Did hot air popcorn machines go extinct?
Rick
Can't find them when I went looking for one.
Well, I can find two. They both have the same design problems and spew
uncooked kernels and popcorn everywhere. The first disaster is a $9.99
item carried by Walgreens. The other one looks stupid enough - the red
"pop corn vendor" cart model. Target carries it and there are a ton of
bad on line reviews at Amazon. It costs up to three times as much as the
Walgreens one but is designed pretty much the same way and does the same
thing: The way they are designed they "spin" the popcorn around in hot
air, and that seems to make it fly everywhere - both the popcorn and hot
kernels - once a few kernels start to pop. Which leads to hot kernels
exploding in the bowl of popcorn - which sends the popped stuff in the
bowl flying everywhere. In a way, it's kind of funny. But then you try
it maybe once more with the same results - not funny any longer - and
then you return it to the store...
Kinda tired of the cost per unit for that prepackaged microwave popcorn.
And - if anyone remembers - the microwave stuff is good, but it's kinda
soggy compared to hot air popcorn. But shocked I am to find out that
popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
Not looking for a hot oil machine - Presto has reinvented the "Stir
Crazy" hot oil machine this year - already seen it.
Rick
Anthony Matonak
> Can't find them when I went looking for one.
I think microwave popcorn has taken over but you could
always try the google "shopping" search.
http://www.google.com/products?q=hot+air+popcorn+popper&btnG=Search
Anthony
Ken Lopez
> Hey all
>
> Can't find them when I went looking for one.
>
> Well, I can find two. They both have the same design problems and spew
> uncooked kernels and popcorn everywhere. The first disaster is a $9.99
> item carried by Walgreens. The other one looks stupid enough - the red
> "pop corn vendor" cart model. Target carries it and there are a ton of
> bad on line reviews at Amazon. ...
Most of the better-quality useful ones are no longer being made or sold.
You may have to go to a thrift shop to find one. But be warned, the
coffee roasting people have probably already got them all by now. This is
the newest use for hot air poppers. Several places on the net have
instructions on how to use them for same.
My suggestion is to try the microwave popcorn poppers. I have an old one
that works just fine; no popping kernels outside of the container and
little or no oil needed.
Ken
_______
Logan Shaw
> Well, I can find two. They both have the same design problems and spew
> uncooked kernels and popcorn everywhere. The first disaster is a $9.99
> item carried by Walgreens. The other one looks stupid enough - the red
> "pop corn vendor" cart model. Target carries it and there are a ton of
> bad on line reviews at Amazon. It costs up to three times as much as the
> Walgreens one but is designed pretty much the same way and does the same
> thing: The way they are designed they "spin" the popcorn around in hot
> air, and that seems to make it fly everywhere
I believe you can skip all this and simply pop regular old popping corn
in the microwave. Just go buy (for example) a 1 lb bag of plain old
popping corn (not "microwave popcorn"), dump some into a Pyrex glass bowl,
and then tear off a length of paper towels long enough to cover the bowl
and fold under both the left and the right of the bowl (so it will stay
on top even when the popcorn hits it). Then put it in the microwave like
that, put it in high for 2 to 4 minutes (watch carefully), and you've
got popcorn.
Note that there is no need to add oil or buy any sort of special gadget.
As long as you have a microwave that's reasonably powerful, a Pyrex bowl
is all you need. Also note that I'm suggesting a Pyrex bowl because I
know those things can stand the heat. And it will get hot. Don't use
a glass salad bowl or something else not meant for cooking.
I've read you can also get plastic microwave rice cookers that can do
not just rice but also popcorn, but I haven't tried those.
By the way, I think all air poppers work the way you describe. I think
the idea of circling the kernels around in the air stream is that it
automatically more or less separates the popped kernels from the unpopped
ones because popped ones are less dense and tend to float away in the air
current. Obviously this is an imperfect process, but I've never seen an
air popper that uses any other sort of process.
- Logan
George
Time to move on to microwave (but not that stinky prepackaged stuff). I
bought an inexpensive microwave popper which is simply a bowl with a
loose fitting lid quite some time ago. It pops almost every kernel and
no oil is used. As a side benefit the popcorn tastes better than the hot
air version.
clams casino
Fully agree. Ours is perhaps 10+ years old & continues to work very
well. although we usually add a little peanut oil for added flavor
(about a half teaspoon). We learned to pop shy of 1/4 cup. More will
likely not pop without added time which typically burns the cooked popcorn.
No question (with or without the added oil) it's better, quicker &
easier to clean than an air popper. Had one of those many years ago,
but never cared for it.
Ron Peterson
> Can't find them when I went looking for one.
I have an old Presto hot air popper and a Nordicware microwave popper.
Both are good, but, I do get some unpopped kernels with the hot air
unit more when using premium popcorn because of the greater popping
force.
I use spray canola oil to get salt and other flavorings (cheese or
onion powders) to stick.
--
Ron
Janie
"Rick" <rick...@rcn.com> wrote in message news:4769D756...@rcn.com...
Go to Amazon.com and type in hot-air popcorn popper to find several models.
You should be able to find something that you will like.
barbie gee
I discovered that you don't even need to buy the microwave popper bowl!
see this:
<http://www.instructables.com/id/Microwave-Popcorn%3a-Home-made%2c-cheap-and-easy/>
basically, you can use a plain paper bag, and staple the bag shut w/ 2
staples. They don't arc in the microwave, and you don't even have a bowl
to clean up...
You can totally omit the oil, and it still pops up beautifully.
Rick
Thanks. It appears things are down to two: Presto or Toastmaster. (That
"Nostalgia Electrics" is the disaster that comes up in 99% of the other
hits.) But since the Presto manufacturer's web site says their model is
on back order it might explain why I can't find it in any of the stores
Presto says it's supposed to be carried by.
IMO I don't agree that microwave popcorn is better. I got a chance to
try hot air popcorn again recently and it's lighter and fluffier than
microwave, which to me seems somewhat soggy and a little tough. What I
don't like about any microwave version is that the moisture gets trapped
in the cooking process and that seems to be what makes it relatively
soggy and tough compared to a hot air method. (Some microwave ovenss
exhaust moisture better than others but you can't eliminate the
problem.) Just my preference.
Rick
Warren Block
Try this:
Sorry about the long link. I have two of a slightly older version of
this popper which came from a Shopko here. They work well.
> IMO I don't agree that microwave popcorn is better. I got a chance to
> try hot air popcorn again recently and it's lighter and fluffier than
> microwave, which to me seems somewhat soggy and a little tough. What I
> don't like about any microwave version is that the moisture gets trapped
> in the cooking process and that seems to be what makes it relatively
> soggy and tough compared to a hot air method. (Some microwave ovenss
> exhaust moisture better than others but you can't eliminate the
> problem.) Just my preference.
I agree. Just made some normal popcorn in a pyrex dish in the
microwave. It took much longer than the air popper, and resulted in
some of the smallest, saddest-looking popcorn I've seen since trying
"hull-less" popcorn. Much did not pop.
Trivia for the day: did you know that popcorn is called "butterfly" or
"mushroom" depending on the shape it pops?
--
Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA
hchi...@hotmail.com
>But shocked I am to find out that
>popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
Why? They proved themselves to be the idiotic idea that they were.
Hot air poppers produce popcorn that is worthy of use in the national
sawdust eating competiton as an extra points category. Popping corn
without oil or flavoring such as are used in kettle corn is like
cooking your porterhouse steak in the microwave. It tastes like crap,
it wastes your time, and is a waste of money.
Movie theatres promoted oil-free popcorn back in the 1980s. The
public responded with a resounding "YUCK!!" Your "I am shocked!" is
as cardboard as the one in "Casablanca."
Buy a real popcorn machine. Cretors still makes good ones, and if you
can find a Manley that still works and use coconut oil, you'll have
people wanting you to package it for them to take home.
Rick
Not for me - thanks. Some of us can live with - and like - food that
isn't drenched in fats and sugars. If I wanted to make it with oil I
wouldn't be asking about hot air poppers. I'd just make it on the stove
like my parents did - in any old 5 quart pan with a cup of "popcorn oil"
for every batch. To each his own "Yuck!"
Rick
Warren Block
>>splitpea34On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:45:43 -0400, Rick <rick...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>>But shocked I am to find out that
>>popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
>
> Why? They proved themselves to be the idiotic idea that they were.
> Hot air poppers produce popcorn that is worthy of use in the national
> sawdust eating competiton as an extra points category. Popping corn
> without oil or flavoring such as are used in kettle corn is like
> cooking your porterhouse steak in the microwave. It tastes like crap,
> it wastes your time, and is a waste of money.
Air-popped popcorn tastes like popcorn, not oil. While most people are
used to lots of oil to enhance the taste of terrible food, it's possible
to get past that.
Which is not to say you can't add flavoring. A spray bottle with water
will allow any kind of flavoring to stick: salt, spices, parmesan, any
of a hundred specially-made popcorn flavorings that range from terrible
to very good.
clams_casino
>>splitpea34On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:45:43 -0400, Rick <rick...@rcn.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>But shocked I am to find out that
>>popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
>>
>>
>
>
>Why? They proved themselves to be the idiotic idea that they were.
>Hot air poppers produce popcorn that is worthy of use in the national
>sawdust eating competiton as an extra points category.
>
I prefer styrofoam peanuts. They taste just like air-popped with the
added advantage of reduced calories.
nos...@nospam.com
I pop corn in a pot on the stove, it comes out nice and takes very little time.
Ron Peterson
> I pop corn in a pot on the stove, it comes out nice and takes very little time.
Do you pop in oil or dry?
The idea of using a hot air popper or microwave popper is to reduce
the use of fat or oil.
Prepackaged microwave popcorns suffer from including tropical or
hydrogenated oils which are high in saturated fats and trans fats.
I have found that I can successfully pop corn with 10 g of oil for
each 2 ounces of popcorn on top of the stove.
--
Ron
clams_casino
>On Dec 27, 11:49 pm, nos...@nospam.com wrote:
>
>
>
>>I pop corn in a pot on the stove, it comes out nice and takes very little time.
>>
>>
>
>Do you pop in oil or dry?
>
>The idea of using a hot air popper or microwave popper is to reduce
>the use of fat or oil.
>
>Prepackaged microwave popcorns suffer from including tropical or
>hydrogenated oils which are high in saturated fats and trans fats.
>
>
>
Furthermore, there is the stench & weird taste of prepackaged popcorn.
Seerialmom
Perfect place to buy hot air poppers: Yard sales. Most families still
have one of these poppers and eventually throw them into the sale;
often with the box and unused. Plus they'd be cheap; most likely $2-
$3.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> Kinda tired of the cost per unit for that prepackaged microwave popcorn.
> And - if anyone remembers - the microwave stuff is good, but it's kinda
> soggy compared to hot air popcorn. But shocked I am to find out that
> popcorn machines - especially hot air poppers - seemed to have vanished.
> Not looking for a hot oil machine - Presto has reinvented the "Stir
> Crazy" hot oil machine this year - already seen it.
I don't think that any of them were ever any better than the $10
Walgreen's model.
I suppose it'd be possible to design an elaborate hot air popper where
the unpopped kernels fell through some sort of wire mesh in the bottom
of an enclosed holding area, to be discarded or send back to the hot air
chamber, but it would be pretty complicated.
cams...@gmail.com
You can find the most discounted items from well known online sellers
like buy.com, newegg, etc.