Don't get a 4oz machine, that's probably too small for any grown man.

An 8oz is probably perfect for most homeowners, it makes one large popcorn bucket at a time.

(of course, you can make 4oz in an 8oz machine; but you probably never will)

This 8oz goes on sale for $119 all the time, you see it in every small pub:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Northern-Popcorn-Lincoln-Antique/dp/B000QWCAB4

...and you don't have to clean it!

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They have fixed everyone's biggest complaint about the galvanized roof rusting - now it's made of stainless steel

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Got it! and a bit more...

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Thanks for the recommendation!

Will do.

Soybean oil is fine, I used to pop my kettle corn recipe using it. Coconut though is better IMO.

I agree with @vid1900. There is no need to clean it very often. I simply wipe the inside of my kettle with a dry paper towel once every 4-5 batches. That's it. Buy one. You will love it!

traded a player condition harlem globetrotters for this a few years ago . it has element at the bottom of funnel to heat the popcorn . just put a quarter in , it drops a cup , it fills with warm popcorn , then you lift the door and grab it . definitely the granddaughters favorite.

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Detroit Popcorn Co. (Local Gold Medal distributor) says you clean the glass with food-grade glass cleaner or dish soap & water soaked cloth and then a water soaked cloth. The wipe the kettle after it has cooled somewhat with a Terry cloth or micro fiber towel.

They had something similiar at PHOF, very cool!

The two at PHoF do not drop a cup. They have the small paper bag dispenser slot that you manually take a bag from and hold it below the flap on the popcorn dispensing chute. Usually resulting in a few pieces on the floor. There is a waste catch chute on those models though.....

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I guess I bought mine too soon, my roof is garbage. I've convinced myself it's not really touching the popcorn. I wonder if they sell the replacement.

It will take a decade to rust all the way through.

I've serviced several at pubs, none have rusted out, just surface rust.

Look how old this one is, still running fine:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/popcorn-machine-who-has-one/page/22#post-3738498

I wish I would have known that before I purchased mine. I have a Paragon 4oz that cost me about 325. I got that size because I had limited room to actually put it. That's not that big of a deal, it's only me and my daughter that really eat popcorn in the house. I usually make 3 batches at a time, and end up filling 2 gallon zip bags for later consumption. It would be nice to just do a single batch, though..

I did a lot of research on sites like AV forums, and they were all pretty damning of those cheaper models. Mine is very nice, but really pretty overbuilt. I like quality, but a lot of times the economy model can be a "purchase it for life" kind of item.

Now I need recommendation on oil. Can’t use coconut and no dairy or gluten. But still have a buttery flavor if possible, like what they have at the movies.

Found this in my files from my father-son trip to Germany in 2016.

Sorry I'm not that in tune with all those restrictions. But, can you use soybean oil?

If so, you might try something like Snappy Buttery Burst?
https://www.amazon.com/Snappy-Popcorn-Butter-Burst-gallon/dp/B00AXK9ROC

I tried the butcher boy coconut oil with butter without flavacol for a base test. Color was great corn had good consistency, but it was a little bland. I had to put some salt on it.

Next batch I mixed 3/4 cup corn 4-5 TBLSPOONS of oil 1 teaspoon of better butter flavacol and it turned out great. I don’t have anything to compare this too, as it has been a very long time since I made popcorn this way, but it tasted great.

Hmmm... I thought I replied to this, but don't see it. I thought most movie theaters use coconut oil. You might want to check on check. Next time you're at the movies, ask them. If there is no line waiting to buy stuff, I'm sure they'll tell you. It's not like they're revealing a big trade secret.

Joe (joemagiera at ameritech dot net)
[email protected]

https://shop.justpoppin.com/White-Cheddar-Popcorn-Seasoning-Cheese-Powder-16oz_p_177.html

the best cheese I've ever used. Very nice people too.

Thanks for this! They have lots of other interesting seasonings also.

I liked the dill pickle, my kids not so much.

try their mushroom popcorn (type of popcorn kernel, not flavor!)

For joemagiera - I thought all pop corn now was popped somewhere else then brought to the theater in bags? So the people working the counter wouldn't have a clue !

Not at our theater.

Many theaters just fill the machines with pre-popped popcorn because it's cheaper (and the kids are not burning themselves on the 500* kettle ).

For $18 a bucket, it BETTER be fresh popped!!!!!

Our theatre pops it too. $18 ouch. Glad it’s not that high here.

I think I will, thanks again

yw

If anyone was interested in buying one of the Gold Medal poppers, Sam's Club has them going on sale starting January 30th. $100 off is quite a generous discount.

I was finally going to pull the trigger on one of the Gold Medal poppers, but after seeing Vid's endorsement of the Lincoln Popper, I'm not so sure. The Gold Medal appears to be of superior quality. But, is the quality worth that much more in price?

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How much is it though?????

I hate when SC or Costco does not give you any pricing, just $xx off.

They send me coupons, and I just throw them in the trash, because it does not give me the bottom line.

If anyone on here has one of these:
ebay.com link: POP CORN SEZ POPCORN MACHINE Old Vintage Coin Op Patina Movie Theater Bowling

I would be very interested in buying it or trading for it. Seller of this one will not ship it. Ive been looking for one for a while and would still like to find one.

As long as they don’t “pull a fast one” and change the base price, cost after the $100 off would be around:

$242 for the 4oz.
$369 for the 6oz.
$472 for the 8oz.

Glad you brought this up. I got the circular for Sams Club and was thinking the same thing. I'm a big proponent of "you get what you pay for" and I'd much rather pay extra for a quality machine, BUT if the quality or features don't justify the pricing premium, I'd just get the Lincoln Popper.

Just to be clear, does it go on sale on Amazon for that price, or do you have to search other sites to find it for that much?

Amazon currently listing it for $189

Although other "woot" kind of sites have had it for $99, it's way more frequent to see it pop up on Amazon.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/popcorn-machine-who-has-one/page/19#post-3113764

I'm a 'get what you pay for' kind of guy too, but you could buy 4 of those 8oz Lincolns for that price.

Or you could get two 16oz Paramounts, with lifetime warranty.

They sell for $229, not even on sale.
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https://www.amazon.com/Paramount-16oz-Popcorn-Maker-Machine/dp/B07J6HDCM3/ref=sr_1_8

I love the "Limit 2" line. If you try to buy three, do they tell you to go to hell? Kinda like the car dealers in 1980 when they would give you a "free" Chevette or Pinto with the purchase of a Blazer or Bronco SUV. "Limit one per customer". Yeah, offer to buy five and they would kiss you or more.....

i would get a Paragon. you get what you pay for. i've had mine 11 years. it' a 4oz. never broke. even the light bulb never went out. make sure you get one with a heater for the tray, "old maid removable" tray for seeds that drop, and light. that's why i would go with paragon. they are better built. i think 4 oz is plenty for any home. 8 or 6 oz is nice, but you can just make 2 batches in a few minutes in a 4 oz.

look on home theater express or the snappy popcorn web site

http://www.snappypopcorn.com/store/pc/Theater-Pop-4-oz-Popper-51p163.htm

It really depends how often you will use it. If you are only going to pop some corn a couple times a month, then an inexpensive popper is fine. If you are going to be using it 3-4 times a week, however, I'd probably go with a nicer one. I own an 8oz Great Northern unit. I love it, and it makes great tasting popcorn, but the quality of the machine sucks compared to a Gold Metal, Cretors, or even a Paragon. You do indeed get what you pay for, and in this case the extra money gets you a commercial grade machine vs. a home unit.

For the last 5 1/2 years I maintained /repaired the video games in the game rooms of 2 local Cinemark Theaters until last June when they sold their in house arcades.
They pop so much popcorn the oil gets airborne and makes it's way into the arcade games. The cooling fans pulls the air into the cabinet and it collects on the cooling fans and makes a mess. Here is pictures from a Dead Heat driving game. The Time Crisis 4 was even worse. I had a puddle of oil on the floor under the cabinet.

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Thats insane!

How close was the popcorn machines to the arcade?

Do you think that the pop ventilation system was crossed and somehow dumping steam and oil into the arcade room?

What did the employee's lungs look like? "Doc, that dry cough; it totally disappeared when I started working at Cinemark!"

I just got an email from XXXXXXXXX asking about a 30oz popper that he is looking at on CL for $250.

I'll answer here so everyone can read my 2 cents:

Most 30oz+ poppers need 220v to function, so that's bumps you up into needing to install a 220v outlet (like a wall air condition needs).

It's not a high amperage outlet like a stove, but it still requires a special breaker, 220v socket and 10g wiring. Make sure your 220v socket matches the popper's plug, there are several styles.

If it was hardwired, it may not have a plug at all, and just unterminated wires encased in BX armor.

It's super useful to be able to make up to 4 large buckets of popcorn at a time, but make sure you know what you are in store for installation wise.

I guess he could recreate the Real Genius popcorn scene if he bought that.

Here's a picture, the arcade is on the left and the popcorn poppers are on the right side of a huge high ceiling lobby.

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@vid1900, you might want to rethink this. I get where you're coming from because I like to know what the final cost is as well. But many times they do this because some manufacturers have a MAP (minimum advertised price) that any vendors can advertise items for. Costco is really good at this.. they will give you a bottom line on many products in their flyers, but when their hands are tied due to MAP and they want to sell it below that, they list it with $xx off. It's rare that you'll beat these prices elsewhere if it’s a product you're interested in buying. I just wish we could get Stern and other pinball manufacturers to follow this model... by having a MAP instead of a minimum selling price (MSP?). I'd be all over a Game Exchange coupon flyer!!

I've never gone into a Costco or SC with one of those coupons and got the best price.

Not on harddrives, not on phones, not on routers - nothing.

It's ALWAYS cheaper somewhere else, and no sales tax to boot.

50lb bag of popcorn is $29 at Costco, or $22 at the local concession shop.

2 gallons of milk shrinkwrapped together is $4.19 at Costco, but the hormone-free gallons are $1.47 each at Aldi.

I can't imagine how much you would have to buy to break even on the $60 a year fee to shop there.

Well, the items you mentioned obviously don't have MAP so that’s why I just said on certain items. In fact, in my area (Minnesota) I've never actually seen $xx off for any of the small items that you mentioned. Costco doesn't have "coupons" as far as I can tell... just flyers with advertised prices. My experience is much different on larger ticket items, but I agree with you that it's not always the best price for everything.

I have a gold medal popcorn machine and love it. The build quality is great and doesn't suffer from the rust issue that some other brands have. I recommend checking Craigslist and Facebook for used ones to save a lot of money.

My Costco membership pays for itself just on the gas savings alone. Both my car and my wife's car require premium gas. It's amazing how much cheaper the higher octane gas is at Costco vs. the big chains like Mobil or Shell. We're talking literally 40-60 cents a gallon less.

Every month it's a bunch of dumb "dollars off" coupons that are still too much after discount.

Can oil, batteries and Scotch Tape possibly have a MAP price?

Give me the bottom line, or I know it's a scam.
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I learned my lesson long ago about owning cars that need special fuel.

I can piss into my truck's tank and the amount of remaining alcohol will get me home.