Customer Reviews

Nostalgia Electrics KPM-508 Vintage Collection Kettle Popcorn Maker

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

The biggest issue of this popper is that unpopped kernels tend to fly out of the container, like hot air poppers which blow many of the good kernels out. You should monitor it and shake the handle when popping starts to minimize waste. Quality gourmet popcorn like Orville Redenbacher's is a larger kernel and will yield bigger, fluffier popcorn per batch.

Naturally, you will have to wipe out the inside before the first use to get any dust and loose styrofoam out. Then rinse and dry the kettle, plug the kettle in, slip on the mount, and screw in the handle counterclockwise.

Instructions say to run the kettle empty 3-5 mintues just to heat up BEFORE you add 2 teaspsoons of oil and popcorn. The instructions get fuzzy at this point. It says, "... add _ cup of popcorn..." Cup of what? I called and found out just one scoop - equal to 1/4 cup. Don't double it or you risk burning and stuck kernels. It yields 2 quarts which is pretty good. Measuring spoons are provided for oil and popcorn, but no scoop. But the door and opening tray should make popcorn retrieval easy enough.

The sound of the motor spinning is much quieter than hot air poppers which sound like rattling blow dryers. This should let you make more popcorn mid movie with less distraction. This unit is more work for popcorn. However, we live with the trouble because we want theater quality popcorn, right?

As I understand, theater's use coconut oil. I use peanut oil because of the high burn temperature, it will never smoke and hydrogonate. You can make batch, after batch, of delicious popcorn, but sooner or later, you have to turn it off and clean the kettle. Unplug the unit, wait for it to cool, unscrew the handle, unplug the kettle and remove it. Then a nice soak in hot soapy water. Again, done for the love of popcorn.

There is even an overhead light to help you see the popcorn, but this appears to be an ordinary lamp. It is decorative and in no way keeps the popcorn warm. Just like the wheels which are decorative and do not spin.

The unit is fairly large, and takes up under 9 x 12 inches of counter space. Roughly 18.5" tall. Easily, twice the size of a hot air popper. Home theater owners won't mind the space, otherwise, you may need to make room.

It normally comes in the nostalgic classic red, but I have seen green available, and I bought mine in a pleasant black. Certainly, more trouble than normal for popcorn, but the quality is great.

Health conscious people may bally hoo the oil aspect, but that depends on how healthful an oil you use. Healthful fat in your diet, like olive and peanut oils, are better than no fat at all.

In short, if you are a popcorn lover who tires of the over salted bag popcorn, the dry hot air popcorn, or the burned microwave popcorn, this is for you. But, it's a lot more mess. Just remember to clean it regularly to keep it from smoking. Otherwise, start stocking up on Jiffy Pop.

Thanks for your vote!

I was pleasantly surprised with the overall power of this machine.
I was considering purchasing the larger more expensive popcorn machine for my family room (to go along with every other gadget I own,) but decided to try this machine. To my amazement, it actually put out quite a bit of popcorn.
I use popcorn packets from Snappy Popcorn. Included is the oil, salt, and kernels; just snip the top and pour.
I even used this machine at a church carnival and it didn't falter even after continuous use for hours!!
The only "flaw" I can say is that it needs to be taller. I burnt my hand on the kettle getting popcorn from the back of the machine, HOWEVER, after the first time, I learned to be more careful!! I purchased a bigger scooper.
In the end, unless you plan to go into the popcorn business, this machine is perfect for home use.
Be Blessed.

I was very excited to buy a small hot oil kettle style popcorn popper for my rec room. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The popped kernals push out the unpopped kernals from the kettle, wasting lots of unpopped corn. The remaining corn produces a very small batch. In fact I had to pop three batches to get a large bowl to serve. Clean up was quite a chore. The entire inside of the machine gets splattered with oil. Popping corn in this machine is too much work for me.

This machine looks great, until you get it home.
The motor is annoyingly noisy and it is cheaply put together.
Inside of the machine there is a beadead of calk all around the glass, and a very poor bead at that. The sides are plexi-glass, not real glass.

The company claims it pops a cup of popcorn, but the measuring cup is only 1/4 cup. I had to make several batches to feed a family of 4. When I tried to return it ot Dyandirect, it took them almost a month to respond, telling me I would have to pay for shipping and 15% restocking fee. Luckily I found a local store that took it back without a receipt.

This is not worth the money and the company has a poor response time and return policy.

Since then I purchased the WEST BEND STIR CRAZY POPPER, which is excellent. Nearly all the kernels popped and the volume is great.

I've had my kettle popper for about 6 months now and Love it. It makes great popcorn and sits right on our end table. The kettle is easy to remove for cleaning. For the price of this popper, you can't go wrong.

My wife and I recieved one of these as a gift. We are using it in our home theater. It works great and makes excellent popcorn using a salt and butter/oil mix similar to what the theaters use. There are a few minor drawbacks to this machine. One is that it makes a small amount of popcorn at a time. So, if you have a large group you will have to make several batches. That is not a big deal because it is fun for people to watch it work and will keep them entertained while you work. The other problem I have with it is the motor that stirs the popcorn is fairly loud. You wouldn't want to have it running during movies. The machine is easy to clean and looks nice when not in use.

Item came 14 days late, damaged (not from shipping), and still no word of them shipping another one to me. It has now been 26 days since my complaint to them via e-mail, and nothing has been resolved. Never doing business with this company again!

update:I was sent a second machine after a couple of weeks. this one also needs to be sent back because they gave me a used one. It's dirty, rusted, scratched and I'm really upset.

Update September 22nd 2005: It has now been 3 whole months. My complaints are still not resolved. I told the company the second one they sent me is a used one (I paid for a new one) and they told me everything would be taken care of. It's not. Dont buy from this company if good service is what you expect.

My wife and I recieved one of these as a gift. We are using it in our home theater. Unlike the reviewer above, ours arrived in perfect working order. It works great and makes excellent popcorn using salt and butter/oil similar to what the theaters use. There are a few minor drawbacks to this machine. One is that it makes a small amount of popcorn at a time. So, if you have a large group you will have to make several batches. That is not a big deal because it is fun for people to watch it work and will keep them entertained while you work. The other problem I have with it is the motor that stirs the popcorn is fairly loud. You wouldn't want to have it running during movies. The machine is easy to clean and looks nice when not in use.

This is a very nice hot oil popper. You make about 2 quarts of popcorn with every popping. The package included two spoons for measuring kernals and oil, which is extremely helpful. Sometimes you don't get a very big batch of popcorn because your kernals fly out with already popped pieces of popcorn, and oil and flavoring (if used) splash onto the walls of the machine. Clean up is much needed after popping a batch or two. It is kind of difficult to clean, hot soapy water and much scrubbing are the only options.

We bought this for our son's birthday party. We tested it out and it worked ok - didn't really pop like I thought it would but still thought it would be fun and the popcorn tasted good. On the day of the party the kettle never heated up and it never popped another kernel.
We were very disappointed but we boxed it up and sent it back. Thank goodness for Amazon's great return policy