Presto 114316 04820 PopLite Hot Air Corn Popper
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List Price: Our Price: $17.75 You Save: $12.24 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 4-5 business days Buy Used: from $12.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Presto 114316 04820 PopLite Hot Air Corn Popper
Customer Review: Healthier Popcorn, Good Price
Summary: 4 Stars
I had one of these a long time ago. I gave it to a friend when I moved, and soon realized that I missed having it around!
A friend bought another for me after I put it on my Wish List. (Thanks Jan!)
I like this popper because it's quick, and makes a large bowl of popcorn without oil. Or you could, of course, put in less popcorn and make a small amount. Very few kernels are left un-popped. It's good value for the price, even if you only occasionally want some oil-free popcorn. The microwave packets are useful, but I prefer my popcorn unadulterated and if I want butter, I'd rather it be fresh.
The negatives are pretty minor. The butter melter/measure part of the top is not worth using for melting butter. I would rather just microwave some in the bowl first. It works, but requires clean up, and I'd rather not. If you don't melt butter in the top piece, clean up is a snap.
My other minor complaint is with storage. The top can quite easily topple off, not while in use, but when trying to put the device up on a shelf.
So, minor complaints, and as I said, I really missed it when it was gone. If you like popcorn, this is a good choice of air poppers.
Customer Review: Suitable for Home Coffee Roasting
Summary: 5 Stars
This popcorn popper is suitable for roasting green coffee beans. There exists a popular notion (in the coffee roasting community) that popcorn poppers of this type are a potential fire hazard, but I have roasted over 500 batches without encountering any problems.
If you do use this roaster, you should make three modifications:
1. Remove all the yellow plastic parts and set them aside.
2. Place a soup can with label removed into the chamber. This keeps the beans from escaping during the roast.
3. Tilt the roaster approximately 15 degrees backward using some kind of (fireproof) wedge underneath the bottom. This helps air flow and keeps the roast even. It also helps to use a submaximal volume of green beans.
Use the handle of a wooden spoon to stir the beans occasionally while they roast.
Otherwise, simply follow basic roasting procedures and the final product will be satisfactory.
The only quibble I have is that it roasts a bit too quickly and this makes it hard to achieve consistent roasts from batch to batch, especially lighter roasts. The solution might be to use a longer extension cord to increase roast duration.
Customer Review: No Oil, No Salt, Just Popcorn
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros:
No Salt or Oil, just Popcorn
No BPA? Teflon? ?? lined microwave bags
A fraction of the unpopped kernels verses microwave popcorn
Amazingly inexpensive appliance
One-tenth the cost of microwave popcorn per serving
Serving size control
Child's play to use, but it does get HOT!!!
Cons:
No switch, have to plug it in and pull the plug for off
The exploded husks tend to litter the counter
No bowl or box for the popped corn
Big dude taking up counter space.
Seems to take longer that a microwave bag, but I haven't timed it
Not quite as convenient as a microwave bag
Comments:
Prior to the Poplite, the only salt-free and "butter"-free microwave popcorn I could find was Newman's at $3+ for a box of three. For half that I purchased a 2-pound bag of bulk popcorn which pops lighter and larger. Finding a plastic container that was the equivalent of a microwave bag was a bit of a challenge. I settled on a 1-gallon Sterilite pitcher (73149-04900), it's a flattened oval and fits the mouth of the Poplite near perfectly. I'd guess it to be twice the volume of a microwave bag, you'll need the space.
Customer Review: Hot Air Popcorn Popper Nostalgia worth every cent!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't care for microwave popcorn. First, it's just so much popcorn per bag, and for those days when I just want a few handfuls, most goes to waste.
Then there's the fact that if I'm with a lot of people, having to pop individual micro-bags seems silly.
So I got on the web and looked for the hot air poppers - just like the one I had decades ago. Because NONE of the local stores carry them any more!
Well I did the research and found the PopLite. It looks just like the one I remember from all those years ago. They're effortless to use. In the same time or less than it takes to micro a bag, I can get hot freshly popped corn - as much or as little as I want to make at the time.
The best part of all this was the fact that there's an Orville Redenbacker Popper that is actually the very same model as this Presto 4820 but costs MORE money! (Why would I pay more money to get the Orville Redenbacker brand on the side of the very same popper?) I had originally found the Orville version out on the web but when I found the Presto, and compared them to be sure, I laughed and saved a few bucks!
I'm very happy with the product.
Customer Review: The Top of the Poppers!
Summary: 4 Stars
My wife wanted to throw a holiday fondue party, but we don't own a fondue set. But who needs some ritzy expensive contraption just to heat up cheese? This is the 21st century; we have the technology. I decided to build a fondue set better than before. Cheaper. Faster. *Meltier.*
If a machine can blast enough hot air to pop kernels of corn, then surely it can liquefy some soft cheese, right?
Right. With two rather important caveats. One, if you use the popper to make fondue, you'll probably want to consider never using it again. For anything, ever. After one block of cheese, the inside of the popper looks like a La Brea tar pit. If you got your finger stuck in that goo trying to clean it, it might be archaeologists five million years from now who find your remains.
And two: being a popper, this device doesn't just heat your cheese. It also periodically shoots little bits of it out the top and toward whatever happens to be in front. Which, if you're curious like me and want to know if it's working, could be your face. And a blast of searing hot Jarlsberg up the nose is not as refreshing or delicious as you might imagine. Trust me on this one.