Paragon Contempo Pop 8 Ounce Popcorn Machine for Professional Concessionaires Requiring Commercial Quality High Output Popcorn Equipment, Black and Chrome

This replaced a 4 oz. Waring popcorn maker we've had for 6 or 7 years. Only paid around $100 for the Waring, so we were a bit reluctant to pay over 4 times as much for the Paragon. But this machine is way nicer than the Waring. It heats quickly, keeps the popcorn hot and crispy for a couple hours, and leaves very few old maids (could be because the kettle is twice the size as our old one). The aluminum kettle is SIMPLE to clean. Simply wipe with a paper towel once it's cooled off a bit and it stays looking brand new. The kettle on the old machine was stainless steel, was a royal pain to clean, and looked horrible. VERY well made, solid, heavy, and modern looking machine. Couldn't be happier with the purchase. Oh, and we changed our recipe to butter flavor coconut oil, Flavacol salt seasoning, and kernels. JUST like movie theater popcorn.

So, do you enjoy popcorn? Do you love the smell when you walk into a movie theater? Do you love the taste of movie theater popcorn? Well, you get all of that and more with this machine. This is hands down the best popcorn machine I have ever used and I have never had popcorn that tastes this good in a home environment. My home theater room smells like a movie theater and I cannot tell the difference in taste! No one else can either. This machine works fantastic, makes perfect-tasting popcorn, and cleans up easily. It is super high quality and I expect many many years of use. We have tried different brands of popcorn but the best way we found for the best tasting "movie theater" experience is using popcorn kits. We buy "GreatNorthern" popcorn kits, 10oz bags and it is the best tasting popcorn period. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075KM235K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The machine comes with a very handy scoop. It is kinda cheap looking so I bought a pro metal scoop but I must admit, I use the plastic one the most. I prefer this popcorn just has it comes out of the machine, the perfect amount of salt and butter already in it from the kit. But for those that just have to have extra butter (movie theater style) then my wife and daughter love Snappy Butter Burst. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AXK9ROC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I will admit it does taste just like the theater but I was never an extra butter guy myself. Now this is a butter-flavored oil just like the theater and it is NOT real butter. Tastes super though! I also use this pump with it, and it works perfect. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006R9DO1U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Do yourself a favor and buy this machine! Thank me later!!

I have been using a stir crazy for years, but now I need to make a big batch for when people come over. This works perfectly and makes great popcorn. The flip switches are crisp and the overall quality is superb. It fits perfectly on a small cabinet/countertop run that I had. Well worth the investment.

I owned movie theaters for twenty years. I have a 20 oz. Cretors commercial popper in my garage from one of my theaters. It sits there because it's too big and too expensive to set up 240v in my home to use it. I wanted a smaller popper that runs on 120V that could be more portable but I dithered obsessively over which machine to buy because being a popcorn connoisseur (pronounced /snäb/) I am very particular about taste. This machine came highly recommended in that respect and it delivers in spades. (We bought a Paragon cart made for the 8 oz. model.) There are a few minor shortfalls worth mentioning: 1) With the gigantic commercial model the oil is warmed to a liquid and pumped into the kettle mechanically. With these smaller poppers the pre-portioned route is the most convenient--with corn, salt and oil in a pouch. Getting these out of the plastic package and into a scalding hot kettle is impossible without the plastic touching the kettle and melting. This perhaps is a shortfall of the packaging, but it makes using all of these poppers more troublesome as one has to cut these and improvise filling the kettle. 2) The kettle is tricky to tip at the end of the cycle. The handle and its point of contact with the machine's kettle catch are a bit finicky/fussy. The first time using it I like to never got it loose. Not so with the premium theater poppers. I've bent the catch a bit to make it easier to tip the kettle, but the screw behind a peg on a Cretors kettle is blissfully better. 3) The warmer is inadequate at heating the bottom of the unit where the popcorn sits. The big guys have a better heater and blower that warm the popcorn through perforations in the bottom. 4) The proper procedure when finishing a batch of popping is to turn off the kettle's heat when the last kettle just begins popping, popping the last kettle of corn with remaining ambient heat and allowing the kettle to cool a bit at shutdown. It says this on virtually every brand of popcorn's instructions. Unfortunately this model has the kernel stirrer and kettle heat combined on one electrical switch, making doing so not possible with the Paragon Contempo. 5) The switches are not lighted so you have to be careful not to forget to turn it off. Fortunately the noise from the stirrer will probably keep that from happening. What I mentioned in #4, it's a good thing the stirrer and kettle heat are tied together because without a lighted switch you'd be apt to leave the heat on the kettle. These are some things to rave about: 1) The kettle is anodized aluminum and is a dream to clean afterward. Use coconut oil so as not to gum up the works. 2) The walls are tempered glass and easy to clean. 3) The stainless steel construction is top quality. 4. Looks amazing and will last a long time.

It's not cheap but it's a beautiful unit that will make your home theater feel like a real theater. Cooks popcorn quick and easily. The construction is second to none and I think it will last forever. Well long enough for me to enjoy it at least :) I've used it several dozen times already and found clean up super easy. All sides are glass except for the front two doors which are plexiglass (I assume to protect against accidental breakage if you open the doors into something). All of the rest of the unit is stainless steel. The built in warming light AND warming floor keep the popcorn warm as you'd expect. If you are looking for the best in a popcorn machine this is the unit. The red unit has the same construction so either should do the trick. I find the black less obtrusive in the living room than the red would be. For a dedicated home theater you may prefer the red.