Popcorn Makers - tips and suggestions please

[Bloom]

We are eating a lot of popcorn at the moment as it is so cheap and healthy and the boys love it. I am using a stovetop method which requires 3 tablespoons of oil and ends up with a saucepan that I have to wash. (I am not in the "fat is bad" camp, but I do feel that at my weight, a non-fat version would be better).

So I am thinking about getting a popcorn maker as I am making popcorn about 3-4 times per week. Any tips or suggestions? Do you use yours? Is it as tasty as stove top pop corn? Any cleaning required? Does it pop a lot of the kernals or do you get the annoying unpopped ones?

What do you season yours with? I am just a smidge of salt kinda girl at the moment. Or very occasionally I go with icing sugar AND salt.

And on a side note, is popcorn a wholegrain? Is it low GI?

Thanks!

[RhiChiChi]

Hi Bloom,

We have an old popcorn maker, which my DH doesn't like to use.
It has limited amount of kernels that it can do at once, so DH prefers the stove top method.
In terms of cleaning, we just wipe ours out as it relies on hot air only to pop.
It is a bit noisy when turned on and it misses some kernels.
We usually just do salt for seasoning and occassionally butter but tend to avoid it for health reasons
Popcorn is NOT low GI (from memory)

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

We have an old popcorn maker and we love it, it does miss some kernels but it's no big deal really.
We don't add butter just a little salt sometimes or Miss A takes it plain to kinder.

DP likes his with butter and salt so we just mel it on the attachment on top.
You can actualyl buy microwave poppers from woolies for like $15 - they look ok but can't comment on how well they work.

[Tinks]

I have a Mistral one (I think) My kids love it and make popcorn as a snack all the time. Mine has a measuring cup for the corn which when popped makes a big bowl full.

WRT to taste, I used to love popcorn popped in butter in the pan and I found it took me a while to get used to the blandness of air popped popcorn. Now I love it.

[Nai]

We have a Whirley Pop Stovetop popcorn popper and it is the most awesome thing! DP loves his popcorn and the kids help him make it using this - it also comes camping with us! It is like a saucepan but has a handcrank turning handle to keep the kernals moving so you don't get any uncooked corn or burning.