My wife's family gave us a great gift for Xmas - a brand new 6oz popcorn machine from Benchmark. It's the gold one, which includes 2 switches - 1 for the stirrer/popcorn vat, and one for the light. I would have known which features I wanted in a popper, but my wife consulted and came up with the aesthetic-rich model that is lacking in a feature I would have wanted. There is NO heated base for the popcorn machine, which brings me to my question.

Is a heating lamp sufficient to warm popcorn the second day? It says only a 60 watt bulb is required, but when we put in a regular 60 watt bulb, it gives off very little heat at all (although the cabinet is nicely illuminated). Will an actual 60 watt heating bulb work, or am I going to have to look at another solution?

I've been searching the net for some sort of heating element for the bottom of the machine that I could just hotwire into the existing switch, or jimmy-rig my own switch for the heater only. Anyone have any clue about this type of thing? I was looking at heating mats used for plants, a heating pad for your back or something for a waterbed, or maybe even a heating element for a smoker or burner plate. It would have to be small. The more I search, the more questions come up. Any Electrical Engineer majors have an idea what would work, and would be the best for the application? I'm not willing to pay a lot for this added benefit (<$30 would be nice).

Ed

A foil heater may be the easiest application here. Just stick to the underside of the bottom of the food tray and run wires in the corner post.

http://www.hotwatt.com/foil.htm

I think most use around 50 watts.

Any UL listings for your popper would probably be voided, however.

I am looking to modify my popcorn machine by adding a heating element to bottom. What, if anything, did you do to modify it?

Thanks
Jeff

did anyone figure this out? i am interested in this too...