NUTRIHOME Stainless Steel Stove Top Popcorn Popper, 6-Quart

My wife and I really wanted to be able to make Kettle Corn at home. We had developed a real hankering for the stuff when trying it at a local Movie Theater. Enough so that we would only go to Theaters that had it for sale. After realizing we were addicted we had two choices go broke going to the movies or figure out how to make it at home. Making it at home won out when I found several videos online that showed how to make it easily using a pot just like this one but a different brand. I came to Amazon to purchase that other brand pot. But after doing some research I found that it had been replaced by a much less liked version of it's former glory. After reading about a bunch of brands and looking for them locally I purchased this version of the popcorn popping pot over others because of claims that it was a more sturdy pot and the latching mechanisms to hold the lid down. I was worried about claims about the teeth and gears but decided to take the risk. The Good: I have been extremely pleased with those features that sold me on the Lindy's Popper. The pot is a good quality Stainless Steel pot with a nice heavy base. Given the heaviness of the metal I expect it to last for a very very long time. The latches that hold the top down are also very good. They latch positively and are quite strong. I can and do lift the pot to dump things out and it all stays in place with no play and no worry. The Bad: One thing I did find was that as other reviews have said the gears were not a great fit. But being something of a "I can fix that!" sort of guy I decided to try to fix it rather than just sending it back. I took a very good look at the gears mounted on the top of the pot and realized that they looked as if they had been made and then almost dipped in some more metal to make them shiny etc... It seemed to me like it was that dipped coating that was the problem. It had taken sharp clean gears and made them a soft rounded mess. So I decided to reshape the gears and try to solve the problem. I went out to the garage and got out a very small triangular file that I had in the garage. This file came as 1 of 8 files in a set from Home Depot for $9.94. I used this one because it most closely matched the shape of the gear teeth. I filed carefully and tested often and I had perfectly meshing gear teeth as a result. All in all it took less than 2 minutes to produce perfectly meshing gear teeth. Before I did the work on the gears they didn't mesh well at all and it flexed things enough to worry me about breaking. After the work they are smooth with no binding or flexing at all. The second issue was somewhat related the "paddle" at the bottom that stirs things to keep them from burning had wicked sharp edges on it. Enough so that I got a small nick on my hand and it cut the sponge I was cleaning it with. I took the file to those edges and in one or two passes over each edge with the file that sharpness was completely gone. This was again a minutes worth of work and solve that problem completely. The Summary: For the price? Honestly? I shouldn't have had to fix either of those things. It should have been in top notch form right out of the box. But they were also very easy fixes and it works so well that I am pleased with my purchase. I would absolutely recommend this popcorn popping pot to others, WITH the clear caveat of "you need to do the 2 following things" before the purchase was made. My wife and I have tweaked and played with kettle corn recipes ever since we got the pot and have it down to a science. We have made it probably 4 times a week since we got the pot. In fact... I think tonight is a good night for the next batch. So get this great pot. Spend 5 minutes fixing it up before the first use and you should have many years of great service.

We have used air poppers for years. We bought a new one, but the popcorn tasted plain, the heat made the plastic smell, so decided to look into stove top poppers. Decided against aluminum for potential health reasons, that narrowed the choices. While more expensive, I have been pleased so far. We have cooked up about six batches in the past couple of months, and the popper performs well. It leaves very few unpopped kernels even with Jolly Time white popcorn. It is fast, 3 to 4 minutes. I use two tablespoons of oil, canola and/or olive oil for half a cup of kernals. Wipe it out and your are done (I plan to wash it occasionally to make sure residue oil does not go rancid). The top is securely fastened as others have noted. The handle stays cool. The rotation of the crank handle is a little rough, but not significant at this time. If it wears well over the years, I will be very pleased. It was shipped quickly and came packaged well with no damage. Update 1-8-2013: I cook up popcorn 2 to 3 times a week. It has worked great. About 9 months ago the paddle blade that turns in the popper came off the weld on the shaft. I think I had put too much popcorn in. We contacted the company, and they sent a replacement paddle FREE. It was easy to install, just unscrewed the gear at the top center of the popper lid, took off the shaft with the missing paddle, and inserted the new shaft/paddle, and screwed it on, and presto good as new. We really like to use Steinke's Gourmet Popcorn. Baby rice is our favorite. Its tender small kernels are tasty, but we also really like Black Gourmet for a nutty crunchier taste. You can order it from [...] We buy it in the five pound bags. I like to use 3 tablespoons of canola oil, with a little Johnny's Season Salt added to the oil. I often add butter and if I want more flavor a little more Johnny's on the butter popcorn. Enjoy!

Seems to work very well. I dont know if it's the technique or the design or if it's that simple but the popcorn you make in this is always good and has a very high pop rate. It's very easy to clean and built pretty well for the price in my opinion. The only complaint I have and I am not sure if I just need to play with it more is that I personally find it a little awkward to crank the handle while holding the pot itself. I still think its a fantastic popper that is built well and it's not half bad looking at all. A few other poppers on here have the handle set up differently so you crank it differently, consider that when deciding if you think it may be awkward for you also. Over all I am happy with this popper and would recomend it to friends for sure.

I have had this popcorn maker for some six months now. It still produces the tastiest popcorn I've ever had and still works perfectly although I forgot to turn it off and the corn and the bottom of the pot burned. (Boiling some baking soda in water fixed the burned bottom of the pot.) The best results I got were with Trader Joe's organic popping corn and olive oil. I use it quite frequently and the result is really great. This popcorn maker pops the best popcorn ever. Through the years I have searched for tasty popcorn without the chemical taste which microwaved popcorn leaves in my mouth. (I don't eat dairy, so drowning the popcorn in butter is not an option.) This popcorn maker is the sturdiest one. It is easy to operate and the resulting popcorn is superb, with no oily taste, using either olive or vegetable oil. (I follow the instruction for quantities to use.) I used organic popcorn kernels and, when I didn't have time to get to the gourmet store, I got some generic kernels. The result was same great quality. Added bonus - the pot cleans very well, unlike flimsy ones I had to discard after just a few uses.

I just bought this from the amazon warehouse. It was supposed to be new with a damaged box. I'm assuming someone else bought it and damaged the box when opening it. I'm also assuming they returned it because the gears do not work, the top gear was placed in the center so it just mindlessly spins. I agree poor quality control, and shame on amazon for redistributing a clearly defective product!!!!!!!! I may try to get another one to see if it works but I've seen some people have had up to three replacements with no success. I hope to find something that works I have a glass top stove and need something like this. Will update if I find success. update 01/27/2014: I decided to try the Chefs Stainless steel popcorn popper. I was concerned it wouldn't be good because the blades don't go all the way to the edge of the pan. I just tried it. While I popped it I would lift it up and shake it a bit to disperse the popcorn. the crank is great and I see no reason why it would ever break unlike the lindy's popper. When done there were less than 5 unpopped kernals. very happy with this purchase. I purchased through amazon but I don't see it available now. it is on the Chefs website. Not sure why it isn't available through amazon anymore. It's a shame because it is a high quality popper and you can use it as a sauce pan too if you want. very versatile popper and i'm pleased with my purchase. It's the same price as the Lindsy popper so why not get something you know will work correctly the first time rather than risk gears that don't line up properly.

I received my Lindy's popcorn popper well packaged and on time. Item is what I wanted as an induction ready whirly popper. The sad fact is the quality is terrible. The pot metal gears had metal flash on one of the gears not allowing the handle to turn freely. The gears are threaded on and were loose. I took the gears off removed the flash and Loctited them back on. The unit turns freely now. The clamps on the side that hold the top on to the lower pan are very poorly made an are actually crooked and not fixable. There are small dents in the pan at the bottom - not from packaging or delivery issues from poor handling during manufacturing. Great product potential but just so cheaply made in China to be a discredit to Lindy's... Now that I fixed it is perfectly usable but not worth the money. I would rather pay $10-$20 more for a quality product.

I really wanted to like this corn popper -- but it has a major design flaw in the lid that makes it difficult and dangerous to operate. I knew I wanted 2 poppers (one for home, one for the cabin) so I ordered both this one and the cheaper kind with the plastic gears. Sadly... the cheap one works just fine, and this high quality pan is actually dangerous. Notice the placement of the crank. It is almost impossible to crank it with out pushing the lid right off the pan. Those big metal latches on the sides don't really help, because the lid just slides out sideways from underneath the latches. And that little hook on the top, with the wooden knob? It is the one flimsy metal thing on the pan, it is not strong enough to really latch, and it just can't keep the lid from sliding. So there you are -- with a pan full of hot oil and madly exploding popcorn and no way hold on or to stir the kernels. There is a little pin on the underside of the lid, positioned under the crank, that is suppose to fit into a hole drilled into the pan below the crank, but that actually makes matters worse, because when the lid slips out sideways, you can only put it back into place if you can get the pin back into the hole!! Try doing that with a hot pan and popcorn that is starting to burn. Look at the the cheaper corn popper -- the lid opens the other way, with the crank along the hinge of the lid. This means when you crank, you are actually pushing the lid into place. Alas!! The better made pan is just designed wrong, and the cheapie one that will need to be periodically replaced when the plastic gears give way.... it works better.

Both my husband and I like this popper a lot. I'm glad we bought the more expensive one. We've used it once or twice a week since we got it. The bottom pan is quite heavy. As a result, I haven't burned any popcorn kernels yet. After I ordered it I read someone who bought it early on had a problem with the gear at the top center of the lid needing to be "worn in". The company must have taken a look at it and cleaned up the gears because mine worked perfectly from minute one. The lid-clasps on the sides of the top are very sturdy and the front half of the lid opens wide to put popcorn in initially and for dumping the popped corn out into a bowl at the end. That half-opened lid lets me control the fall of popped corn out of the pan so I can put salt on part of the corn then pour more popcorn out and salt it. That way the salt is nicely distributed. The handle is long and makes it easy to control the pan without having to get over the top and getting in the way of the steam. We are on Weight Watchers so we only use 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pan and 1/2 cup of corn. That makes about 3/4 of the pan full of popped corn (about 4 quarts). I have a gas stove, set the burner on medium and never change the setting. I stir at medium speed during the whole popping process until I don't hear popping any more. Then I immediately pull the pan off the burner. Our popcorn has been perfect every time. My husband makes the popcorn just as often as I do and he finds it easy to manage. I definitely would buy this popper again. It's great!

Great purchase - we bought an induction stove recently and had to get rid of the old popcorn popper (exactly like this just not made with the right materials). This has not disappointed. Definitely a bit heavier, obviously because of the materials, but it works great. Best popcorn!

Got this a few years ago and my wife loves it. She uses it regularly and likes the job it does on organic popcorn.

We've gone through 5 Whirley-Pop aluminum popcorn poppers so far, and while the most recent one still works, when we switched to induction, we needed a ferrous-reactive popper. The Lindy's product is a very good choice: substantial construction and effective popping. Like some others, we found some resistance in the gearing, but when protrusions are worn or lightly filed down, the gearing works well. We hope it lasts a long time. Followup: Nearly a year after purchase, the popper has begun to delaminate on the bottom: the magnetic exterior stainless steel skin and the interior stainless skin have detached from the aluminum core in the middle of the bottom. The unit is still functional, but does not seat flat on the stovetop. Nevertheless, I will likely order another Lindy's popper because I know of no better alternative if you use induction in cooking.

We got an induction stove which is why we bought this. It is very heavy and obviously well built, so is gonna last a long time.....however dumping out the popcorn in the front seems to be much harder than our old unit which dumps out the side. If you are gonna make popcorn these kind are the only way to go for sure! Hot air, Microwave??? forget it.

Just received my popper. I washed it throughly & made a batch of popcorn. I noticed it tasted different. (I have one that was almost identical but made of Aluminum and was looking for a healthier option.) I wiped out the popper with papertowel and was horrified at blackish grey coming from the entire walls & bottom of the pot after making my first batch of popcorn. I can't even imagine what this material is but it can't be healthy. I had this issue but far less with the aluminum popper I bought this to replace. I would like to return it & get my money back as this isn't normal.