Have you noticed that movie popcorn just doesn’t live up to our childhood memories? Maybe it’s our changing tastebuds; maybe it really isn’t as good any more. Either way, don’t you wish you could create perfect fluffy, flavorful popcorn at home? Actually, you can. And it’s easy.

The Whirley-Pop is a pot-shaped device, with a hinged lid. The lid has a stirring mechanism that you hand-crank while the popcorn cooks. You cook the popcorn in a bit of oil while cranking constantly, then dump it out and mix in your choice of salt and/or seasonings. Simple, quick, and easy. Because the device gets “seasoned” over time a bit like cast iron, you shouldn’t put it into the dishwasher. However, much like cast iron, it also cleans easily. Worst case, if you make one of the recipes that requires you to include sugar while cooking, just soak in hot water for a very short time before cleaning and it’ll come right off.

Which brings me to—the recipes. I’m a sweet popcorn fiend, and the recipes included with the Whirley-Pop make sweet popcorn a breeze. In fact, there’s a ton of sweet and savory recipes that will make you want to have popcorn a whole lot more often. Whether you’d rather have pizza flavored popcorn or cinnamon-sugar popcorn, you can do it yourself in minutes.

Okay, so it does take up a bit of space for such a single-purpose device, but it’s one of the single-purpose devices in our home that I wouldn’t want to give up. Popcorn can be a comparatively healthy snack if done right, and the Whirley-Pop gives you the chance to make it with ingredients that you can feel comfortable with.

Recommended: Yes