Foundation Popcorn Machine - 1.5-Gallon Countertop Popper with 6-Ounce Kettle, Old Maids Drawer, and Warming Tray by Great Northern Popcorn (Red)

We love it! But you need to love it cause it’s a lot of work to clean it.

This machine is good quality. Fairly easy to use.It makes the house smell amazing when popcorn is popping. I expected it to be very hot to the touch, but it is not. I got the 6 ounce kettle, and it does well for the three in our family. However, If we have to replace it, we will go with a larger size.

LOVET IT

This machine meets and actually exceeds my expectations. It's quick, it's quiet and it works well. I had to toss the owner's manual, however. It was written by lawyers... not popcorn lovers.Assembly instructions were pretty useless. If you're not mechanically inclined, find a friend who is before opening the box. The cooking bowl lid is not shown or mentioned in the assembly instructions. I got better guidance from looking at the photos in the Great Northern color catalog that was included. At least it showed me what the assembled unit should look like.Cleaning the glass before the first use was a chore. Pro-quality glass cleaner would not cut the goo that the Chicoms put on it before they shipped it. The cooking bowl stiring spindle was nasty with chemical-smelling goo. Lots of de-greaser and soapy water were needed to render it sanitary for use.The scoops and measuring tools that come with it are not marked as to size... no clues included. The 6oz capacity bowl is product weight... not volume. I used a food scale to learn that 6 oz of uncooked popcorn is ONE CUP. The manual warns you not to exceed the 1/2 oz of cooking oil per batch. Here's where the lawyers got in the way. I followed the instruction to the letter (1/2 oz of cooking oil is 1 TBS). With only 1 TBS of oil, the unit will quit popping very quickly and you'll have 80% unpopped kernels left. Be bold... Go for 2 TBS (1 full oz) of oil. I use coconut oil (bought on Amazon) and it works great. The flavor it imparts to the popcorn makes it delicious even without adding butter.Finally, this popper is very quiet. I was surprised that it's basically silent untill the popping begins. If the instructions were more helpful, I'd rate this item with 5 stars..... Editing my review here after 6 months of use. During the 2nd month the cooking bowl latch mechanism broke loose from the bowl. It was attached with 4 spot-welds, none of which were very good. Manufacturer asked me for photos of the problem which I provided promptly via email. After another week I was instructed to ship the separated pieces back to them (at my expense) so they could determine if it should be repaired or replaced. After 2 or 3 more weeks the repaired cooking bowl was returned to me and has performed well ever since. About 2 months ago I noticed that the swinging plastic door was cracking at the latch attachment point (upper right corner). Being somewhat familiar with various kinds of plastics and how they behave when machined and stressed, I knew that this door was a cheap acrylic piece and my surprise at the cracking was only that it didn't happen sooner. Fortunately a local plastics fabricator charged me only about $18 to replicate the cracked acrylic with polycarbonate. The door is now the buffest item on the machine. I could have asked the manufacturer to replace the door... but I'd have waited a month and received another crappy acrylic door. My $18 was well spent. I'm still pleased, overall, with the machine and would not change my 4-star rating of it at this point.... Another edit 18 months after purchase. After performing well for more than a year the kettle latch AGAIN separated from the bowl. The repairs made under warranty proved no better than the original spot welds that failed after a few months of use. I'm now looking for a local shop to perform a proper repair as this unit is no longer under warranty... and their warranty repair was not effective. I've got a lot of trouble free use from this unit... but I'm rethinking my "4 star" rating. 3 stars would be more appropriate in retrospect.

I almost went with a small one but am happy I chose this 6 oz. kettle version. It has glass sides and door instead of plastic, so it's very easy to clean and will hold up better than plastic. As for what popcorn to use, the Great Northern "All-in-One Premium Tri-Pak" for 6 oz. kettle works perfectly for me. One pack makes enough for 2-4 servings, depending on the size bag I use. I plan to experiment with different brands of coconut oil and bulk popcorn, but the popcorn from the tri-pak is as good as movie theater popcorn in my opinion. There's a warming unit under the floor of the machine, along with a heat lamp up top, so popcorn stays warm until you want it. Cleanup is easy, using just water and paper towels. (Photos show quantity of one all-in-one bag.) I couldn't be happier with this item.

We just moved into our new home and are in the process of getting our movie room together. This was the perfect touch and makes the most delicious popcorn! It is very easy to use and the clean up is rather easy as well. If you are thinking of getting this DO IT!

I have always wanted a popcorn machine that’s like the movie theater!

I couldn't add a picture to a question, so I'm writing a review instead. I'm wondering if this is typical for each batch of the number of unpopped kernals. It seems like a lot to me, especially compared to when I make popcorn in a pot on the stove. I bought the popper for $130 as used like new, but it definitely was not like new. The tray was very bent up and I was able to bend it back enough to fit in the slot. The door to the popper didn't come close to aligning, and then I realized that the whole popper had been some how twisted (maybe dropped). I was able to hold the bottom of the popper with my feet and twist the top to torque it back into good enough shape that the door would close. It barely catches the magnet, but before, it didn't come close to matching up. Also, the directions in the popper, the directions printed on the door and the directions printed on the Great Northern 6 ounce premeasured popcorn are all different. Which one do you follow? My friends have a cheaper machine they bought at Best Buy and so far, even though they have a smaller one, they get more popcorn out of it since most of the kernals pop. Their popcorn seems to be more evenly coated with salt as well. I wanted one that made more popcorn than theirs per batch, but this does not seem to do that.