Product Description

8-Quart Stir Crazy Corn Popper. Motorized stirring rod stirs kernels to yield 25% more popped popcorn than other poppers. The built-in butter well on the cover melts the butter and sprinkles onto popcorn as it is being popped. The clear see-through cover flips to become a serving bowl. The base is coated with non-stick coating for easy clean up.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97377 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Size: Height(with cover) 9" Width - 13.5"
• Color: Black/Transparent
• Brand: West Bend
• Model: 82308
• Dimensions: 7.60" h x 13.20" w x 13.30" l, 4.20 pounds

Features

• Motorized stirring rod stirs kernels
• Non-stick interior
• Built-in butter well
• Cover flips to become serving bowl
• UL listed

Amazon.com Review
A good size for parties, families, and popcorn junkies, the 8-quart Stir Crazy popper from West Bend uses a motorized stirring rod to maximize popcorn yield and minimize cooking time. The rod sweeps the kernels over the popper surface so that the kernels are evenly distributed over the oil and heat. This design yields up to 25 percent more than other models, while popping takes just seven minutes, and unpopped kernels are rare. The popper also includes a dual steam vent and butter well in the lid for minimizing condensation and buttering the corn while it pops. When popping is finished, the lid doubles as a serving bowl. Safe for countertop use, the Stir Crazy has a nonstick interior for easy wipedown, and the base nestles into the cover for tidy storage. It measures 14 by 12 by 9-1/4 inches and comes with a 90-day warranty. --Emily Bedard

Customer Reviews

Buy the 6 Quart Size instead!

The Stir Crazy is a wonderful popper. This is the second one I've purchased. The previous one served my family for 15 years and only needed replacing when the cover/bowl was dropped and cracked.

When I saw the 8 Quart size I was eager to upgrade from the 6 quart size. The additional $10 price seemed well worth it for the amount of popcorn my family consumes. I did not discover the problem until I received the popper a week later.

The shape of the bowl makes all the difference. I assumed that it would be the same as the one on the 6 quart popper but it is quite different. (see photos by pasting this link in to your browser- http://www.westbend.com/westbend/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkon=section&linkid=6 ) Rather than being a sloping dome shape, the bowl is shaped more like a cooking pot, which in and of itself wouldn't be so bad, but there is a 'moat' shaped valley that runs around the perimeter of the top of the bowl (when it's on the popper) that collects and condenses the steam. Once the popcorn is done popping and the bowl is inverted, the kernals that fall into that area get wet and soggy. This is a problem I never had with the 6 quart size.

To top it off, West Bend charges $10 more for this 8 Quart size. Even though the only change is the size of the bowl. The base and even the box are identical (which explains the need for a change in bowl shape). I called West bend to share my comments and they offered to sell me a 6 Quart bowl for $13 including S&H. Pretty funny considering I'd already paid $10 more for the 8 Quart.

My recommendation.. But the 6 quart size. You'll save money, you'll have crisp popcorn and it's so simple and easy to use that a second batch is no trouble at all.

Enjoy cheap nonstick surface coating with your popcorn
I like to use gourmet black popcorn (smaller kernels, much tastier and crunchier popcorn) and this machine worked fine for that as well as regular popcorn (although it seems to have a tougher time with the saller kernels getting stuck under the stirring wires). All in all, it does a good job without burning the popcorn and leaving very few unpopped kernels.

My big issue with this machine is that the cooking surface is incredibly CHEAP! So cheap, in fact, that the nonstick surface has flaked off of about 20% of the cooking surface of my machine. I first noticed this when the ridge that the stirring wire sat on was rubbed clean of it's nonstick coating. Soon, larger areas of the pan (at the edges of the stirring area) began flaking off. Now, I don't know how much to believe about the dangers of these surfaces, but I can be sure that ingesting it cannot be good. Also, the exposed aluminum surface that is below the nonstick leaves a nasty grey film every time I use a paper towel to wipe it clean, which I'm sure ends up in the popcorn as well. If you are concerned at all about this, I would not buy this machine.

Another lesser issue is that the dome does not ventilate steam very well and it ends up condensing on the inside surface of the dome and getting the popped kernels wet. Not too big a deal, but annoying.

WARNING: READ BEFORE YOU BUY!

A decade ago, I purchased one of these poppers. The combination of the machine, Orville popcorn & oil made for the best popcorn I have ever tasted. People came over for surround movies and raved. People at work raved. Everybody raved. A great product, right?

Two years ago, we bought a second unit. We discovered that in the interim of the two purchases, the bean-counters had gnawed away like termites at this formerly-fabulous product, cost-cutting it into something that might actually be dangerous. Let's step thru the changes:

It used to come in a sturdy box; now it comes in a flimsy card board shell. Not a big deal.

It originally came with a three-foot electrical cord, but that has been reduced to a 12" one. This is annoying, because (as a custom cabinet maker friend of mine pointed out) you don't want the oil-laden steam emanating from the top of the popper to coat the varnish on your overhead kitchen cabinet doors. It will eat the varnish and ruin your cabinet doors. Not good.

However, here is the real show-stopper: Within a year of purchasing the new unit, the Teflon coating on the cooking surface of the popper began to FLAKE OFF.

Oil & popcorn go into popper, Teflon flakes off, flakes stick to oil and popcorn, which you then consume. I don't know about you, but digesting Teflon particles ain't on my agenda.

The 10-year old popper? No flaking. Which means that whatever Chinese manufacturing plant churning these out either started coating the cooking surface with less Teflon, started using an inferior grade of Teflon, or substituted something cheaper than real Teflon. All, of course, to squeeze a few extra pennies profit per popper.

Needless to say, new popper went into the trash. The old one is still working like a charm.

BEWARE.