West Bend 82386 Kettle Krazy Popcorn Popper and Nut Roaster

I love this popper!
I shopped around quite a bit for a popcorn popper. I was tired of microwave stuff, and don't like the results from a hot-air popper.

There are several like this, with a motorized stirring rod and a cooking surface, but either they get poor reviews for reliability (Cuisinart), or were too expensive, difficult to maintain, scratched the Teflon cooking surface, etc.

This model is very similar to the West Bend Stir Crazy, but has two heat settings (nuts or popcorn) and - most importantly - a much thicker stirring rod. With the more basic Stir Crazy, the rod is thin and easily flexed (think coat-hanger) and diverted by the weight of the popcorn itself, causing it to be pressed into the Teflon surface while rotating, thus scratching the Teflon. This model has a MUCH thicker stirring rod (I took a few pictures and added them above to demonstrate) that never makes contact with the surface.

The popper pretty much performs like it's supposed to. I was...

Simple "FIX" Gave It 5 Stars * * * * *
OK.. I could not wait to get this popper. I checked the reviews..and decided that this was the one. Amazon got it here super fast...and that was a Plus (+)
First batch I did...was a 4 Quart, and did the butter in the tower thing, and followed the instructions to a "T".

Flipped the batch over after unplugging the machine, and in doing so, Half the batch spilled when I was startled from my thumbs being burned (not seriously) as I started to flip. No Big Deal, and I was able to quickly salvage the popped corn that didn't fall on the floor. Ha Ha Ha

My husband cooled and cleaned the machine and did a batch by using 2 of the microwave buttered pop C. Just broke it up a bit after cutting open the bag..and I'm saying to myself,"Why not just micro pop it?" Well there is a good answer.
Everytime we Microwave pop, IT "BURNS". Hubby will not eat it.

NOW! With the WB Krazy Popper....the Popcorn came out beautifully popped, and white, and not a bit...

Kettle Krazy - great product
3 suggestions for improvements: (1) the power cord is too short - should be twice as long; (2) would be nice to have a cover for the clear plastic bowl in which the popping is done, to temporarily store the popped popcorn; (3) the top of the retaining nut, which holds the stir rod to the heating base, should be convex, not concave. The concave top of this part catches unpopped kernels, preventing them from falling back onto the heating base, and preventing them from popping.

The time required for popping, and the instructions for the amounts of popcorn & oil to use are very accurate. The unit is easy to clean & maintain.

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