This review is for the stainless steel version, not aluminum.We make popcorn sometimes daily. We make it in the microwave in a pinch, but I believe in making popcorn on the stove. This popcorn popper makes better popcorn than our heavy-bottom pot and is a lot easier to handle. It's lightweight and the hinged top makes using it a breeze. For large batches, you can keep one side unhooked, give the pot a shake and dump popped popcorn into the bowl then continue popping the rest. If you're even slightly into cooking, using this popcorn popper is as easy as the microwave and the result is 1000 times better. Worth the money and will last -- we bought ours almost 4 years ago and have given it plenty of use. It's still shiny and pumping out perfect popcorn. Highly recommend.

No plastic parts! Great value. Great and delicious popcorn with no extra chemicals from the bag like microwave popcorn. Bigger kernels, very few kernels. Easy to use and clean. I am glad I purchased this popper!

I love this popcorn popper!!! I've been using it a couple of times a week for over a month now, and no problems whatsoever, other than "user error." The first week I used it, I followed the instructions and started out on medium heat on my electric range. I popped corn twice that week, and it turned out absolutely delicious and crunchy, with not even one unpopped kernel. The next weekend, I forgot to start out on medium heat, and used my "over-easy egg" temperature of medium-high instead. Big mistake! I had a small volume of totally black popcorn, and a house full of smoke. I scrubbed forever, and never did get all the burnt popcorn off the bottom of the pan. Nevertheless, the pan still works great and I have popped perfect popcorn every week since then with no trouble whatsoever, and not a single old maid yet.I didn't experience any problems with a loose lid. In fact, it was quite difficult to snap on when I first received the popper, and I resolved never to remove it. However, I had to remove it after the burnt corn incident, and have removed it to wash it thoroughly several times since then, and have had no problems reattaching the lid. No problem with both sides popping open when pouring the popcorn out either. I love the solid, sturdy stainless steel construction, not to mention the fact that I don't have to worry about leached aluminum. I listened to another reviewer and only turn the crank clockwise, and have had no problems with the cranking mechanism either.I don't understand the methods of those who claim it takes 15 minutes to pop their corn either. I use just barely a tablespoon of oil to 1/3 to 1/2 cup of kernels, set it on the burner, cranking occasionally until I hear the oil start to sizzle. As soon as I hear a kernel pop, I turn the crank continually, and have a pot full of perfect popcorn within less than 2 minutes of that time.In the old days, we popped corn in a kettle by shaking it over the burner. Very tiring and noisy! With mixed results. Also, hard on those electric ranges! Mine now wouldn't stand up to that friction without the burner becoming detached. The crank makes popping corn a breeze! Later on, I received an air popper as a gift, and decided very shortly that air-popped popcorn wasn't even worth eating. I tried microwave popcorn quite a few times, and found it fairly tasty, but have issues with the health concerns of both the chemical coatings of the bag and the effects of microwaving. Haven't owned a microwave in over two decades. At that point, we switched to Jiffy Pop, which I actually liked quite a bit. However, the results were very uneven. We always had tons of old maids, and frequent burned popcorn or low volumes. Finally, I switched to pre-popped organic popcorn in the bag. This stuff, I actually like quite a bit, especially the cheddar variety. And nothing is easier than just opening a bag and pouring melted butter over it. However, I wanted to be more sure that I was getting organic corn and to be able to buy my own organic toppings.I was actually shocked at how much better popcorn from this popper is than the organic pre-popped. Or anything else I've tried. It rivals and beats out the theatre popcorn, which now has so many additives that it tastes artificial and makes my mouth burn. This popcorn is so much crunchier and tastier!I tried it with organic coconut oil the first two times, but didn't like the flavor. Also tried it with the Amish popcorn, which was OK, but I prefer yellow popcorn. Since then, I have been popping the Eden Organic popcorn, also available on Amazon, and using corn oil. I top it with plenty of fresh butter from pasture-grazed cows, Frontier organic cheddar cheese powder, which I also bought from Amazon, and Himalayan sea salt. Absolute popcorn heaven! Now all I have to do is find some organic corn oil.I must say I treasure this popper so much that I have ordered another one, so that I can have a pristine one without all the black burnt spots on the bottom. After being spoiled by the ease of pre-popped popcorn, I thought it would be too much of a chore for me to ever pop my own on a regular basis, and continued to have my doubts after I ordered this popper. But this is so incredibly easy and so quick, and so incredibly tasty, that I am sure I will never eat any other popcorn again! I've doubled my popcorn consumption since I received it, but feel great about eating a healthy snack popped to perfection!

Our son turns three next month. One of his favorite snacks happens to be popcorn and we have been going through a lot of organic microwave popcorn. That product is fairly expensive and while it tastes okay coming right out of the bag, it quickly becomes stale and chewy.So I toyed with making popcorn on the stove-top using a large pan. It came out pretty good, and I might even have been satisfied with making it that way had I used more oil. Instead I used the bear minimum and I think it was still too dry. Also, the kernels did not seem to pop up quite as large and fluffy as I had wanted.The last thing I wanted was another large pot to store. However, I figured I would give this product a "whirl" because of all the glowing reviews and because of the item's description, particularly, "Easy Clean Up: Just wipe with a paper towel and store for later use." (more on that later).Last night the popper arrived, fully assembled with the lid attached. It was actually a little difficult to remove the lid and now I find it is a little difficult reattaching the lid. The metal clips really don't seem like they are a long-term solution to the problem. I think it would improve the design ten fold if they threaded the top of the pot and let the vented lid screw on while still allowing a "trap door" to flip open. I am sure it would add expense but would also make the product last longer and be easier to use.I am a big fan of coconut oil. I am a big fan of popcorn. So I added 1 tablespoon of coconut oil , waited for it to liquify in the pot, added 1/4 cup of popcorn and began turning the handle over medium heat on our gas stove. A few minutes later the popping stopped. I used two oven mitts to lift the pot, open the lid and dump the popcorn into a large bowl. I took the salt grinder and gave 7 or so twists to it, and mixed it up a bit.... and the verdict is...Oh my goodness, this was delicious. It needed no butter because the coconut oil was moist enough (and not too coconutty). My wife, who refused to allow me to buy this popper (because I tend to buy a lot of stuff) took one bite, nodded her head and said, "All right!"I also purchased some "nutritional yeast flakes" because I heard so many people saying that it makes a good flavoring to add to popcorn. I made sure to buy the type that is fortified with Vitamin B12 because I am a vegetarian, as is our son (he is a vegetarian in the sense that he refuses to eat almost all foods with meat just being on the list along with pasta, rice, oatmeal, blah blah blah).So I wiped out the bits of popcorn and made a second batch the same way. Only this time, I transferred the popcorn from a bowl to a 1/2 gallon mason jar and dumped some nutritional yeast flakes in it. Then I shook the jar up to distribute the flakes and put the lid on to see how the popcorn would be the following day. Our son asked for popcorn, then went to the kitchen and took the jar off the counter (note to self: Move Jar out of reach because it is heavy glass!) and brought it to his mom, who gave him a piece to try. (Mistakenly, IMHO, telling him she wanted him to try something -- a mistake because that is a surefire way to get him to say "no thanks", or "NO!" depending on his mood). He said, "mmmm" and then proceeded to eat a whole bowl of it.This is not a ringing endorsement for the popcorn however, as he will eat ANY popcorn, even stale microwave popcorn with no additives -- pure cardboard and inedible by adult human standards.I just thought I 'd add the nutritional yeast angle here because if you have not tried it, but like the "smart food" cheddar popcorn type additions to your food, give this stuff a try. It really is delicious and makes for a nice change of pace. Plus, if you happen to be short of B12 in your diet, this is a tasty way of getting it.So why the four stars? Because "Easy Clean Up: Just wipe with a paper towel and store for later use" as described here on Amazon, is changed to "Wash your popper after every use with warm soapy water to remove foods and oils. Thoroughly dry every part." WTF? I was hoping that the oil would sort of "season" the pan and need not be washed out after every use, followed by a thorough drying. Jeez, man, you sell a product and bill it as basically maintenance free, and then tell me you were full of crap? That is not cool. Not in my book.Am I returning the popper? You'll have to pry it out of my dead kung-fu grip, as the popcorn it makes is da bomb. Bomb! Bomb! Bomba da bomb da bomb. So who gets the movie reference? :)**UPDATE** Okay, I've had the popper for eight years now. And it gets a lot of use. The clips work fine, the lid goes on easy. I have no idea what my problem was 8 years ago, but I love this popper. I never wash it, but the housekeeper does once in a while if I leave it on the stove. I just wipe it out with a paper towel and carry on.

Excelente compra, muy fácil de usar y buenos materiales.

Gostei o fato de ser inox. Mas vou ter que levar pra reforçar a base giratória que move os milhos… muito frágil e dificulta o giro na manivela.

Easy to use and makes a big pot of popcorn

Das ist der beste Popcornmaker überhaupt, ich hab mehrere probiert aber bei diesem wird das popcorn so wie es sein soll, es verbrennt nicht und es bleiben nur 2-3 Körnchen übrig TOP wer Popcorn liebt soll sich dieses Gerät holen, funktioniert bei mir auf dem Gasherd, sollte aber auch auf einem E-Herd genausogut funktionieren.

I was pleasantly surprised by the good quality of this product, despite it being manufactured in China. It is also very easy to use, and the final product has a nice and very well-popped texture. However, it should be noted that the quality of the input ingredients does play a role in the output. Overall, I highly recommend this product.