VEVOR Popcorn Maker, 1615W Popcorn Popper Machine, 16 Oz Kettle Large Capacity Countertop Popcorn Maker with Tempered Glass, Includes 3 Stainless Steel Scoops, Movie Theater Style, Red

This item is very useful for my popcorn business, is very easy to use.. just follow the instructions and good to go. Since the purchase in 2024, it is doing a great job, very durable.

Most of the assembly revolves around the cart (which is shipped knocked down. Each part is pictorially shown and coordinated with the assembly manual. The manual itself is very readable and the instructions are adequate to understand how each step is to be completed.Assembly went fast, everything fit perfectly with only one exception, the door fail to fit well. The door attaches to the hinges by first slipping the top shaft into the hinge, then the bottom (which is shorter.) The top shaft has a key embossed into it (to prevent accidental removal) and the door must be rotated to the near full open position and wiggled gently back and forth when sliding the shaft into the top hinge. Even so, the shafts would only go in approximately half way. I solved this problem by rotating the door open and closed, over and over until the hinge got worn enough to fit. After the shafts seated into the hinges fully, they squeeked loudly when opened and closed. I sprayed the hinges with "WD-40 Dry Lube" and that's all it took. Door opens smooth and quietly now.Overall impression of the quality of the machine and cart is extremely positive. It appears that the manufacturer paid attention to every detail. Every surface is either painted gloss red, chrome, stainless steel or natural aluminum. The side windows AND door are tempered glass (many of the competitors use cheap plastic doors.) I did not see any blemishes on any painted surface.The reason I chose this machine over others, was NOT based on how it makes popcorn. Rather - how easy it would be to clean.As far as I'm concerned, cleaning is more important than how it cooks popcorn. (They all make popcorn equally well, but cleaning the interior of the kettle and under floor should not require tools for access.)To this end, this machine has a couple of convenience features I haven't seen being used on competitor machines.The first (and very important) is the lid on the top of the kettle. This lid which contains the stirrer mechanism and it attaches to the kettle with wing nuts —— not screws. This makes the top easily removable by hand to clean the inside of the kettle, all without tools. Competitor machines require a screwdriver to remove the lid from the kettle, so you know that's not going to happen.The second, I have seen on some competitor machines, is the "floor" of the popping compartment can be unscrewed (2-screws) and removed to clean the area below.I decided to permanently remove the two screws and make it easy to just lift the floor and clean out after popping. Even without the screws holding it down, the floor still sits flat and secure. Seeds, corn and oil film always finds its way under the floor. Having ready access is another big plus when cleaning.The cart is sturdy and solid. It locks the machine to the cart, through two spring loaded clamps. Wheels have ball bearings and roll smoothly. The ends opposite the wheels have adjustable leg levelers.As the machine sits on our patio in the warm months, I put all of the supplies (corn, oil, salt, flavoring and whatever) in 1-gallon, zipper top, plastic food storage bags; and store them inside the base cabinet.The machine uses both a heating element under the floor and a heat lamp to keep the popcorn warm after popping. The under floor heating element is located in the left rear quarter. The lamp is easily replaceable and uses an #E26, 60-watt bulb. You can find it on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0iAi231lThe stirrer motor is super quiet; can barely hear it running.I also purchased a popcorn machine cover as it's going to sit out on a covered patio (at least during the warm weather months.) It's made of several layers and I would consider it to be of intermediate construction. There are two "handles" sewed in the top to assist in installation and removal. Fits perfectly and has a drawstring tie at the bottom to secure it. Last night we had storms and it held firmly. Found on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0ggJ3a0J

I really enjoy using this popcorn machine. I bought one of the smaller ones but sent it back because it was all made out of plastic and also, when it arrived at my house, one of the windows was broken. But this machine is awesome, we love it, it makes very good popcorn that tastes just like theater popcorn. I bought buttery oil and the theater salt which also makes it taste so good. When people come over and we make popcorn, I always get compliments. I would definitely recommend this popcorn machine. It's a little pricey but it's worth it.

I have used these style of popcorn machines for nearly 10 years at home. When I recently moved, I was unable to take the last machine (and stand) with me, so it was about time I could replace my last 16 ounce popper. I was a bit reluctant to try an 8 ounce popper this time, but shipping costs and the machine costs, as well as never trying to the Vevor brand made me want to give the lower cost model a try. I wouldnt give this model 5 stars, but it is actually pretty good for the money.Pros: Low costs, decently packed (made it 8k miles of shipping without even a scratch), easy to assemble (though the manual could be improved on the actual popper, it has more instructions on the cart that wasnt on my model than the popper itself), pops pretty quickly, relatively easy to clean (they are all kind of the same), good amount of popcorn per batch.Cons: Smallish interior cabinet, hard to reach around the kettle without getting burned, initially if you dont adjust the kettle lid - it jams quite frequently, warmer could be more broad in coverage than the back left area, not a 12/16 ounce.Cleaning: For all those reviewers that say the unit is hard to clean, you might not be aware how to clean a popcorn machine of this style. All you need to do to clean the unit is just add about a quarter cup of water to the kettle and turn the warmer on. NO CHEMICALS AT ALL! Do not add anything to the water, no need for special "kettle cleaners" etc. Just some plain water in the kettle and let it heat up and create a lot of steam. This will make it very easy to wipe down the inside of the glass and surfaces with just steam and some paper towels, careful not to touch the kettle. When you get through the first amount of water, add a second bit of water to the kettle and possible a couple more paper towels into the kettle and this time turn on the stirrer for a bit. Keep an eye on the unit as you dont want to go too long with this part or run dry of water. You will notice the steam and paper towels make very quick work of left over burnt residue and black marks. After two passes you should be all clear. For the initial bit, before I steam at all, sometimes I run a small shop vac I have DEDICATED to the popcorn machine to get all the salt and loose kernels lying around to give it a nice clean and then steam. Generally I only do this about once every 3 months or so. Or as you see fit.Popcorn to use: For me, I prefer the premeasured popcorn you can find here on Amazon. Usually in packs of 24 or more. This already has the best amount of salt/butter flavoring/kernels for the machine. 8 ounce packs work perfect. Of course, you can use 4 or 6 ounce as well, it just wont have as much popcorn after completion. Many don't know, but the secret to true movie style theater popcorn is the kernels (have to be the best golden mushroom style), coconut oil (usually butter flavored), and Fold Medal Flavacol (butter flavored fine grain salt). These three ingredients, not burning it, and removing moisture during and after the pop are the key to the best popcorn you have ever tasted consistently.Tweaks I made for better results: I found that out of the box, the unit gets jammed up on my 8 ounce packs from too much popcorn being spun around by the stirrer before it gets a chance to get pushed out. The popcorn can jam up against the middle bar area between the kettle lid parts that get pushed upwards during popping. What worked for me is loosening the wing nuts holding the lid on the popper about 1/4 to half backed off the bolt. This allows the lid and center section to have some give when the stirrer moves the popcorn around and prevents (for the most part) binding on the shaft turning the stirrer. Before I made this tweak, it jammed every time and I had to manually stop the machine stirrer and force the stirring rod out and dump the popcorn out with lots of unpopped kernels. Thankfully I found a way around that. Also, the under tray popcorn warmer is not touching the bottom of the tray. I believe this is as intending, but it means that the heat transfer from the warmer is weak. I would not make the tweak I made here, if you intend to leave the warmer on for long periods (days), as I havent tested what happens then, but for short periods of time (hours) it works better to get the heat into the tray metal and transfer to the popcorn kernels sitting in the bottom of the chassis. Your results may vary.Love this machine, and I will eventually upgrade again to a 16 ounce unit, but for now, this will hold me over with great tasting popcorn like the theaters.