Franklin's Gourmet PopcornMovie Night Bundles - Whirley Popper, 28 oz. Organic Popcorn Kernels, 19 oz. Butter Flavored Salt, 30 oz. Butter Flavored Coconut Oil

I got my Franklin's Whirley Pop today and made my first batch of popcorn in it, and to sum it up all I can say is - this thing is AWESOME!Now for some details - forgive me, I tend to ramble on ;)I read most of the reviews before buying and there were a number of people expressing disappointment over the "quality," saying it felt cheap and flimsy due to the extremely light weight & very thin aluminum. Trust me, this is a PLUS for a stovetop popcorn popper. 35 or 40 years ago, I practically lived on popcorn due to money issues. In those days I had a 4 quart aluminum pot that was very lightweight and thin and of all the pots I have used over the decades to pop corn it gave the finest results. The pot I have been using for the past 3 years is an expensive Cusinart Tri-Ply 4.5 quart dutch oven. This is a heavy $90 pot with a thick aluminum core sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel, one on the outside and one on the inside. It got the job done, but took FAR longer due to being so slow to heat up, and the finished product was just not as good as I got from that lightweight aluminum pot 40 years ago.So when I opened the Whirley Pop today I was overjoyed to see how "light & flimsy" it was :) I had hopes that I would get results similar to that 40 year old pot that I wore out 35 years ago - and I wasn't disappointed.I have a 4 quart tupperware-type container I put my popcorn in to store it for the 3-4 days it takes me to eat it, and I know exactly how high it should be filled when I pop a batch of corn. I always use 1/4 cup Orville Redenbacher's Original and 2 tablespoons peanut oil, and using the Franklin's Whirley Pop my container was filled at LEAST 1 inch higher than it ever was using the heavy Cuisinart pot. This is due to the thinness of the pot and the resulting faster heat transfer, causing the kernals to explode with more force and as a result, to expand more.Also, due to the faster heat transfer the entire process in the Whirley Pop from start to finish was done in less time than the heavy Cuisinart pot required for the first kernal to pop. A heavy pot is an advantage if you're making a pot roast, but if you're making popcorn all I can say is "lighter is better."I also really appreciate the vents (4 of them) in the lid to allow steam to escape. No longer do I have to keep the lid ajar to allow steam to escape. The vents are VERY effective, the popcorn came out very crispy and tender without a trace of sogginess. There is also less mess - using my Cuisinart pot I had to keep the lid ajar and oil would splatter on the stove top, but with the Whirley Pop there was virtually no oil on the stove top when I was done.If you have eaten only microwave "popcorn," you owe it to yourself to get one of these. Any resemblance between stovetop popcorn and the microwave junk is purely coincidental, just as any resemblance between "Pasteurized process cheese food product" and real, actual cheese is purely coincidental. If you are new to making popcorn on the stovetop, be aware that it will take some practice and your first few batches may turn out less than ideal. But as you gain experience you will soon realize that there is no going back to the microwave ;^)To sum up, I am VERY pleased with this popper. I already knew that the lightweight construction was a good thing whereas some reviewers saw it as a negative indicating "cheap construction," but upon closely examining the pot I did not see ANYTHING that indicated cheap construction to me. The lid fits tightly and securely to the pot, the crank turns smoothly and easily without binding or sticking, and the thin wire that is turned by the crank is at just the right height above the bottom of the pot to keep the unpopped kernals in motion. Also, my popper arrived with not even the slightest damage.Thanks for taking the time to read this - if you buy one, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I plan to...

I’ve had this product for a few weeks now. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and I love it. You can make fresh popcorn (with your choice of oil and flavor) in 3 mins or less. Never going back k to microwaved popcorn again.

If anything, I should rate it lower because we eat too much popcorn now. So, microwave popcorn takes what, 3 - 5 minutes? This literally takes just as long to cook, and is soooo much better (and cheaper, healthier, and less wasteful).

Love this popper. My wife finally ruined my old Whirley popper so I had to get another one. This is the best option to replace my old popper. It has a great finish, and we love the color. The metal gears are a nice security that my wife cant break them again. The popper works wonderfully. Within a day of ordering the popper from Franklin's I received an email thanking me. WIthin a day of it being delivered, the company wrote again with tips to use the popper, care instructions and contact info. They genuinely seemed concerned that I was happy with my purchase. I definitely am very happy with it.The only gripe I have is with the popcorn pack that came free with the purchase of the popper. We usually love the packs, from other companies, as they are very easy to use and taste good. This pack was very easy to use, however, the salt content was through the roof. Well above the amount of any popcorn at the movies or a ball park. I dont think we will be ordering any more of the popcorn packs. But I will highly recommend the popper to everyone!I went with this company because I wanted the metal gears and the black coating. I am very happy with my purchase.

I received my Popcorn Popper (Franklin’s) and tried the popcorn. Excellent tasting! I highly recommend this Popper and their popcorn. I bought the Organic popcorn. Thanks!!

Got the prepackaged kettle corn mix and 1st off seasoned the pot, then put in ingredients from package and after the first kernel popped I started stirring.. sometimes had to reverse stir direction cuz it would bind up. Tried to crank harder and top wanted to come off or even looked like stir mechanism would break. As a result popcorn burnt. Going to try again and then if better will definitely post it. I DO NOT like to leave negative results so hopefully next couple tries will show it to be a better product than I thought. New review!!! After deciding slow and easy and the right mix of popcorn and oil I found this makes great popcorn easily? Don't fight the handle and turn crank and you will have great popcorn and the sellers were top notch. Went out of their way to " please the customer!". I will definitely buy from them again.thinking around Xmas. Mmmm

Fun for the grandkids. Better than stovetop pan!

Makes great popcorn...easy to use....glad we bought it

I was expecting a bigger stronger popcorn maker for the price. Best to buy a really good pot for $40 and make your own popcorn that's easy to use and clean.