#Best oil for nostalgia popcorn machine full#

The results from this maker were as delicious and fluffy in texture as models that cost double. There wasn't even a hint of a scorched kernel or a burnt aftertaste. When we tasted the resulting popcorn, however, we were wowed by the crunchiness and neutral flavor. After making our first batch, we found that the silicone stayed pretty hot, so we poured the popcorn into a separate bowl. It includes a lid and popcorn bowl with built-in handles, and it pops half a cup of kernels with just 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil. Popping kernels in the HotPop was a pleasant surprise this BPA-free silicone popper is as straightforward as it gets. If you're making multiple batches, you'll need to give it a few minutes of cooldown time between each one. Our two criticisms are its lack of an on/off switch (it turns on when you plug it in) and the fact that it gets very hot in operation.

It's fairly compact, and its built-in cord-wrapping knob helps keep your countertop organized. In all, this is a fabulous machine that produced the best popcorn of our tests. (In other words, it's not usable for kettle corn.) It's important to note that you can't put anything but plain popcorn into this machine seasonings can only be applied post-popping. The butter warmer is the only part likely to need soap, and it just needs a wipe with a sponge. You can simply dump any kernels and crumbs out of the chamber and just rinse any crumbs out of the lid. This machine doesn't make a lot of mess, which is good because all the parts need to be washed by hand. (You actually need those few minutes for the handle of the cup to cool down, as it gets very hot during popping.) The Presto pops so fast that it didn't melt our butter completely while it ran a cycle, but a few minutes sitting atop the hot machine fully liquefied it afterward.

The included measuring cup fits into a space in the lid to double as a butter warmer. It popped every single kernel in the chamber during testing, though some unpopped ones (less than three percent) also flew out into the bowl.

Hot air blows through the kernels and keeps them moving, and once they start to pop, it blows them out the lid's funnel and into the waiting bowl below. The Poplite is a breeze to set up: You load unpopped corn into its chamber, put the top in place, and plug it in. This made the best corn of all the methods we tried.

#Best oil for nostalgia popcorn machine full#

The Presto Poplite is our favorite hot-air model it was consistently able to pop a full half-cup of corn (that's 15 to 18 cups popped) in well under three minutes, with light, fluffy, and crisp results across the board. The hot-air popcorn popper is a classic for good reason: It heats quickly and effectively, while it also circulates humid air out of the popping chamber to keep the kernels from getting soft or soggy, with no oil needed.