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762 of 777 found the following review helpful:
 Best Popcorn Ever... If You Pay AttentionJul 02, 2005
By R. D. Clark
I've been using my Whirley Pop for three years now. I eat a lot of popcorn, and I've tried every method known to man for making it. This device wins the prize: it makes a full pot of fluffy, crisp corn using a minimum of oil, leaving essentially no unpopped kernels.
But you have to pay attention to the directions and leave your preconceptions behind.
1. Don't use high heat. Yes, with the usual heavy pot you use high heat and shake vigorously. With Whirley Pop, you should use medium heat, and just crank the crank.
2. Don't use too much oil. 1-2 tablespoons is plenty. Use canola oil and you have a low-fat, low-cholesterol snack that tastes delicious.
3. Use good-quality popping corn. Orville's is good, but I've also gotten fine results with bulk popping corn for 50 cents a pound as well. Just know your source. And store it properly, sealed, dry, and cool. I've tried several exotic and (expensive) varieties and usually achieved results inferior to Orville's.
4. DON'T USE HIGH HEAT. Really. Most of the problems people seem to have with the Whirley Pop can probably be traced to setting the burner to High.
I don't really recommend any of the other products - corn, oils, flavorings - sold along with this popper, but the popper itself makes perfect popcorn, the best I've every had. You just have to pay attention to what you're doing and follow the instructions.
RichC
365 of 375 found the following review helpful:
Had to Replace the Unit - - It only lasted 6 yearsJan 06, 2003
By Robert W. Smith
"A Physician"
After 6 years of Continuous Use (three teenagers and all of their friends) we finally decided to replace our Whirly Pop. It makes great popcorn. It does not fall apart if you use it gently and properly. Sure it is "thin" and "flimsy"... you are making Popcorn, not stew! You want thin metal to heat gently and quickly (and to cool quickly without burning). It is gentle on the popcorn. No bruising or shredding like some other devices. Use the best oil and the best popcorn. It will do well with the cheap stuff, but the fresher the popcorn and oil, the better the taste. And don't bother washing the thing. My teenagers never did. Just wipe it out. Maybe the caked on oil helps hold it together, for those reviewers who said the gear falls off. Use the proper heat! Like Emeril Lagasse says, "your stove has knobs, use them". If you use high heat, of course you'll ruin a popcorn popper... or any decent pan. We just ordered another. Our kids have moved off to college. Two have their own Whirly Pop now and my wife and I decided ours was too "used". 6 years. Lots of use. It still works. So let's see, that's about $3.33 per year. Less than a penny a day. Other than the years of coated oil discoloration, I'd still use it, but my wife won't. Don't know if I will try and clean it up and put it in a garage sale, because there are so many memories tied up in the old one. Betcha someone would give me a buck for it. Maybe we will just bang on it with a spoon every New Year's day. This is a great item at a great price and used correctly will provide you with many years of great popcorn and perhaps a few memories.
238 of 256 found the following review helpful:
 Plastic gears come offFeb 15, 2002
By GeekPriest
My family has purchased two of these poppers, along with one of its predecessor model, the Felknor popper. (Whirley Pop acquired Felknor a while back.) These poppers make superior popcorn, especially compared to microwave popcorn. However, the Whirley Pop poppers use a pair of plastic gears to connect the crank shaft to the stirrer. They are only pressed on, and on BOTH of the Whirley Pop poppers we have, the gears come off on a regular basis. I slide them back on the crank shaft, but when it happens during the popping, there's a lot of steam and heat to burn you. The older Felknor unit has metal gears that do NOT come off the shaft.
75 of 81 found the following review helpful:
 Shame on Wabash Valley FarmsJan 06, 2010
By Russell Cahill
"rustynyc"
I had to replace my ten-year old Whirley-Pop when the plastic gears became so worn that the mechanism would no longer 'whirl.' My new popper arrived last night and as I removed it from the box, I thought, "This is awfully light. MUCH lighter than my old model. While the pot is okay, the lid is ridiculously thin - any thinner and it would qualify as foil. And, the 'whirler' (or whatever) doesn't fully touch the bottom, thus the corn was not being stirred and started to burn. And yes - it's now made in China. So why is it still so expensive? And why isn't Wabash enforcing stricter quality control? I'm embarrassed for Wabash if this is the best this 'heartland' company can do. A real shame!
40 of 41 found the following review helpful:
 Not your grandma's whirley popJun 09, 2007
By Lynn
I purchased this product 10-15 years ago. It was very durable. Last year the gear mechanism broke, and because it was within warranty, Whirley pop replaced the entire unit, charging only for shipping. As soon as I took it out of the box, I could tell it was lighter and flimsier than the first one I purchased. I attempted to use the old popper with the new lid, but the lid didn't fit properly, so I used the new product as one unit. The lid doesn't fit properly there either, and the little side attachments do not attach as securely to the pot as the previous lid attached to the original pot. I guess it's because the first unit, as opposed to this one, was well-constructed.
Last night I used it, the crank wouldn't turn, and I noticed that the gear was split. I pop popcorn no more than once a month, so that means I used it 4-6 times before it broke. I don't make multiple batches, and I don't turn the crank once the popcorn starts to pop consistently, so that means that the gear basically melted after 4-6 uses. I was going to replace it again, but read the reviews here, and found that there are similar products with metal fittings. As pleased as I was with the first unit, what they are branding as "whirley pop" now, is a far cry from what they used to produce. I will not purchase another one.
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