The Fabulous Oster Popcorn Maker

As I feel is pretty apparent, I love going to the movies.  As the theater owners hoped, I have a pathological need to have popcorn when I watch a movie.  Obviously, this is a bit of a problem when I'm at home.  Microwave popcorn is just plain terrible.  On a few occasions, I have gone to the theater, bought popcorn, then returned home to watch a movie.  It turns out there is a better solution!  Let me introduce you to the Oster Popcorn Maker!

A Christmas gift, I pulled out the instruction manual and learned how to use my new popcorn machine today.  We had sat down to watch the best movie ever made*, and we needed popcorn.  I gathered the needed materials: popcorn cooking oil, popcorn kernels, popcorn salt, and some nifty cardboard containers, which we quickly swapped out for my refillable popcorn bucket from last year.

I had to let the machine run for about three minutes to heat up.  After that, I used the included measuring spoons to portion out the oil and kernels, which I then placed in the kettle.  After that, you just turn it on and watch!  The apparatus looks just like the ones at the theater, just smaller.  After a few minutes, the popping stopped, I turned off the machine, and I started scooping out the popcorn.

One of the best perks to having my own machine is that I can salt and butter the popcorn it as I go.  You don't have a single layer that is properly seasoned, followed by a bland bucket of popcorn.  Instead, it is buttered throughout.

I don't have any solid complaints.  The machine looks nice enough to stay on the counter-top, and the smell of fresh popcorn is amazing.  The popcorn tastes great, but I think I may need to heat the oil up a bit before using it on the popped popcorn.  That was the only real difference I could detect between what I made and what the theater gives me.  Their heat lamps are also stronger.  The machine makes enough for one person per round of popping.  Luckily, it doesn't take long to make more.

I believe you can buy a machine for under a hundred dollars.  It's a pretty steep investment, but mine was a gift from my parents.  If you do most of your movie watching at home, treat yourself to an authentic popcorn machine.  You'll be glad you did.

*In case you were wondering, it's the Dark Knight.