Review on Classic Style Popcorn Machine with Cart - Great Northern Popcorn Red 8 Ounce All Star GNP-800 by Christina Reynolds

My family loves this popcorn maker. We are a family of seven. For movie nights, I make two servings of a cup at a time - and that's enough for the night. The warmer light appears to keep the popcorn warm and crispy while waiting for older kids to quickly eat their bowls and take seconds. It does a fantastic job ejecting almost all cores. I've noticed that instructions for using oil range from an instruction manual to one printed on the glass door of a car. I've found that 1 tablespoon: 1/2 cup of oil per kernel is a good ratio. We use coconut oil and table salt (1/2 teaspoon) right in the pot. Once I've emptied the first batch into the cupboard, I put the next batch in there. Each burst charge only takes a few minutes once you heat it up. Just be aware that you can have a lot of popcorn and a lot of butter. We have an 8 ounce capacity and I find it awkward to squeeze the oil into the pan. There is not much room for manipulation in this small door. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so that's one of the problems, but even with the company's popcorn/butter bags, it's difficult to get more than one hand in to squeeze it out. It looks very neat and durable. enough to survive my two year old's college. We have an upper left hinge so our door hangs a little loose and doesn't engage the magnet meant to close, but we still have no problem with the door staying closed. The manufacturer's relative footprint with the stand is fairly small, allowing it to easily fit in a corner or against a wall when not in use. What I don't care are three very fun popcorn buckets - tall, narrow. , old plastic containers. The kids enjoyed using them. On first use (we washed it in the sink with warm water first) the red ink on the sides became sticky and smudged. Maybe the ink will dissolve in the oil residue on your fingers? He fell into the hands of children and their clothing. I hope they didn't swallow too much before we caught him. I'm not sure where the Great Popcorn Company sourced these buckets from, but that was the only disappointing thing. I'm sure this was intended as a bonus, but I would advise GPC to either stop including these containers in their product or to sever their relationship with the manufacturer. All in all this is a great product. It was a gift from Santa this year and really a calling card for our holiday.