Awful, awful machine. First machine died and thought it might be that particular popper, but second popper was just as bad. Wastes popcorn kernals. More unpopped kernals than popped ones. Takes three batches to get medium sized bowl of popcorn. Dies within a couple of months. Horrible machine.
Yes, this is a terrible popper. One wonders why or how they managed to release a product without testing it. Far too many unpopped kernels... kernels take three runs through the popper to pop, as most are ejected when the corn starts to pop. An exercise in patience.
RARE SIDE VENTS POPPER! I've looked for a year for one of these. If you want to learn how to roast green coffee beans in an air popcorn popper, there are a number of websites that will explain it to you - including a good article using this very popper at coffee geek dot com. The Toastess air popper has side vents at the bottom of the funnel that blow hot air (as opposed to a bottom vent) and side vents are recommended for roasting coffee. Unfortunately for the popcorn poppers out there, I'm guessing the side vents reduce the amount of popcorn kernels that pop; however, it's perfect for coffee. BEWARE, however, if you roast coffee in this - it is dangerous (fire hazard) to roast coffee in a popcorn popper (you must stay with the popper at all times), you will void any warranty on the machine if you roast coffee, you will burn out the motor fairly quickly (or so warn the websites), and at about 3:30 to 4 minutes the plastic funnel covering the apparatus begins to warp and melt. So far I've roasted several batches (80 grams each) of green Sumatra Mandheling beans without problems (other than the melting lid), and it was delicious and fun to do.
If you've never roasted coffee before in an air popper, please don't start until you've reviewed competent directions at a coffee website. It's fun, but can be dangerous. Also, roast outside (I used our screen porch) to avoid the burning/roasting smell and chaf in the house. Lastly, I found this exact popper about four dllars cheaper at a brick and mortar overstock store.
I should have seen these reviews before purchasing the Toastess TCP-388 Hot-Air Popcorn Maker. Total waste of time and money. Machine going back to store tomorrow. It's way too loud, at least half the corn kernels are ejected without popping, therefore takes too much time for a single batch. Unsuitable.
This is a horrible machine, used it once and boxed it back up for return. It just kept swirling the kernals around and around till they started burning, then when some popped it blew all over the place even with the bowl held up to it! DO NOT BUY!
Never tried it for popcorn. Only used for roasting coffee. This unit has the preferred hot air vents. My previous popper was a Presto Poplite which blows the air from the bottom.
I've bought two Toastess so far. Destroyed the first one by trying to hot rod it. My fault entirely. Number Two works better, but I had to hot wire the thermal switch so it would get hot enough. Almost all poppers have two kinds of thermal safety devices: fuses and switches. Fuses prevent fires and once they blow, that's it. You're popper is a paperweight for all intents and purposes. Switches temporarily cut power to the heating elements when they're tripped. Unfortunately, manufacturing tolerances for switches aren't that tight, so you can have one unit roast coffee just fine and another will not get hot enough. The switch in this one is fairly easy to disable -- if you can get to it. They use funky screws with triangular heads to hold the thing together. So I made my own tool by grinding down a small triangular file until I could jam it into the head and loosen the screws.
Have roasted 6 batches in Number Two so far and will probably roast another six batches in the next day or two.
Only four stars because the clear plastic lid cannot take the heat. It can warp substantially. I wouldn't be surprised if the plastic lid will eventually be useless. Then I'll probably have to use a soup can chimney or something else.
Well, I do not know why all the other reviewers dislike this machine because I LOVE mine. I bought it at Tuesday Morning and it works way beyond my expectations. Been dieting and needed a good low calorie snack. This was a perfect solution. Pops most of the corn and it's fast. Maybe its the brand corn they are using. I'm using Pop Secret's Jumbo Popping Corn. The corn pops big and they taste great with a few sprays of Pam butter flavored! I purchased a square bowl to catch all the corn. I give this little machine 5 stars. LOVE IT!!
This Popcorn popper works good for roasting coffee but after sending the first one back after about 25 minutes use and now the second one is broken after approximately 1 hour of usage, I would steer clear of this popper. Both poppers basically exploded internally causing debris to get trapped in the fan. Completely dead! - Roaster - Popcorn Popper - Hot Air Popcorn Popper - Hot Air Popper - Popcorn - Popcorn Maker'
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