Popcorn machine recommendations - Page 9

And don't turn off the "light" switch, otherwise you'll end up turning off just the light and leaving the deck heater on for a week or two...

Did you do that, Jeff? Doesn't the "Light" switch operate the deck heater, too?

I thought the made my experience clear...

No, the Light switch only controls the light. The deck warmer is controlled by the "Power" switch... I only figured out it was on a week or so later by catching a glimpse of the power switch's LED. Luckily, the deck warmer isn't exactly a high-power heating element. But not something I would recommend leaving on for days!!!

Jeff

Glad you relayed your experience. I just assumed the "Light" switch operated the heating element, too. Thanks!!

saw this thought it was worth mentioning; the now think that movie theater butter causes Alzheimer http://blog.aarp.org/2012/08/09/hold-the-butter-artificial-flavoring-on-popcorn-linked-to-alzheimers-disease/ dont know if that includes SuperKist II but it seems like a load of crap to me, anyway i felt like sharing

on a side note i was at bj's wholesale with my mom(her phone was broken and its my account) and saw they have a 2.5oz nostalgia electronics machine(are they any good?) with cart for ~130, am i right thinking its worth spending the extra 20-30 on a great northern 8oz without the cart. that said does anyone know the difference between the roosevelt and foundation machines
Edited by swarm87 - 8/10/12 at 11:11am

What a load of bologna... Unless you're consuming mass quantities of butter flavored topping I fail to see how that can affect a person's... wait, what are we talking about again?!? LMAO

(note the above is intended to be taken as a joke. I have no idea if this article is true or not, but you only live once and I will continue to enjoy my popcorn with butter flavored topping)

im starting to seriously consider purchasing a machine within in the next few months(depending on what one i pic and funds it might not be until tax time rolls around agian) but have a question about wattage; the great norther machine im looking at, the 6oz or 8oz foundation bar style, is listed at 820w on the product page on amazon, the paragon machine is listed at 1200w what does that mean and how does it affect the quality of the popcorn
Edited by swarm87 - 8/18/12 at 12:01pm

Well, there are two heating elements that will contribute to the power rating - the kettle and the warming deck, with the kettle being the biggest heater by far. So the Paragon may have a bigger heating element in the kettle, or they may be more conservative in their faceplate ratings than GN.

If you're concerned about power consumption, the kettle only runs while you're popping corn. After that, the warming deck and the light combined are probably 150W or less total. If you're concerned about tripping a breaker, just don't run a hairdryer on the same circuit while you're popping!

Jeff

not worried about power consumption or tripping a breaker just wondering how the extra ~400w affect the popcorn and are the great northern machines as bad as some reviews and other threads ive read(from an owner please)

also i have a question about if its safe to put a popper on a mdf dresser that we use for storage outside of my HT room and are the portion packs different from the ones i use in my whirley pop or are the kettles more shallow than the 6q whirley's pot
Edited by swarm87 - 8/18/12 at 10:18am

I'm intrested in buying a popcorn machine that will be used in our HT.
But i was thinking to use that popcorn machine also on tradeshows to give away some
free popcorn as a promotional gift.
Do you think a 8oz popcorn machine will be sufficient ?
I'm afraid that when going bigger, it would be too big for use at home, because there it will be
used of the time.
I really like the Theater 8 machine from Paragon, but can it also be purchase in Europe or shipped to Europe ?
I'm from Belgium.
Edited by beatbrother_bw - 8/20/12 at 3:18pm

8oz is quite a bit of corn. When I pop a 6oz pack I get, roughly, enough corn for 8 cereal bowls..heaped full. For our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 almost adults) our 6 oz is perfect or even a little too much for movie night. A 8oz would be nice to have IF I regularly had a bunch of people over OR did like you are planning and gave it away at trade shows.

Then I think I have to go for 6oz and the machine I prefer the most is the Paragon.
But I would like to have the machine with the door and decals on the front side, but the power cord on the backside.
Which one do I need to take.
I understood that then I don't have to go for the professional or the theater edition right ?
I do like the Cineplex Copper Popcorn Machine, but it seems it's only available in 4oz.

The BenchMarkUSA Metropolitan has what you are looking for...

anyone know if the paragon referbs are any good? i figure if a cosmetically challenged(sounds so much nicer than blemished) cineplex only $50 more than a great northern machine 8oz who cares if the sticker is misaligned(unless someone tells me otherwise).

also can someone recommend me a container to keep bulk popcorn in. im currently using the big jugs of orville but want to try the paragon corn and want to get an air tight container for all that corn like something in post #178(wheres the best place to get the corn?)
Edited by swarm87 - 8/23/12 at 6:06pm

For $50 more, I would go with the Paragon blem unit. I am unbelievably satisfied with our Paragon machine.

I just saw this thread while searching for some info on Theater seats..

If you want any assistance with picking out a popcorn machine, please PM me. I have been in the business for 11 years and work for the best in the business when it comes to popcorn machines..

Since I don't want to break any rules on the forum about promoting companies, I won't say much more than that.. Just know that I can make it worth your while to send me a PM..

Thanks,

I have a Dolce 4042 "theater style" hot air popper. Nice machine but, sigh, it broke again for the second time. The heating element tends to last about 6 months. You have to wait 15 minutes between batches and they aren't kidding. In a moment of impatience (15 minutes - I mean c'mon!) I pushed it a bit (let it sit maybe only 10 minutes) and sure enough, it doesn't put out enough heat now.

So beware of these problems with these large hot air poppers and for darn sure wait 15 minutes or more between uses!

got a weird question; what color is coconut oil supposed to be? the oil in my wabash portion packs was kind of yellowy, but that may have been due to the artificial butter flavoring/coloring. im asking because i just received my first jar of paragon oil and its reddish. i find this strange because every popcorn supply website(and pictures on this thread) show it to either be yellow or come in a yellow jar. as the picture shows its definitely paragon will it change colors once its solidified?(i put it in the fridge and am going to keep it there for about an hour before putting it in my popcorn cabinet)


never mind it turned yellow after a few hours in the fridge; but why is it red as a liquid?
Edited by swarm87 - 9/7/12 at 3:16pm

Pure coconut oil is clear as a liquid.
I only buy this;
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm
A little more money but health wise worth it!
I did score 50lbs of popcorn for $25.00 from an organic farmer.



Paragon 1911 6 oz, 6 years old no problems at all...
Edited by Skers - 9/13/12 at 2:19pm

got my blemished cineplex in the mail today very impressed, cant find any cosmetic damage at all(either on purpose from assembly or "opps"/UPS) . cant wait till i get off work tomorrow to try it out. do have a question out of the box does it need to be cleaned or aired out(asking because it smells like glue)?
Edited by swarm87 - 12/15/12 at 4:22am

I just used some paper towels and warm water to clean ours out before the initial use.

Simple question: if you buy a larger-capacity machine, like 6oz or 8oz, can you pop smaller batches in it, or does it cause problems? I'm thinking of buying a larger kettle for times when I have a lot of viewers in the theater, but often I would be on my own. Also, some features I'm interested in are available only on larger models.

pretty sure you can make smaller batches in larger machines with no issue(i make 2.5s in my 4oz ).

Here's a silly question for those with 4 oz, 6 oz and 8 oz popcorn machines....

How many batches of popped corn can you make before the bottom of the popper cabinet becomes too full? By "too full", I mean before it's a hassle to scoop popcorn without it falling out of the open doors of the popper cabinet.

Here's why I ask.... Currently, I'm using 4 oz Great Northern pre-packs with a Stir Crazy Deluxe popper. For our Booth Bijou Garage Theater movie nights, I typically make 7 or 8 batches of corn (7 or 8 four-ounce pre-packs). Right now I put the popped corn in large aluminum pans (21x13x3). That's also how I serve the popcorn on the snack bar in the theater (guests scoop their own popcorn from the aluminum pans).

But I've been giving serious consideration to investing in a "real" popcorn machine. I'm thinking I'd probably get an 8 oz machine. BUT, since the machine would need to sit on the snack bar table where the aluminum pans currently rest, I'd need the machine to hold at least 4 batches of popped corn (4 batches of 8-ounce pre-packs).

Looking at the many photos of various machines, it's really hard to tell how much room there is in the machine cabinet for popped corn. And none of the manufacturers list the capacity of the cabinet for popped corn. If all they hold is 1 or 2 batches of popped corn I'd have to stop and make more popcorn DURING the movie. Not good. I'd much rather make 4 or even 5 batches (of 8-ounce pre-packs) before the movie and be done with it.

Will that fit in the cabinet? If so, which brands and models?

Thanks!

Mark

I have an 8oz popper and I can only make 2 batches. I do not know of any that hold larger than 2 batches. I have seen seperate units that hold and keep warm batches of popped corn. The one idea that cam to mind is instead of trays, what about a rubbermaid kitchen garbage can with lid which can hold a ton of popped corn and would sit next to your unit.

what about a rubbermaid kitchen garbage can with lid which can hold a ton of popped corn and would sit next to your unit.

Well, after much consternation and consideration, the wife and I decided to go with a 12-ounce popper. The model we ordered is the Great Northern TopStar:




That model was being sold by Costco.com for $279.99 shipped (plus tax). Unfortunately, Costco doesn't have it in stock anymore. It was $20 more through Amazon.

As mentioned above, we've been using seven to eight 4-ounce pre-packs per evening showing at the Booth Bijou Garage Theater. Assuming 8 cups of popped corn per 4-ounce pre-pack, that's roughly 60 cups of popcorn. Two 12-ounce batches in the big popper would produce 48 cups of popcorn. And according to one reviewer on Amazon, the 12-ounce machine's bin actually holds 64 cups. So, two 12-ounce pre-packs and one 8-ounce pre-pack should work perfectly.

I've read reviews on this machine on multiple sites (including Costco's site before it went out of stock). There's one negative review on Amazon but, by far, the vast majority of the user reviews are 4-5 star. I also found an older model (different cabinet graphics) that Amazon used to sell and it had six 5-star reviews.

I really wanted to buy an American popper (Paragon or Gold Medal) but I also really need at least a 12-ounce machine. A 12-ounce machine from an American company is more than a thousand dollars. Ouch!

I'll report back with my thoughts once I've had a chance to use the machine.

Mark

Paragon 14 oz machine for $675 new. Looks like it's a new model (new graphics).
1790 watts
24" x 20" cabinet
250 oz per hour
3 year warranty
gas assisted kettle mechanism
stainless steel food zone
tempered glass panels
hard coat anodized aluminum kettle
heated warming deck
110 lbs.

I can't find that Paragon machine on any web site. Who is the vendor?

I did just find other 14 oz Paragon machines with the same weight and dimensions and they were all much more expensive. Those machines were all 36" tall, which is a bit too tall for the spot I'm planning to place it in.

Mark

Mark,

I just sent you a PM with the web address. I think this particular machine is 36" tall, too. So, it might not work for you anyways. Just wanted to give you a heads up on a large Paragon machine for a great price.