Customer Reviews

Back to Basics PC17591 Microwave Popcorn Popper

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've been on a mission for the past 6 months to get off of my microwave popcorn in a bag addiction. Goodness only knows what kind of chemicals are in there. I bought an air popper, but the popcorn tastes like it's made out of styrofoam in those things. Not good. I tried the plain bag trip, but I only managed to scorch the bag and the kernels never all popped.

Now, a confession. I'm a bit of a impulse shopper. If I see something that I decide I want, I buy it. So, you mix in my failed popcorn and me being bored one night on Amazon and... I bought some weird thing to pop popcorn in the mircowave. It came in the mail, Tom raised his eyebrow at me and shrugged.

I washed it and let it sit for a few days because I just knew this thing wasn't going to work. I was wrong.

This thing ROCKS. I've made popcorn in it several times. I prefer my popcorn plain, so I can then add spray butter and my own seasonings. I don't like a lot of butter. ANYWAY... it leaves very few kernels unpopped and the popcorn is fresh. I have NO idea why this thing works. I don't want to know. It just does.

If you are a popcorn person that wants to get rid of the expensive chemical filled nuke bags, buy this. Trust me.

The only bad thing I've found is that the bowl is REALLY hot when it comes out. It says you can serve it in there, but I wouldn't risk the burns. I transfer it to a big bowl. Note: It can pop up to 1/3 of a cup of corn at a time.

Yum!

I wasn't quite sure if I'd like this microwave corn popper. I was looking at a different brand I thought I preferred, but I choose this one because of the super saver shipping.

I'm glad I got this one. I really like it! I like the design, the ease of use and it's easy to keep clean.
I bought 2, one for home and one for work! I love popped corn as a snack, it's healthy and filling. With this mircrowave corn popper, I save money by just using regular popcorn kernels -- any brand. And I have more control over the salt and oil content. I can leave out salt and oil all together if I choose.

I recommend this Back to Basics PC17591 Microwave Popcorn Popper!! If you love Popcorn... you won't be disappointed... it's up to you how to fix it -- oil, no oil, salt, no salt, seasonings............ get creative and enjoy!

I was looking for a popcorn popper to trim some money off the grocery budget AND eat healthier popcorn.

I selected this one. I'll keep it short: This thing works great! I used 1/3 cup of organic popcorn with (2) tablespoons of oil. Set the microwave on high for 3 minutes. Perfect, (although I might set it at 2:50 next time.)

Added some salt and it was great. This popped just about the exact same amount as a bag of store-bought microwave popcorn.

There was NO plastic smell, which some claim to have had.

In a world where everything is over-hyped, this thing actually lives up to it!

BUY ONE!

(Even the packaging was extra good)

I bought one of these locally and used it twice. I noticed both times that it has a very noticeable plastic/industrial odor when it gets hot. This was after using it in an 1100W oven for about 2 1/2 minutes (which is within the guidelines of the instructions). Also, the popcorn didn't cook very evenly - in the same batch I had quite a few unpopped kernels, some popcorn where the inner shell was dark brown/black, and some popcorn that was golden brown. I read on line where some people had simply used a paper bag to make popcorn, but I wanted to use a little oil for flavor. What I found was that a pyrex bowl works better than this thing, and emits no odor. I just put 1/4 cup popcorn, a few teaspoons of olive oil, and salt in the bowl. Mix everything up so the kernels are evenly coated, and cover loosely so steam can escape. The results are better, and you probably have a pyrex bowl at home already.

At the time of this review four others had reviewed the popper favorably. After using the popper I read their reviews again and noticed some wording that seems consistent through them - hmm... In any event, my take is this popper will not pop even 1/4 a cup of new high quality popcorn. It takes two poppings of some 3-4 minutes each - LOTS of power. The Presto, which I gave up because of the need for paper cups, is way better than this popper. I returned the Back to Basics and ordered another brand that will hopefully work.

Back in the late 1970s, I bought an Amana Radarange and their popcorn popper to go with it. The popcorn popper was a flop and I gave up on MW popcorn. Fast forward to 2010.

I bought this unit on a recommendation from a famous cooking show. They are right, it is an excellent popper. Although mine has an ill-fitting lid, that feature seems not to affect its popping efficiency. With 1/3 cup of popcorn, 1 ounce of oil, and 2 minutes-8 seconds of zapping and I'm in business.

Speaking of times, I have found that with this product, popping times vary quite a bit from one lot of popcorn to the next. So the buyer should be aware that the recommendations in the directions are only guides. In addition, mine seems to like being placed dead-center in the MW oven; placing it elsewhere really affects the popping.

It tastes so much better than bagged popcorn; I'll never go back.

Addendum 10/29/2010:

This is still a great little popper. I have discovered that if one pre-heats the empty popper or empty popper and oil for a very short time, say 30-45 seconds, that it improves the pop volume. Don't do that very long, or you might burn the oil, though.

I have also discovered that when you take the popper out of the microwave, you should immediately take the lid off and let the steam out. It improves the crispiness of the corn. Do not breathe the hot steam, however; it just could not possibly be good for your lungs.

This popper does not need oil to properly pop corn. However, I am an inveterate oil user. I have noticed, too, that the popping oil is not well distributed onto the popcorn during the popping process and a lot remains on the sides and the bottom of the bowl. The moral of the story is to not waste a lot of oil popping a batch of corn and apply butter-flavored oil and Flavacol to get what you want.

After reading many reviews on Amazon about different microwave poppers, I chose to order this one..and I LOVE it! I've just ordered another one for a friend! I usually use a 1/4 tsp. of oil, but don't need to. I add 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels..and I maybe have 3 in the bottom of the bowl after it's popped.
It does get hot, so use mits or potholders..makes absolutely wonderful popcorn. It's heavier than I'd thought it would be..I simply can't say enough good about this one..a GREAT find and a GREAT value!

I just received this popcorn popper today and gave it a try. I put 1/4 of a cup of popcorn and 1 tsp olive oil. It popped every single kernel at @ 2 mins and not one was burnt. I had forgotten just how much better this kind of popcorn tastes than the prepackaged bags. Salt it up and it's ready to go. The bowl is pretty heavy duty and it's nice enough to serve in.

I was very skeptical when I first saw this product, as I didn't think it would work. To my surprise it worked a lot better than I expected.

Why is is better than the stove top?
It is much safer than stove popping. I don't run the risk of burning my hands with hot oil. It is also cleaner(at least for me!), I always ended up with tons on popcorn all over the stove when I popped on the burner. It is healthier than using the stove b/c the bowl does not require the oil that the stove top does.

Why is it better than an air popper?
It is quieter than an air popper. My old air popper sounded like I had the vacuum running. Again, it also is healthier, as the air popper also requires oil to pop the kernels.

Why is it better than bagged microwave popcorn?
It is healthier, and who knows what chemicals are used in the bag popcorn. It like the fact that I am in charge of the salt, butter(if I even use it), and can add powdered toppings if I choose. I am also in charge of the portion size. I don't have to make an entire bowl if I don't want to, instead I can make a small amount depending on how much I want. It comes out cheaper than bag popcorn. Buying loose kernels is far cheaper than buying them in the microwavable bags. The price of the product is also very good, and this product pays for itself in no time.

I am a very healthy eater and love the fact that this product uses no oils. I had been buying the small serving "healthy" microwave popcorn, and spending a fortune, I'm glad I found a better alternative.

I have a sister that also eats healthy, and last Christmas I purchased one of these for her, and she also loves it.

Cook's Country was correct, this makes better popcorn than any commercial prepackaged microwave popcorn.

Without oil the results are much better than any air poppper.

With oil or other fat, the results are as good as doing it on the stove (YUMMY!).

One unique advantage is that since the heat comes from all around such that the corn would pop with or without fat, you can use unusual fats. For instance I used some bacon with the lean trimmed off, just fat. The results were very tasty. I'm sure uncured pork fat, or beef suet would work as well giving a different savory flavor.

In our Microwave I find it takes 4:40 to pop as much as possible and not get a burned flavor. That's with 60g of popcorn, and 14g of oil.