Matinee Popcorn Machine - 8oz Popper with Stainless-Steel Kettle, Reject Kernel Tray, Warming Light, and Accessories by Great Northern Popcorn (Red)

I have been using this machine almost daily for three years. My goal has been to achieve the quintessential movie theater popcorn taste. This machine is brilliant. It does exactly what it should and I have never had any trouble with it. There are a few tricks to get the right result, which I describe below. I am so hooked on real genuine movie theater butter popcorn, I couldn't live without this machine. If you follow these directions, you will have it. You will need kernels, coconut oil, and Flavacol seasoning. I have found that white kernels are the best. There doesn't seem to be any difference in the taste, but the yellow comes out more chewy and tough. The white pops more light and tender. The coconut oil can be white or yellow. Every brand and color I have tried tastes the same. If you use non-coconut oil, your popcorn will taste okay but not the same as the theater. Flavacol is key. You can get close without it, but your popcorn will always be a little off. If you add the right amount of Flavacol to the batch, you will not need salt at all. I get all these ingredients from Amazon. The machine seems to have a brief break-in period. Out of the box, the kettle heated too hot and always smoked and scorched a little. After about two weeks of frequent use, the kettle temperature stopped being quite so hot, but operates at the perfect temperature. I didn't change anything. 1. Turn on all three switches and add 1/3 cup oil and just three kernels of corn to the kettle. Wait for the kettle to heat up (takes one to two minutes). 2. While waiting for the kettle to heat, measure out one cup of kernels. Add one teaspoon of Flavacol directly to the cup of kernels. 3. When the kernels in the kettle start to pop, immediately add the cup of kernels with the Flavacol to the kettle and close the lid and the glass door. 4. When the popping reaches its peak and you notice it slowing down, turn off the kettle heat switch, but leave the other two on. Let it continue to pop. 5. When the popping slows to less than one pop per second, dump the kettle out. While it's turned upside down, give the stirrer a spin with your fingers to knock out any stuck pieces of corn. Return the kettle to upright and turn off the stirrer switch. That's it, it's ready to eat. Keep the heat lamp on to keep the popcorn warm until you empty it out. - For more salty popcorn, use a slightly heaping teaspoon of Flavacol in step 2. - For a smaller batch, the procedure is exactly the same, but use exactly half the ingredient portions I listed above. I host a lot of guests in my home theater and the popcorn I make is famous among my friends. I absolutely love this machine. If I ever had a problem with it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

READ BEFORE BUYING ‼️ The machine is absolutely fantastic! It is extremely easy to use, works super fast, and makes the absolute best popcorn on the planet. Cons are the instructions to make popcorn are awful lol but don’t worry, SCREENSHOT THIS FOR EXACT measurements and instructions and throw theirs out of the window. First : you NEED Golden barrel butter flavored coconut oil and flavacol seasoning (this is what they use at the movies for color and taste) Measurements are : 1/3 cup of the oil 1/2 teaspoon of flavacol (slightly more or less depending on your personal taste) 2 scoops of kernels (they provide a small white scooper and that is the limit you can pop at one time) Instructions: don’t follow the instructions they say as it’s way too complicated, simply add all the contents to a COLD pot, turn on all 3 switches at once, then tip your pot when you start to hear 2-3 seconds in between pops and the kernels slow down popping. IMMEDIATELY turn off all switches except warming light, I sometimes cut the warming light on first so I can see better but make sure it’s only the warming light in the beginning and you add the contents to a cold pan. Let the popcorn rest for about 5-7 mins as it will be still a tiny bit moist and chewy when freshly popped then scoop into your bowl and enjoy. They have the measurements all wrong, the instructions will have you burning the oil and smoking your house out, or feeling overly rushed because it’s such a fast process. Disclaimer: even if you do it this way it will be a little bit of smoke, not bad though just make sure you aren’t in a tiny room with door closed. This machine and these perfected measurements made the best popcorn my wife and I ever had! If you can tell we love popcorn and perfecting things. I did much research on how to make the perfect movie theater popcorn and I tested maybe 5 batches to dial it in on this machine so trust me on this. Oh and be sure to look at the small groove on the hinges when installing the glass door, I almost broke it installing it wrong 😅. This popcorn machine was part of a surprise for the wife bringing her childhood dreams to life.

Bought peak Covid, almost 5 years old. Works great! the Great Northern Popcorn bought then is still good. Very easy, turn it on......... then [the difficult part for me] cut away the oil and salt and kernels turn on the heat! wait a bit, add the oil , wait a bit add the salt, then wait for the steam [and a bit of smoke] dump the kernels and wait BOOM great popcorn for all

The bottom line: This machine makes excellent popcorn, is well built, and looks great. Oh, and don't bother with the instructions. They give no good guidance if using your own corn and oil (as opposed to using the Gourmet Tri-Pak, which I haven't tried and am not interested in). Regarding the oil, the instructions clearly state "While the amount is dependent upon your taste, please do not exceed 1/2oz. When I followed those directions--and there is no guidance at all regarding the amount of corn to use, I ended up with TONS of old maids and tough, inedible popcorn. So I emailed the company. Their customer service response was everything I wanted it to be--fast, friendly, and effective. The representative quickly emailed me a chart of how much oil and popcorn to use--this machine takes 1/3 CUP oil to 1C corn. This model machine also has handy holes punched in the floor piece where old maids can go through into a catch drawer. I noticed that many old maids were ending up not in the drawer, but in the "inner workings" underneath the floor. Customer service to the rescue again! They determined that the floor I received must have been stamped incorrectly and very quickly sent out a replacement part which works perfectly. 6 stars for their customer service! While all this trouble would have been worth downgrading to 3 stars, when all is said and done the all glass and metal construction, the quality of the popcorn when ingredient proportions are right (it makes a lot--in a hurry!), and the excellent experience with Great Northern's customer service won back that 4th star. Without the hassle, I wouldn't hesitate to give this machine 5 stars after now successfully using it several times. Note: I bought and returned a Nostalgia Electrics popcorn machine prior to spending the extra money on this one. It made very good popcorn, but the cheap plastic, no old-maid drawer, and the fact that it arrived with aesthetic damage made me concerned about its longevity and ease of use. I'm glad I switched!

My wife is a massive popcorn fan, she has literally dragged me to the movie theater just to buy popcorn. Yes I’m being completely serious, so keep that in mind throughout this review. I did a tremendous amount of research knowing I was going to get her a popcorn maker for Christmas, and I settled with the Great Northern unit as well as their packaged popcorn. Setup was very easy and we were off and popping quick. There is a slight break in that takes a few batches to get through. Even then with the first few new batches the yields were really good. As she got better at using the machine the yields became hilarious. She can fill 3 1 gallon ziploc bags completely full with this bad boy and maybe have 5-10 unpopped kernels. Cleaning the machine is easy. I just use warm wet paper towels with a squirt of dawn dish soap and buff it all off with normal paper towels. Machine has held up well (writing this on 5-8-2024 and she received it for Christmas) and has been used very often. We couldn’t possibly be happier with this unit. Do your research and take time to learn the machine. Once you’re acclimated you literally get theater quality popcorn right at home. This is the one you want.

Love it! Perfect for our theater room snack area. Easy to assemble and east to use. Comes with a few popcorn paper bags, you can see I placed them on top of the popcorn machine. We enjoy watching the popcorn pop!

As a former popcorn machine owner, I had an idea of what to expect with this purchase, but I must say that this product EXCEEDED my expectations! First, it is wonderful to look at (first impressions ARE important). It is obvious to see the quality used in materials and workmanship used to build it. It also adds value to the popper with the use of sturdy glass panes and door (only one door due to its small footprint). Second, it arrived earlier than expected, was not damaged in shipping, and worked perfectly right out of the box. Very little assembly was required too, which was nice. Third, throwing in the extra popcorn bags, boxes, scoops, measuring spoons (only needed if you don't buy the all-in-one packets), and a new heat lamp increases the value of this item. It is a smaller model, which was exactly what I wanted (it's sitting on the wet bar counter), and not at all gaudy, so it fits right in to the decor. The only thing I was slightly disappointed about was how tight it is inside the glass enclosure when using the scoop, but again it is a smaller unit, so I'll get over it. If you've never owned a popcorn machine, then consider this one as your first. For the price I paid along with the points raised here, it's a great value for money, and the company is a national institution among food vendors, so you can trust them to help you if you need it.

I was considering a popper for an upcoming party and was looking at smaller and cheaper ones. But they all seemed to lack nice features and I kept stepping further up. I am glad I did. This one is really well built and so much nicer than the cheapos. 8 oz is a great size for a small party, equating to 6 or so decent sized bags worth. The light keeps them warm AND it has a warming tray on the bottom, both controlled by the warming switch. The warming tray does get pretty hot at the back and works well, between it and the light. Obviously don't replace the light with an LED as you need the inefficiency to warm the popcorn. I had not seen any other model with such a warming tray. The stirring mechanism is definitely nice to avoid burning. I was very happy to find that this popper comes with several accessories. First is a really nice scoop. My wife bought a separate one as she didn't see that it came with. Its the type that funnels popcorn into a bag. It also comes with a bunch of paper decorative bags for your first few parties. It comes with hard plastic reusable popcorn "bags" for family usage. It has worked great... I followed instructions found in other reviews which is to use coconut oil, use flavacol, and turn on the stirrer as soon as you add the oil.

Excelente y las palomitas salen de maravilla

Smaller version of what CINEPLEX in Canada uses. Tastes EXACTLY like that. Use the 8 ounce packs from PREFERRED POPCORN. Great Northern also makes their own, BUT, I couldn't find them on AMAZON. Excellent product. When cleaning this machine, first clean out bottom tray of all remaining unpopped corn and detritus. Then turn on the pot heater and the stirrer. Pour about half a cup of water into the pot kettle. Then take 2 or 3 paper towels, scrunch them up in your hand and toss them in with the water and let stir for 8 to 10 minutes. Dump out any remaining water and wet paper towels and use a dry paper towel to clean the pot. The evaporated water will also clean the glass sides and bottom tray as well. Just wipe them down with a paper towel. Inside of pot should look brand new. If any burn stain remains, put a little water in and scrub it with a paper towel. Do this routine after every third or fourth popping session, More often if you want to. Wipe down exterior of machine as needed. This will keep the whole machine looking great.

Popcorn machine is amazing! Only problem is it came dented at the top. Sent it back snc will order a new one an hope no damage Very happy with the machine but fir the price I want no dents

PRODUCTO MUY BUENO SOLO QUE EL TRANSISTOR O TERMOSTATO NEGRO QUE VA EN LA PARTE DE ABAJO DE LA TAPA DE DESPERDICIOS, PARTE BAJA, SE DERRITE MUY RAPIDO POR EL CALOR Y NO SE SI SE PUEDA CONSEGUIR, PÒDRIAN INFORMARME AL RESPECTO PARA PODER CAMBIARFLO Y EVITAR ALGUN CORTO CIRCUITO ò ACCIDENTE CON LOS CABLES DE CORRIENTE GRACIAS,

Excelente maquina, muy fácil de usar , gran diseño y excelente precio.