Do you want to make perfect popcorn? Try Whirley Pop!
Written: Oct 05 '02
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Pros: Whirley Pop makes delicious, healthy and inexpensive popcorn.
Cons: Kids need to wear good oven mitts and watch out for hot metal.
The Bottom Line: If you love popcorn, then give Whirly Pop a try. It's a fun appliance, and the popcorn turns out great.
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| CyndiA's Full Review: Wabash Valley Farms Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper, 6-... |
October is national popcorn month, but popcorn rocks year round. My family ate popcorn all the time when I was growing up, and my boys and I continue that family tradition. Over the years, I’ve used and owned all kinds of popcorn contraptions from the yellow plastic air popper to the metal one that you poke in the fireplace.
The hands-down BEST popcorn popper is Whirley Pop.
Taste is really the key when you get down to it.
Although microwave popcorn is quick and easy, it has a heavy non-natural taste. If you look inside the microwave bag and see the sticky mess on the sides of the bag, then you know why this stuff is heavy and why eating a lot of microwave popcorn will make you heavy too.
Stovetop and old metal poppers make decent popcorn, but you have to stay on top of things or you end up with burned corn. I can make a good pan of skillet corn, but it takes some doing.
Don’t even get me started on the air poppers. That stuff should be used far packing boxes. My review of the Presto is at www.epinions.com/content_40127532676.
Whirley Pop has that soft and light taste that you find in some old movie theaters—the ones where they measure the oil and buy popcorn in bulk bags and not the ones that have handy packages loaded with butter flavored oil. The combination of minimal oil and high heat with the hand crank spinner and air vents mean the corn pops fast and fluffy. While the kernels are not the steroid version you see in Orville Redenbocker’s bags, they pop big for real corn.
Although I like plain popcorn best, you can use the base corn from Whirley Pop and make loads of variations. These range from sprinkling cheese on after to mixing up as trail mix or baking a chocolate popcorn treat in the oven. Microwave and air popped corn don’t work well for variations. Any old standard popper or stove pan with lid will make the corn for recipes, but Whirley Pop produces better corn.
If you like to play around with your popcorn, then Whirley Pop includes a nice recipe booklet. They also have a website with free recipes at www.popcornpopper.com . My favorite Halloween project using popcorn is at http://www.epinions.com/content_2209390724 Halloween Scary Hands are easy to make, and even preschool kids can have fun with this easy treat for ghoulies.
I’m a lazy bum . . .
There are so many options for making popcorn that a complex popper is not going to fly. No one will slave over a popper when those microwave bags are so easy to use.
Don’t worry. The Whirley Pop is quick and easy. In fact, you can make popcorn just as fast with the Whirley Pop as you can with the microwave (if you don’t include clean up). The time runs 4 minutes on average either way you go.
Whirley Gig has two main pieces—the bucket and the top with the hand crank. Put 2 tablespoons of oil and ½ cup of popcorn in the bucket (or buy the bagged oil and corn combos and pour in). Snap the lid on. It has two snaps that click on easily. Put the contraption on the stove eye turned to high. Slowly crank the wooden handle, which is kind of like the crank on an old ice cream bucket. The handle moves the whisk inside and keeps the corn moving around and not stuck to the bottom turning black. Crank faster as the corn starts popping. When the popping slows down, take the pan off. Open the flip top (it has two for pouring out the corn).
You have a perfect bowl of popcorn!
Another good thing is that you can half the portions and make a small popper of corn. When the boys are visiting the grandparents, I can still make popcorn and don’t end up eating way more than I should.
Gee . . . that was fun!
Sometimes I buy those little metal popcorn pans at the grocery—the ones that grow and get bigger as you pop the corn. Whirley Pop is fun like the growing corn pans, but it’s less expensive to use the Whirley Pop and the corn tastes better.
Of course, it’s not going to be much fun if someone gets burned. Whirley Pop does get really hot to produce those airy kernels. The wooden handles don’t get hot, but the metal does get really hot.
Kids may not remember to hold ONLY the wooden parts. We get around that here by wearing oven mitts from Wal-Mart. Those go way up on Caleb and Eli’s arms and protect them when they crank. I handle moving and pouring, but the boys do most of the cranking and have a lot of fun doing that. I would say that kids from ages 8 and up can crank this popper with mitts and supervision.
The clean up is no problem.
Whirley Pop can go in the dishwasher, but I don’t have one )-: It only takes a few seconds to hand-wash the popper, so that’s not a big deal. The corn pops fast and the pan comes out pretty clean. Traces of oil wipe off the popper, which doesn’t have serious cracks and crannies requiring serious probing.
I would suggest Dawn dish liquid, which cuts that oil. I used cheaper dish liquid before my drain stopped up. The plumber said to use Dawn, and I have not stopped the drain up since I switched. While the small traces of oil from the popper don’t cause a problem, the build up over time can plug pipes especially in a southern home where oil is almost a beverage.
I’m saving money too!
Microwave popcorn gets expensive over time. It’s much cheaper to pop with Whirley Pop. You can make enough popcorn to feed the whole neighborhood (or to last a good long time) for a couple of dollars. The ready-to-pop bags for Whirley Pop are more expensive, but they still run lower than the microwave bags.
The unit costs a little more than some poppers. The going price is about $25. A standard metal popper or the air popper go for under $15. It’s worth the slight price difference for the better corn, so I didn’t mind the cost. I bought mine at Amazon, and it came with the recipe booklet and 4 bags of the ready-to-pop corn.
What are you waiting for?
Whirley Pop is terrific! It makes perfect popcorn every time. We have fun making and eating this popcorn. This popper is on my list of great presents to buy for family and friends. Actually, the first one was planned as a gift, but it rained. The boys were bored and hungry, so we claimed the Whirley Pop. Now, it’s our favorite, and we’ll have to buy more of these and share the fun.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 24.00
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Epinions.com ID:
CyndiA
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 in Home and Garden |
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Member: Cyndi
Location: out in the yard grilling
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The first and greatest commandment is, don’t let them scare you. Elmer Davis
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