Original Whirley-Pop Popcorn Popper - Metal Gear - Color Changing

After years of disappointing popcorn from our air popper, I decided to give the Whirley Pop popcorn maker a try. I went with the stainless steel model for the thicker base that works better for kettle corn and is also equipped with metal gears for durability. Following the included directions, I seasoned the pot and proceeded to make our first batch with the included all-in-one popcorn packet. After a short period of time the wonderful sound and smell of movie theater popcorn was in the air. The Whirley Pop worked wonderfully and produced great popcorn with only a few kernels left unpopped. The next batch, I decided to try my hand at kettle corn, using a simple recipe of 1/4 cup neutral oil, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup Amish XL popcorn. Setting the stove heat level to medium, I added the oil and three kernels, when those popped, I added the rest of the popcorn and waited until I heard those kernels start to pop before adding the sugar. After dumping into a bowl, I added a little salt and tossed to harden the sugar which produced a delicious kettle corn, just like you get at the fair! The Whirley Pop is a great product, it is simple to use, cleans up easily and spinning the handle is quite interactive and fun! I would highly recommend the Whirley Pop as a gift to family, friends and especially yourself. Get one, you won't be sorry!

To be clear, this review is about the PLATINUM SERIES WHIRLEY POP, not the inexpensive Aluminum Whirley Pop Popcorn maker.This is coming from a home theater enthusiast of over 30 years. This product is worth every penny and very well designed over competing products. Buy it, love it, wonder why someone hasn't made something like this with this quality almost ever.Some background, I have been making popcorn in my home theater (actual theater setup) for over 30 years. I have a 180 inch projection system with tiered seating (back rows are elevated for best view), all leather reclining seats for all, cup holders and meal holders for all, movie posters with lighting, lit seating and meal areas, movie memorabilia, ticket stubs for films, film standees (Lego Movie/Iron Man/etc), and a concession area that would make actual theaters drool. Nachos and cheese, candy, full size popcorn machine like the theaters (16 oz), hot dog roller cooker and steamed buns/chili/condiments, coffee maker, ice maker, soda system drink dispenser, and more than I would like to continue to admit I bought to make the experience as close to the theater as I can.And popcorn, let's face it, is why you are here. Popcorn is clearly one of my favorite treats, but also let's face it, sometimes you don't want to make 7 gallons of it for just yourself. For years, I have tried to make popcorn in a more consumable and convenient way, but over the many years, there hasnt been that many good options. Air pop, yeah no, it will be too try, hard to combine flavors of other types, and just doesnt match the actual popcorn machine taste even with the knowledge of what to add. Microwave, yeah, in a pinch, but that horrible chemical after taste of what passes for flavoring is laughable. Bubble popper, not bad, but also a little more mess and hard to keep the base clean which inevitably the nonstick coating will peel over time or leech into the popcorn, no thanks. In pan, not bad, but having the right pan combination to vent just the right amount of moisture and keep the popcorn moving (especially for kettle style or other flavors) is near impossibly good, but it can come pretty close. Build your own microwave popcorn bags, to be honest, I had some success with this, but ultimately you have to still prep the bags and can run out of a source for the right bags.Then one day after searching yet again for what would be a fruitless device search, WHAT IS THIS??? I see that Whirley Pop has a Platinum Series model! When did this happen?! I have seen the, let's face it, inadequately built nylon gear mechanism used in the budget model Whirley Pop, no personal offence Whirly Pop, but do better than this. But this thing, hmmm, looks almost too good to be true, a good price (not you other yellow enthusiastic popcorn special pan competitor at about twice the price), a good looking build quality, and from the 1 or 2 decent youtube reviews I could find on this product, promising result. I have tried so many proclaimed good popcorn makers that what was one more!Credit card out, lets do this!!! Maybe this is Neo, the one!!!The results? Dang, this is a good product for the money. It is yes, a unitasker, but a damn good one and not nearly as big as those bubble popcorn makers you struggle to keep all in the back cupboard you dont use any more. As for unitasker, well it can make other versions of popcorns like glazed kettle popcorn and cheese popcorn, etc. Tick tick, good.My first try, 3 tablespoons of coconut oil up to temp, half a cup of a crappy kernel brand (wanted to see worst case scenario first), flavacol butter salt dashes added, and watch. Stirring was pretty easy, and right on 3 minutes as the box mentions, all popcorn pops came to silence, I kept stirring for a bit longer to test worst case scenario again (how easy will it burn the popcorn for those that go a little long), and results were still excellently over any other mechanism I could try in my kitchen without a proper machine kettle. PASS!!!Stop reading this review, buy the thing, then continue the review. Heck I might order a second one, because frankly the majority of competing products on the market are just junk compared to this. And I will continue a bit to explain why.That certain yellow colored popcorn specialty pan you might be eyeing at nearly double this price. Has some major engineering flaws. The ring that stirs the pot completely gets in the way of doing what it is supposed to do, dispensing popcorn to you. You have to fumble with getting the popcorn over the ring now after popping and short of a shopvac sucking it out, the popcorn hangs on the ring which forces you to dangle the thing dangerously over your bowl to shake it all lose. Why do I say dangerously, because literally the ring now searing hot from cooking popcorn can literally fall out as you are doing this because in their engineering prowess, they forgot to understand there is a change someone will tip the pan over to, you know, empty the popcorn, and the ring if in the right position, WILL FALL OUT, on its unsuspecting victim who might reactively reach for the ring only to realize Home Alone style what they just grabbed is SO F'ing hot! Asking me how I know. And dang, no see through lid? Fail, a definite yes for all popcorn types, and a MUST for doing other popcorn style like kettle corn, etc.The cheap Whirley Pop, if you have ever owned one of these things, then you know what they are, an annual replacement machine that is cheap, does okay at what it is supposed to do, is nowhere as durable as the ones made years ago which people now treasure, and you will end up owning 4 of these in 5 years to keep it going. Does it make decent popcorn, yes, but will it last, no, not at all. It is thin metal, burns the popcorn easily on not great stoves, and ultimately the thing it uses, heat, will be the end of the plastic/nylon gear that makes it all work in the first place. Can you get replacements, sure, but is that what you want to do, be ready to eat some tasty popcorn and your gear fails and overcooks or burns your popcorn. Been there, done that, yeah know. Buy once, cry once, is better, and in this case, less than those 4 units cost over time.Construction of the Whirley Pop Platinum Series - It is very good, not perfect, but decently thick stainless steel, good thick cast aluminum gears and hardware, stainless steel stirring rod, included kettle popcorn stirrer versus the standard wire stirrer, and cleaning brush for the handle area. Glass lid and multiple away facing vent holes, nice touch. Overall a very well thoughtout engineered product. I have been writing companies for a while to make a better product like this, and thankfully someone did something about it. Well done!Buy this, it's great, it makes great popcorn and the warranty (at least in the US) is a great value for 25 year support. Clearly I havent tested this time length, but honestly, if it makes popcorn this good, this easy, for even 5 years, it will be worth what I paid for and 3 times over. Yeah, I am going to order another one.Disclaimer - I am not affiliated with this company whatsoever, I havent been paid to leave this glowing message of approval whatsoever, I am just a popcorn lover who knows when a company gets it right. And when a company gets it right, others should know about it! Proud of you Whirley Pop for making a product that is many levels above what is available on the market and at a cost that makes sense.

Not a heavy duty popper, but works really well! Follow directions and will pop nearly 100% of the corn kernels. Easy and fun to use.

I find myself making popcorn more often now cause the cleanup is WAY easier than my old stir crazy. The act of making the popcorn is super easy and feels healthier too since there are no "non-stick" coatings. I would gladly buy again, although, I don't see the need for a long time cause of the stainless steel build quality.

I absolutely love this stove top popcorn maker!! It's easy to use, easy to clean, and makes delicious popcorn. Solid design. I love the red color too