33 out of 33 people found this review helpful.
Hello Kitty takes over popcorn- film at 11.
Date of Review: Sep 22, 2009
The Bottom Line: Tasty popcorn.
To me, there's nothing like popcorn from a popcorn popper. Microwave popcorn is ok, but it never quite matches the taste of that from a machine. I had a popcorn machine, but I finally got rid of it because it was a tad scary when popping corn.
When shopping for a new popcorn popper, I really wanted like a dome shaped one to lower the risk of kernels flying out everywhere. Then, I discovered it. When I say it I mean the Spectra Hello Kitty Popcorn Maker. I saw it online at Target, then I found it on EBay new in the box so I pounced on it for $24.
This is a dome shaped popcorn maker, and it is electric. It makes up to 3 quarts of popcorn per use and you can use it twice in a row, but I would not suggest using this for a big event say like at a school or something, because it's not good to use this more than twice in a row. But, for home use this is fine. The little cooking surface is nonstick and it has a stirring rod in there as well (that can be removed for cleaning).
The outside of the unit is pink, and the domed lid which is a pink clear plastic can be used as a serving bowl too, but I prefer just to use a separate bowl. The dome's very bottom has a pink HK lid that can be removed to expose holes you can use as a butter well that will melt the butter into the popcorn as it is being popped. The front of the machine has Hello Kitty with some popcorn and under that is a yellow on and off switch.
When you first get this, you need to wash the parts with hot soapy water. It says hand wash the clear lid, but I stick that dude in the dishwasher and it's no problem. Also, I've been really pleased with the nonstick surface it works well, but I've been able to get it clean with just a wet paper towel and no scrubbing required.
The directions say when adding corn and oil, to put in ½ cup of popcorn and 1 ½ tablespoons of oil. Let me say this is entirely too much popcorn. I tried this the first time we used it and it popped the lid off the machine and I made a mess. The dog had a great time eating the popcorn off the floor, but I didn't have a good time cleaning it up everywhere else. Plus, that much popcorn was a little too much for us to eat. I would recommend using ¼ to 1/3 a cup of corn to 1 tablespoon of oil. I found 1 ½ tablespoons was a tad too oily for me. This makes enough popcorn to eat completely but also the lid doesn't pop off by having too much in there.
Another suggestion I would have would be use potholders! The first time I didn't and I got a nasty steam burn when flipping the thing over to get the popcorn out. Also, the handles on the machine get a tad hot as well, but with potholders it's no problem. As for the butter well, I'd skip that too because it doesn't melt the butter quite as well as what it should, plus it makes the outside of the bowl greasy.
As for the taste of the popcorn- this to me tastes like popcorn I used to eat when I would go to high school football games as a kid. Not sure if any of you know what taste I'm talking about but it's that popcorn you could only get at such functions that had that taste. Nice and fluffy, and with some melted butter I could snarf a whole bowl down on my own.
Storing this I thought might be an issue, but it fits nicely on the top shelf in my cabinet. I thought it might be too tall, but it's just the right size.
Overall, I would recommend this, just be sure to use potholders, and don't leave this unattended while popping. The whole process only takes about 5 minutes or less, and there's a small window between tasty popcorn and burnt, nasty popcorn. With the proper watching you'll have nice popcorn every time. The key is to wait until the popping slows down a little but it's not completely done if you wait until it's completely done then it may burn.
