Making popcorn at home has been a tradition for many decades. There have been a variety of different poppers created for home use over the years that use different methods to make the popcorn. The hot air popcorn popper was made popular a few decades ago, because it gave people a way to make a healthier snack item. This type of popper has an inner heating element that heats up the air inside the machine. This air circulates around the inner chamber where your kernels are, and heats them to the degree they need to be popped at.
Most styles come with the base unit and a top removable section. The removable piece is usually created to be clear or transparent and is constructed from plastic. There is a large opening on one end of the piece where the popped corn tumbles out of as the inner area becomes full. It is best to position your bowl underneath this open area so it catches the corn as it comes out. There are a few variations on this design that have the top piece as part of the whole unit that is enclosed. These are larger machines that have the inside room to hold all the popcorn that is popped in a single session.
You will also see some decorator styles for the basic compact model, which include the retro design of the Helman popper. This model is created to resemble an old time movie theater machine, but on a much smaller scale. The standard size popper that uses hot air to cook with can be found at most any type of department store. It generally sells for less than $50 and comes in its own convenient box.
In addition to being popular for creating a healthy snack, they are also easy to use for making a single serving of popcorn. You control the amount of corn, by how many kernels you place inside. The unit is also much easier to clean than a traditional oil popper, because it doesn’t use any ingredients other than the corn. You simply wipe out the interior after the machine has cooled and put it away.