38 out of 38 people found this review helpful.
Still Popping Strong!
Date of Review: Mar 25, 2000
The Bottom Line: Easy, fun, long-lasting, go buy it!
I have been using the Stir Crazy Popper for about 14 years now. I grew up in a family where popcorn was a staple food and microwave popcorn was considered an expensive luxury. Therefore, whatever popcorn popper we had was put through a lot of use.
We have one of the original Stir Crazies--it doesn't look exactly like the picture; it has a yellow lid. However, it appears to be the same in all other ways.
The popper is very easy to use. You pour some oil in the bottom, pour in the popcorn, put on the lid, and watch it pop. When it is finished popping, you unplug it and turn the whole thing over. You can then take the popping part off and are left with a large bowl of fluffy, delicious popcorn. I was allowed to use it by myself almost immediately after we got it fourteen years ago, which would have put me at about 10 years old.
There are holes on the top to allow for ventilation. I have tried putting butter over the holes to butter the popcorn as it pops, but this doesn't work very well. You're better off buttering it afterwards.
When I moved out of my parents' house a few years ago, they bequeathed the popper to me (for them, microwave popcorn was no longer too expensive!). With my microwave becoming possessed by a microwave phantom a couple of months ago (that's a topic for another epinion!), this popper has again seen a lot of use. It still works just as well as the day we got it.
The Stir Crazy is easy to clean, too. You wash the bowl as you would wash any other dish. The base cannot be immersed in water, but can be easily cleaned with a damp sponge and a little soap.
I highly recommend this popper to anyone in the market for a durable, long-lasting, and easy to use popcorn popper!
UPDATE 8/5/01 - It was a sad day yesterday. I plugged in the popper to make some popcorn, and within a few minutes steam or smoke was poring out the bottom. I think it's time to put this popcorn popper out to sea. RIP, Stir Crazy.
