West Bend82707 Stir Crazy Hot Oil Popcorn Popper, Popcorn Maker Machine with Large Serving Bowl Lid and Stirring Rod, 6 Qt

I originally ordered this quite some time ago. I don’t know what happened to it, but it never got delivered and I finally canceled the order and re-ordered it. That did the trick. It finally came in a timely manner. Makes lovely popcorn. Clean up is a little bit more than what I thought it would be. I washed it in hot soapy water, but I could not get all of the grease out. Probably my fault. I put it through the dishwasher on the top rack and everything came out fine. Wiping out the base was no problem. I had a little bit of problem putting the arm back on, but finally got it figured out and everything was fine. It pops all the kernels and I like that you can put the lid on it when it’s finished, turn it over, and have your popcorn bowl right there. I would highly recommend this popper.

This is a great popper. Heats up quickly, but outside stats cool. Pops every kernel. Had this brand before and very pleased. Has on/off switch which many don’t. Very happy. We use white corn and canola oil. Tastes great.

This reminds me of an older popper that we had years ago, works fine but only giving it 4 stars. The top where you put butter does not really seem to work as well as it should, and when trying to use it as a bowl the lid does not stay on, it keeps falling off.

this popcorn machine is the best. Love it

I had the older version of the West Bend Stir Crazy and I loved it. It was larger than this newer version and it was made with much better quality parts. This newer version the lid does not stay on and it is very cheap plastic. The popcorn popper itself has a ridge inside it and the kernels get caught in this ridge and then wont pop so I end up with a bunch of unpopped kernels. In the older model I never had unpopped kernels. I am returning this model and will look for something with better quality. I am a disappointed consumer. Why did they have to change a good product?

My family, while growing up and now parents and siblings all have one so currently 4 households, has used a West Bend Stir Crazy for years (like since the 1980s), and we all think this is the best. I think the new to me storing method with the bottom inside the lid is a wonderful improvement. I cracked the lid of my old one as I dropped it while getting it down from the shelf (totally my fault). We've always popped with the (now red) lid off and do not use the butter melting feature; we are also the type of family that will make several batches, put into bowls with our own added butter product. The former popper used 2T oil and 3/4 cup kernels, but this one says 3T oil (which I did for the first batch). I used canola oil and store brand popcorn. There was no plastic smell or whatever others noted in their reviews. I gave 4/5 for cleanup because I agree that sometimes it can get "gunky" in the ridges (well, the old one did), so the jury is still out on that. I do like the taste of popcorn made with coconut oil as someone said, but I do recall that it is a messier cleanup for the lid...but solved with soap and water. Mom puts her lid in the dishwasher, but I clean it in the sink.

After 3 months of using this thing every Sunday evening, I'm still trying to find something that I don't love about it. NO kernels left un-popped, none of them burnt, it is a wonderful popper. When done, one simply flips it over, and the lid is the bowl! Total cooking time from start to finish is - maybe 3 minutes, if that.We've had several different poppers and this one aces them all. Easy to use, easy to clean, 5 stars all the way.

My 10 year old machine that loved finally burnt up. Motor wouldn’t turn.New one has small improvements. Handles aren’t hot to touch. Cord stores under.Bad: the red lid snaps on initially but falls off when it’s hot and flips over. So the very point of it is defeated. It doesn’t hold salt or dripping oil. Put a towel under it, but it’s a complete fail for the red lid. Having said that, we didn’t use the lid on the old one.The new one’s rotating arm doesn’t reach the edges and the edges aren’t sloped enough to bring the kernels back in. On the old design the arm effectively moves all of the kernels. This one pushes them to the perimeter and there they sit. Defeats the purpose of the rotating arm. Really dumb.But the first use of it was fine. Experimented with using coconut oil. Meh. It was okay. I’ll go back to sunflower oil though.The unit does nest well in the lid, better than my first one, so that’s a big plus actually.Overall, I’d skip this and try a different configuration. Passable, but not great.