Elite Gourmet EPM330M Automatic Stirring 12-cup Popcorn Maker Popper, Hot Oil Popcorn Machine w/Measuring Cap & Built-in Reversible Serving Bowl, Great for Home Party Kids, Safety ETL Approved, Mint

I recently got this popcorn maker and it’s been a game-changer for movie nights! It’s super easy to use—just add the kernels, turn it on, and in a few minutes you have hot, fluffy popcorn that’s way better than store-bought.I also love that it doesn’t need any oil, so the popcorn comes out light and crunchy. The clear lid makes it fun to watch the kernels pop, which the kids absolutely love!Cleaning is a breeze too, and it doesn’t take up much counter space. Highly recommend this if you’re looking for a healthier, tastier popcorn option at home!

It’s a bit flimsier than I thought, it will burn the popcorn if you let the butter melt into the popping corn. But it works if used occasionally.

I’m giving this 4 stars because while it works really well, it’s best when used with smaller amounts of popcorn. When you keep the batch small, it *does* pop all the kernels and the result is light, fluffy popcorn that’s actually enjoyable to eat. That’s exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it, because my old method of popping in a pot just wasn’t cutting it. The popcorn was either chewy like Styrofoam or full of popped kernel tasting stuff.With this little popcorn-making buddy, the texture is fluffy and tasty every time. I usually add a bit of oil and salt before popping, and the results have been consistently good. I make one small batch, enjoy it, and then go back to make a second if I’m still in the popcorn groove..As for the bowl, I appreciate that the plastic lid flips over and doubles as a serving bowl. Still, I prefer to transfer the popcorn to a glass bowl, mostly out of caution with heating plastic, since there are concerns about toxins these days. If the design ever came in glass and ceramic, I’d be all in (even if it costs more).

Best popcorn i have had. I use this ask the time. It's not loud. All you really hear is the popcorn popping.

The cover seems cheap and doesn’t actually stay on. Like there’s no way for it to really sit on while the popcorn is cooking, it just gently rests over the top. Also, the small cover for when the top is flipped over to use as a bowl doesn’t stay on either.

Cooks eveningly & fast. Popcorn tastes crispy. Low noise level. I love it.

[Review has now been further revised to reflect just how fragile this is][Review has been revised to reflect further efforts to get good result with Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm.]I've just thrown this out after less than 6 months of use. The problem is that the cover for the butter well in the top/bowl will no longer stay in place. It is supposed to be held in place by small, flimsy plastic clips and too many of them have broken off, even though I tried to be careful with them. This makes it very difficult to flip the popper over at the end of its popping and impossible to use the top as a bowl. It's a little design detail that saves the manufacturer a penny or two -- and quickly makes the popper useless. I hope to find different brand with better design._____________________________________________________________________________________This is essentially a modernized version of the electric corn popper used by my mother's family a century or more ago. (It survived in my mom's kitchen long enough for me to enjoy it as a kid.) This uses plastics instead of steel and has a motor to turn the stirring rod instead of a hand crank but the principles are identical and so is the performance.Having a good idea what to expect, I tried it with two different popcorns. Snappy White Popcorn is a pretty standard sort of popcorn in terms of kernal size and it produces normal butterfly popped kernals. The Snappy kernals I have are from 2020 but still popped quite well, with scarcely any unpopped or partly-popped old maids. I followed the directions, with 3 tablespoons of oil and a bit more than 1/3 cup of kernals. This filled the top/bowl to the brim, and flavor and texture were excellent.Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm was a different story. Mine is only a week old but it popped quite badly, with a great many old maids, and not many fully-developed mushroom popped kernals. But the same popcorn pops considerably better in my Presto 04830 PowerPop Microwave Multi-Popper. I'm not totally sure why it does so very poorly the Elite Gourmet machine but I'm pretty certain that it has a lot to do with the quite large size of the unpopped kernals. Hoosier Hill, which spends a lot of Web space patting itself on the back regarding the quality of its product, does not seem inclined to offer any hints, but the instructions on the package, which suggest using a stovetop popper for best results, led me to an experiment that produced better popcorn from it with the Elite. I poured a generous layer of oil on the hot plate (more than recommended) and placed just a few kernals on it before turning on. When those had popped I turned it off, quickly removed the cover, put 1/3 cup of kernals in, and restarted it. The result was a considerable improvement with a large proportion of large mushroom popped kernals and somewhat improved flavor and texture. There were still many fragments of hull, however, and a number of old maids.It's quite important, I judge, to turn off the machine and dump the popcorn as soon as popping stops, as otherwise you risk burning your popcorn. It's very simple: just clap the cover on the vent, grasp the handles, and tip it over. It's light enough to make it quite easy for anyone.The little vent and butter cup at the top of the cover really works fine for melting butter if you are not too stupid about how you do it. The butter needs to be sliced into several thinner slices spread around over the vent slits rather than dumped in one big clump. Then it melts just fine and imparts a wonderful buttery flavor throughout the batch. I generally spread it around a bit with the knife blade midway through the popping just to be sure, but it doesn't seem to be truly necessary.Of course butter isn't great for you. Much better to spray the popped corn with a butter-infused olive oil, but it doesn't really produce quite the same effect, sadly, although it really is quite good.The plastic in the top/bowl is quite thin but doesn't really seem flimsy to me, because it is flexible and not at all inclined to crack. It's probably not going to last 35 or 40 years, the way my mom's popper did, however.Cleanup is pretty straightforward.Three quarts is not enough for a very big family or party, but I note that there are machines operating on similar principles in 6 quart sizes on Amazon. I expect that the performance is probably similar, although it may be that some handle the Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm better.

Popcorn quality,works well