EPM330M Automatic Stirring 12 Cup Popcorn Maker, Mint

If you are a massive popcorn lover, this Elite Gourmet 12-cup automatic popper is an absolute must-have. This is perfect for getting movie theater popcorn at home. I love breaking this thing out at least 2–3 times a week, and it has quickly become one of the most frequently used appliances in my kitchen. Why it's a game-changer: Authentic Theater Flavor: Using a little oil on this hot plate gives you that rich, crisp, cinema-style crunch and perfect salt adhesion that microwave bags just can't match. Automatic Stirring: The motorized stirring rod continuously flips the kernels across the heating base so you get a near-perfect pop rate with practically zero burnt pieces. A Quick Word of Caution: Caution—it does leak butter on the bottom: If you try to melt butter over the top ventilation holes while it's popping, be very careful. It tends to run down the sides or seep through, causing butter to leak out around the bottom base. I highly recommend just melting your butter separately in the microwave and pouring it on afterward to avoid a greasy countertop cleanup! It's reliable, fun to use, and a massive upgrade to any home movie night. Just keep an eye on how you add your butter!

So far I love it! I’ve only had it about three weeks, but I’ve been using it at least once a day ever since. I tend to eat the same thing over and over again and currently popcorn is my kick. I got tired of the microwave no oil popcorn. And really craved popcorn cooked in oil. I dragged mine out from underneath the counter and had to pull half my small appliances out in order to get the popcorn popper out. I really didn’t want to go through that every day. It’s just me so I didn’t need that big popper anymore anyway. The small size of this one is perfect. The only thing I would do different is to have a detachable cord. Other than that, I like that it has an on and off button the caps, a little difficult to get in place, but it locks in where others just popped on and off. I put in a rounded quarter cup of kernels and have been using a combination of avocado oil and butter-flavored coconut oil. I probably use 2 tablespoons instead of the recommended 1 tablespoon, but it comes out great. And there is room in there for more popcorn but the amount I have is probably enough for two people. Lol. And if it’s not enough, I can quickly pop another batch Instead of the small, flavored seasonings, I use powdered cheddar cheese, which is even better than the cheese in those old-fashioned craft macaroni and cheese kits. I’ll also use Tajin or creole seasoning. And of course, freshly ground Himalayan salt. I use the butter melting once, but with the flavored coconut oil, I really don’t need it. Probably because I put a little extra oil in there the popcorn has that butter feeling. I have washed the cover in the dishwasher more than once. It’s actually a lot easier that way to get the grease off. I also like that the bottom doesn’t have an opening for the grease to get in from the top. If it does, it’s a tiny tiny crack, but I haven’t had a problem at all. This was something that I did have a problem with my old one. The stir works fine and once I even forgot to put the screw cap on, and it held onto it even without that. If you’re considering it, I say go for it! By the larger size if you want a larger capacity. But for one person and limited space, I couldn’t see anything better than this one out there and I’m very pleased.

This machine exceeded my expectations and allows me to easily make old fashioned delicious popcorn with no muss or fuss. Clean up is effortless . I don't use butter so just a soapy swish of the bowl and drying with a dish towel does it. I use a paper towel to clean the cooking surface. Everything looks new again. Pops every kernel. No burning. Of course you want to follow directions and turn it off when you go 30 seconds without a pop. Had an air popper for years but hated that dry flavorless popcorn. The lid which you use on the bowl for serving does not fit so I marked it down one star. You don't really need it. Just set the bowl on a little paper plate or whatever you have that fits and you're in business. I make the serving for two for myself and it is the perfect (generous) amount. Air popper already in the Good Will bin. A perfect unit for one or two people.

This popcorn popper is wonderful. I purchased this after Christmas and we have used it a lot. It makes great popcorn and you can add butter as it is popping, if you choose and makes it quickly. They suggest soaking the popcorn in water for 10 minutes and then drain before putting it in the popper. This does help and we get very few uncooked kernels It is soooo tasty. We make popcorn at least two or three times a week for an afternoon snack.

Parents had one when I was a kid. This one is fancier because it has a wire at the bottom that stirs the kernels in the oil. So, the popcorn on the bottom will not scorch due to the stirring. Plus if you mix the popcorn salt with the oil you prefer , the popcorn will come out tasting the way you want it.

I love this style of popcorn maker but this particular unit I would not get. It generates a little too much heat to where it warps the bowl making it pop off. Also the lid that is supposed to go on the bottom to plug up the bowl keeps popping off too due to warping. I have cleaned it many times and made a few batches but it has a strong non-stick coating smell that lingers on the popcorn. It sucks as I just missed the return window for this and just used it for the first time yesterday. UPDATE Since I couldn’t return it, it took a few more uses for the chemical smell to go away. I’ve been making popcorn with it quite often and it has been pretty good because it’s easy to use. It does still run a bit too hot so once you hear the popping starting to slow down, turn it off and dump the popcorn into a bowl immediately. Otherwise you will have burnt popcorn.

[Review has now been further revised to reflect just how fragile this is] [Review has been revised to reflect further efforts to get good result with Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm.] I've just thrown this out after less than 6 months of use. The problem is that the cover for the butter well in the top/bowl will no longer stay in place. It is supposed to be held in place by small, flimsy plastic clips and too many of them have broken off, even though I tried to be careful with them. This makes it very difficult to flip the popper over at the end of its popping and impossible to use the top as a bowl. It's a little design detail that saves the manufacturer a penny or two -- and quickly makes the popper useless. I hope to find different brand with better design. _____________________________________________________________________________________ This is essentially a modernized version of the electric corn popper used by my mother's family a century or more ago. (It survived in my mom's kitchen long enough for me to enjoy it as a kid.) This uses plastics instead of steel and has a motor to turn the stirring rod instead of a hand crank but the principles are identical and so is the performance. Having a good idea what to expect, I tried it with two different popcorns. Snappy White Popcorn is a pretty standard sort of popcorn in terms of kernal size and it produces normal butterfly popped kernals. The Snappy kernals I have are from 2020 but still popped quite well, with scarcely any unpopped or partly-popped old maids. I followed the directions, with 3 tablespoons of oil and a bit more than 1/3 cup of kernals. This filled the top/bowl to the brim, and flavor and texture were excellent. Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm was a different story. Mine is only a week old but it popped quite badly, with a great many old maids, and not many fully-developed mushroom popped kernals. But the same popcorn pops considerably better in my Presto 04830 PowerPop Microwave Multi-Popper. I'm not totally sure why it does so very poorly the Elite Gourmet machine but I'm pretty certain that it has a lot to do with the quite large size of the unpopped kernals. Hoosier Hill, which spends a lot of Web space patting itself on the back regarding the quality of its product, does not seem inclined to offer any hints, but the instructions on the package, which suggest using a stovetop popper for best results, led me to an experiment that produced better popcorn from it with the Elite. I poured a generous layer of oil on the hot plate (more than recommended) and placed just a few kernals on it before turning on. When those had popped I turned it off, quickly removed the cover, put 1/3 cup of kernals in, and restarted it. The result was a considerable improvement with a large proportion of large mushroom popped kernals and somewhat improved flavor and texture. There were still many fragments of hull, however, and a number of old maids. It's quite important, I judge, to turn off the machine and dump the popcorn as soon as popping stops, as otherwise you risk burning your popcorn. It's very simple: just clap the cover on the vent, grasp the handles, and tip it over. It's light enough to make it quite easy for anyone. The little vent and butter cup at the top of the cover really works fine for melting butter if you are not too stupid about how you do it. The butter needs to be sliced into several thinner slices spread around over the vent slits rather than dumped in one big clump. Then it melts just fine and imparts a wonderful buttery flavor throughout the batch. I generally spread it around a bit with the knife blade midway through the popping just to be sure, but it doesn't seem to be truly necessary. Of course butter isn't great for you. Much better to spray the popped corn with a butter-infused olive oil, but it doesn't really produce quite the same effect, sadly, although it really is quite good. The plastic in the top/bowl is quite thin but doesn't really seem flimsy to me, because it is flexible and not at all inclined to crack. It's probably not going to last 35 or 40 years, the way my mom's popper did, however. Cleanup is pretty straightforward. Three quarts is not enough for a very big family or party, but I note that there are machines operating on similar principles in 6 quart sizes on Amazon. I expect that the performance is probably similar, although it may be that some handle the Mushroom Popcorn by Hoosier Hill Farm better.

I love this. do not place anything of top vent while popping.

Es pequeña, pero funcional. Silenciosa y su varilla giratoria hace que un 95 por ciento de los granos de maíz exploten, es decir, quedan sólo dos o tres sin explotar. Es rápida en tener tus palomitas listas para degustar. Yo la uso con aceite de coco y le pongo mantequilla en la parte superior del bowl para que se derrita mientras están explotando los granos y pueda bañarlos en su mayoría. Si los granos de maíz están muy viejos o secos, puedes remojarlos en agua unos diez o quince minutos antes de ponerlos en la máquina. Las palomitas quedan más esponjosas. La limpieza de la máquina es rápida. En síntesis, para mí es una buena máquina para hacer palomitas a un costo razonable. La recomiendo.

The company decided to send to me a used, semi burnet product instead of a new one, thinking customers are just too stupid to notice. Plus this us 110v and doesn’t work in Saudi.

Atendeu minhas expectativas. Gostei muito!

Good

I got the Elite Gourmet EPM330R Automatic Stirring Popcorn Maker hoping to make snack time a little more fun and it totally delivered! This machine is really easy to use right out of the box. The automatic stirring keeps the kernels moving so almost all of them pop, and it gives the popcorn a nice, even texture. I love that it uses hot oil, so the popcorn comes out crunchy and flavorful, and the built in reversible serving bowl is a clever touch. It doesn’t take up much counter space, and cleanup is pretty simple too, just wipe it down after it cools. Whether I’m making a quick snack for movie night or just craving something salty and fresh, this popper makes it way easier than using the stove. Definitely recommend if you want a reliable and fun popcorn maker!