appliance. My family and I enjoy watching how the popcorn kernels pop as they give a heavenly movie theater popcorn type of fragrance while they rotate upward--no burnt popcorn for us...and very few unpopped kernels! Cleaning has been quick and easy. Re-assembly may offer some challenge the first few times, because the position of the stirring rod must be exact and without an over-tightening of the center scrw/knob. Overall, I wish we made this purchase years ago: it would have saved us time, money (even using gourmet kernels in the appliance), and frustration with other products and microwave popcorn, too. This product also gives us a healthier popcorn option, while the accompanying recipe book offers many tasty options.

Perfect for roasting coffee.

I bought this for coffee roasting and it's perfect but mind you, I've had it less than a week. I was roasting using a wooden spoon and stirring so I could never leave. It takes about 40 min for a good medium roast which is a lot longer than usual but I don't have to watch it- I dump my beans and go. It's big and only one setting but it's cheaper than my old roaster that I spent hundreds for! I'm sure the heat will vary slightly by item so watch it after the 25 min mark to get your perfect time.

The perfect replacement for my hand crank stove top popper.

I've been a fan of hot oil popped popcorn for most of my life. My mom had me try some of her "Hot Air" popped styrofoam and I wanted no part of it. Microwave popcorn sure smells good cooking, sometimes, but there is such a fine line between popped and scorched and burned, to me it's just not worth the gamble. Years ago I bought one of those stove top pans with the crank in the handle, and I've cranked out some great popcorn over the years, however, lately there's been issues with oil splattering out of the lid, and the handle is getting really hard to turn. Time to see what's new in popcorn popping. This is it. The great taste of a stand up kettle popcorn machine, or a hand crank stove top pot, with the energy savings, easy cleanup, and simplicity of a modern appliance. I researched popcorn machines for a while, and when I saw this one I knew it had great potential, and it did not disappoint. Making popcorn is faster and easier than with my hand cranked, and clean up is easier as well. I use the O.R. butter flavored pop corn oil, with O.R. popcorn and it's just perfect every time. Unfortunately, the "auto butter" feature, while good intentions, just can't perform the job due to the variables involved with the butter temperature etc. Your best bet if you should want additional butter, is to melt the butter first, and then add it to the butter ring while it's popping, or after it's popped. I recommend this popper to all my friends and family.

No need to go to the theatre for popcorn

Who knew popcorn could be made so fast?!? This is great, no more un-popped kernels or burned popcorn, this thing works popping miracles. In as little as 3 minutes your will have hot fresh perfect popcorn and see my photos for the additional things you will need. Very well made, extremely good price and it arrived quickly. Do not waste money on hot air poppers or other brands, this is the one you want and need. Do not use butter, it contains water and will make it soggy, order coconut butter and the movie theater flavoring shown in picture

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