Rob's Rants

As interest in home theaters has increased, so has the interest in movie or theater style popcorn machines. So in the last few years, many companies have begun to sell professional style (or even small professional) popcorn poppers for home use. A quick search on EBay will yield several different models of popcorn machines for sale at any time.

What makes a “theater-style” machine you ask? The classic theater popper has a “dumpable” kettle with a motorized stirrer. The kettle hangs inside a glass or polycarbonate box which also has heat or lights. Here’s a picture of the Waring Pro example I’m reviewing.

If you read my original popcorn post, you know that I said that no home electric poppers were worth using. Since I reserve the right to change my mind, I will exercise that right now. Commercial-style poppers can get hot enough to do a decent job. And the reason is really in the kettle and the surface area exposed to heat. For any given wattage, the commercial-style machines concentrate the heat in a smaller area than the typical home machine, so the kernels are exposed to higher temperatures in the commercial-style kettle. So these machines usually work reasonable well compared to typical counter-top electric poppers.

A Note About Sizes

Manufacturers of commercial-style machines typically describe the capacity one of two ways: either the capacity of unpopped kernels in the kettle or the capacity of popped corn in the tank after a typical load of corn is popped. Of the two, the capacity of the kettle is more standard and easier to compare across machines, since the volume of popped corn depends on the type of corn you are using. The standard kettle sizes are 4 ounce, 6 ounce, and 8 ounce (volume or fluid ounces, not weight ounces). For reference, 4 ounces of corn is 1/2 cup. This yields anywhere from 10 to 14 cups of popped corn.

The Waring Pro Machine

Waring sells the WPM40 popcorn machine in a couple of models. The WPM40 is sold at various retailers in a red color. Mine is a black model sold exclusively at BJ’s Wholesale Club. But the guts of the machine is the same. This is a typical 4 ounce kettle machine sold for between $100 and $160 depending on location and how steep the sales are at any given time.

The case is polycarbonate, the tray and drawers are aluminum, the body is steel, and the kettle is stainless steel. The machine has a bulb socket for a light bulb to act as a heater (real commercial machines use heat lamps). There are two control switches, one for the motor and one for the lamp. It’s a basic theater-style popper.

Construction

Rating:  

The popper is mostly solid. I gave it 3 out of 5 because although nothing was loose or hideously misaligned when I received it, the finish wasn’t great. The tray at the bottom and the other aluminum parts had some seriously rough (like cut your fingers rough) edges. And some of the sheet metal needed a little bending and flexing to get a proper fit. Also the door didn’t close when I received the popper and the magnet needed some adjustment. But at least the main mechanical parts worked.

Performance

Rating:  

The popper does what it’s supposed to do pretty well. It heats up relatively quickly and once the popping starts, the stirrer keeps things from burning. It pops kernels relatively quickly. The big drawback is the number of unpopped kernels that escape the kettle. This is mainly a function of the small size of the kettle; as the popcorn begins to pop, some kernels are blown out the top with the first popped kernels. This is the tradeoff for not having to stir the kettle manually.

Design

Rating:  

The popper has some decent features, though they’re not all well executed. For example, although there is room for a lamp inside the machine to warm the popcorn, the outlet isn’t rated to handle anything like a real heat lamp. And, the bottom tray has holes to allow the unpopped kernels (old maids) to fall through to a little drawer. But the holes are concentrated in such a small area that them miss many unpopped kernels. But overall it’s a decent design for the price.

Cleaning

Rating:  

This is where the popper runs into trouble. Not a single part of this thing with the exception of the bottom tray and old maid drawer (which can be put in the dishwasher) is easy to clean. In addition to all the sharp edges on the metal parts which will cut you at every chance, the poly carbonate panels are impossible to get free of greasy streaks, unpopped kernels find their way to the bottom and can’y be picked out by hand, and the kettle itself is simply impossible to clean. The kettle cannot be put in the dishwasher, so it must be wiped down and periodically thoroughly cleaned. What a pain.

Overall

Rating:  

Overall, this is a decent theater-style popper if that’s what you want. Although it has shortcomings, the low price can make those more bearable. It certainly does its primary job well enough. It gets hot, and pops corn without you having to stir it. For the price, I recommend it.

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