Hi I was thinking of getting the fun pop 4oz. I really wanted a popper that has the dual hinge design instead of a side hinge like the paragon. The only other one that has that feature is ccp-509 sold at costco. I prefer to keep the cost down and not go larger than 4 oz.

I was concerned that it was only 680 watts and it would take much longer to warm up and then pop. Other poppers like from paragon are ~800 - 900 watts. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated?

Also has anyone compared the fun pop to the cheaper Nastalgia/Helman ccp-509 b/c they look similar in design.

Part of the reason I am asking is people complain of the Nostalgia 509 taking a while to warm up and leaving a lot of un-popped kernels. Therefore I would prefer the fun-pop. However, since both are similar watts ~650 vs 680 then maybee the fun pop will also have similar problems and not be worth the xtra cost.

You would think somebody here has tried one....

* To my knowledge, all of the Paragon machines have two doors. We have a Contempo 6 ounce in our store and I love it. It's built like a tank.
EDIT: Sorry, didn't realize you were referring to the kettle hinges! I agree with MidLife below and find nothing wrong with the single hing design...

* There is no comparison between Gold Medal and the other machine you have mentioned- especially the gauge of the metal and the kettles. It is hard to convey this in photos, but trust me on this. I have seen both up close and in person. I don't believe they are on the same scale, size-wise, either. I have not had a single person have an issue with a Gold Medal machine jamming, or any complaints about the time the kettle takes to warm up. To me, it is well worth the extra money, as some members of this forum are currently pointing out. Some people have been happy with the 509 and everyone has their budget, but I consider the extra money well spent.

Just curious on the dual hinge kettle. Is there a reason you prefer that?
I have the Paragon with the single hinge kettle and I think it is a better design for several reasons. You can fully dump the kettle. You can access the kettle more easily for cleaning between batches. The stirrer mechanism is not attached to the kettle, so it's very open and easy to wipe down while hot. And also, the lid is not attached to the kettle as well and moves completely out of the way and held in place by magnent to the ceiling of the machine. :)

I just think the dual hinged kettles are easier (and looks cooler:)) to dump the popcorn out. I also like the way the popcorn pops out when you have two hinged lids on the kettle. I know the single hinged would probably be easier for cleaning, but when I played around with the 1911 I had trouble dumping it. Im kind of worried about the heating time if its lower in watts vs the other ones though.

I also think the single side hinge is much easier to use and the corn still pops out the top. and you have the easy clean annodized kettle. But to each his own. There is no comparison between Gold medal and any of the cheaper brands.
Gold Medal and Paragon are in the kissing cousin range for quality though. and YES lower wattage IS going to make a big difference in performance.

Don't quote me on this, but, I recall reading somewhere that the 4oz Fun Pop was of lesser quality of the other Gold Medal machines. The 4 oz and 8oz aren't made the same, apparently. Anyone know for sure? :confused:

You would think somebody here has tried one....

i was thinking the same thing

OK, I'm starting to get a little worried that no-one seems to have used the 4 oz fun pop. If anyone has actually used it please let me know. Im particularly interested to see if it takes a while to heat up b/c of its lower watts. Maybe Ill consider the benchmark premiere if I cant find any feedback from the 4oz fun pop.

thanks

I would consider a higher level machine.
The Fun Pop 4 oz and the Premiere 4 oz machines you mention I don't think come with a heated food zone deck.
Someone else may be able to confirm, but, you want to check out all the features before purchase.
Wattage is a guideline, but, doen't reflect on actual performance in reality.

I wouldn't fear about the FP 4oz. I have a 4oz Star and didn't get a Gold Medal 4oz when I got my popper because GM didn't make a 4oz popper at the time. If I had to do it all over again, I'd get the FP 4oz. I remember seeing GM poppers at the movies when I was a kid. These are the poppers I remember seeing as a kid.

http://www.gmpopcorn.com/products/images/Small-Popcorn-Machines/2388-th.jpg

From GM's website:
Gold Medal quality is now available in a 4oz. popcorn popper! Features include a large 4oz. E-Z Kleen stainless steel kettle, heated corn deck, tempered glass windows, twin arm kettle suspension, and removable kettle.

I have had a fun pop 4oz for a couple of years now - works great for the wife and I either with 4 oz pre-paks or 6 oz (which I prefer) -- as far as build quality I beleive it is the same as the larger (from what I have seen) and the heating of the kettle is ussually quicker than I can get the cocunut oil to revert back to a liquid to pour in the kettle -- in other words it heats up fast and consistent.

As far as uncooked kernels -- I rarely have more than a dozen or so - it is a great machine.

After re-reading the thread -- if I was to complain (not that anyone would listen) the double hinge is nice, but single would make cleaning easier - not that it is a deal killer. Also it does have a heated deck.

I must have gotten incorrect info on the Fun Pop 4oz being different product than the Fun Pop 8 oz. Good to hear it has a heated deck on the 4oz. Also, from what I can tell, the kettle has the stirrer mechanism attached to the kettle, and that moves in and out from the top of the cabinet when you tilt the kettle, correct? :confused:

Maybe the GM rep will chime in. Was his name Coach or something else?

Midlife,
funpop pdf manuals that might answer your questions.

http://www.concessionstands.com/site/pdf_cutsheets/2404.pdf

http://www.concessionstands.com/site/pdf_manuals/2404.pdf

Yes, as you can see in those manuals, the kettle houses the stirrer and kettles lids and this makes rapid kettle wipe down difficult between batches. Theres just no way to wipe out the kettle prior to the next batch. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but, the way it looks it would be hard to move the stirrer and lids out of the way to clean? This is why I think the side hinge design more effective.
And, the heated deck is 20 watt foil opposed to 50 watt ridgid element: not sure which is more effective or efficient. I'm not on a high horse or anything, but, I make tons of popcorn in the fall for a sports program, and I make batch after batch. I need to empty the kettle, wipe and go on to the next for like 10 batches. It just seems like a lot of stuff can't get wiped out of the kettle with those lids and stirrer in the way. Does that move out of the way easily?

I just received an email from our rep at Gold Medal. The 4 & 8 oz machines are constructed the same way.

I just picked up a 6 ounce Gold Medal Popcorn Popper from Sam's Club yesterday for $85.68 on clearance! http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=180053 :D

Now I just need to order some popping corn. For some reason my local Sam's Club stopped carrying it.

Mike

$85
That price is insane!!!!!!:eek:

Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I saw the box sitting there. The price tag said "last one", but it was a new, sealed unit. Guess they weren't selling well so they no longer carry the machines or corn in my store. Seems as though they still sell them online though.

Mike

I just picked up a 6 ounce Gold Medal Popcorn Popper from Sam's Club yesterday for $85.68 on clearance! http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=180053 :D

Now I just need to order some popping corn. For some reason my local Sam's Club stopped carrying it.

Mike

Good job!

Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I saw the box sitting there. The price tag said "last one", but it was a new, sealed unit. Guess they weren't selling well so they no longer carry the machines or corn in my store. Seems as though they still sell them online though.

Mike

yeah they sell them online for $474. Are you sure you got that machine? don't they also sell the generic brand poppers. The ones we see often in these posts for 199 to 299? that would make more sense.

yeah they sell them online for $474. Are you sure you got that machine? don't they also sell the generic brand poppers. The ones we see often in these posts for 199 to 299? that would make more sense.


Yep, I'm sure. ;)

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9149/fridaymay092008jd4.jpg

Looks just like this:

http://graphics.samsclub.com/images/products/0009093902085_L4.jpg

Mike

Like I said, that price is INSANE! :eek:

Nice Score! :)

Thanks, I can't wait to fire this thing up. I ordered a case of the 6 ounce Mega-Pop Popcorn Kit that's scheduled to arrive Wednesday. I'm definitely going to pop a kit before our usual friday night flick.

Feelin' extra butter :D ,
Mike

Try some Country Harvest too. It's pretty good as well and a lot cheaper. :)

Mike,

You got the deal of the year!!!! Enjoy!

I just found a GM 2213 popper and GM 2015 cart for free:eek: It has a 12oz kettle.

http://www.woodyfamilycinema.com/images/Popcorn/100_0116.jpg

Everything seems to work, I had to replace one of the toggle switches. it needs a lot of cleaning, but for the price I couldn't pass it up :D

Anyone have any idea what a new kettle for this thing would cost???

I just found a GM 2213 popper and GM 2015 cart for free:eek: It has a 12oz kettle.

Everything seems to work, I had to replace one of the toggle switches. it needs a lot of cleaning, but for the price I couldn't pass it up :D

Anyone have any idea what a new kettle for this thing would cost???

Make sure you clean that sucker well. (You don't want any germs) Great find!

Nice find!

I always say.."If it's free, it's for me." :D

Mike

Make sure you clean that sucker well. (You don't want any germs) Great find!

Yeah, my wife is a nurse, so it will be spotless before she will let anyone eat from it.:D Just ordered some carbon off and steel wool, should do the trick on the kettle.

fear not, the kettle will not introduce pathongens, as if the heat is maintained, death to germs. It's very and all to common for commercial machines to go "dirty". I mean, would YOU want to clean the machine of YOUR shift???? :)

I've got the 4oz fun pop. I bought it at our local restaurant store for $259. It's commercial grade quality having the NSF rating. I looked at the paragon's but they were more and the old maid tray was not a big deal to me. What I was concerned with was power draw. I'm an electrical engineer and I was looking for a smaller current draw which meant a more efficient popper.

I like the EZ Kleen kettle, the single door in the back, the large popped corn resevoir, and the size of the 4oz kettle. Because of the kettle size, I pop 6 ozs at a time.

In addition, the 20 Ampere circuit I have it on also has a plumbed in Nouva Simonelli Commercial grade single grouphead espresso machine, and a plumbed in commercial grade coffee pod Grindmaster OPOD machine, so I wanted a machine that pulls the least amount of current. I think the fun pop was rated at 680 watts while the paragon was well over 1000 watts. I think the difference between the 2 wattage ratings has to do with the different type of tray heater and the difference between the 2 kettle alloy metallurgy thermal transfer heating effects from the elements being used. The kettle is easy to clean. I don't have any issues with single/dual hinge. I do like how you dump to the side and not towards you though.

All in all, for the price, I say it's a good buy at $260. If I was anal and had the machine in my HT room, I probably would have spent the extra $80 to get the 4oz contempo. I also looked at the refurbed paragon's but the billards and card theme's just didn't do it for me....nor did the 1911 model. I like it, it works, it's commercial grade, and it's built much better than the costco/helman/nostalgia's you see for under 200 at the big box warehouses.

Last of all, my local restaurant store stocks all of the goodies I need such as flavacol, mega pop, bags, boxes, coconut oil. 50lb bags of popcorn. glaze pop, etc. Plus, they gave me a 3 year warranty on it so if anything went wrong such as the element burning up in the kettle, it's an easier fix than having to ship it.

In summation, I liked the fun pop so much I went and bought the 8oz fun pop for our church. I think the price was $349?

Sounds great Skitt.
With the extra savings in watts something else like a hot dog machine or another device could be used for entertaining.