I'll be honest, I love popcorn. After I decided the real popcorn machines were too expensive, and too much of a hassle to keep clean I thought the Back to Basics Stove-Top Popcorn Popper would be the perfect alternative. Unfortunately it broke the second time I used it.

The pop corn is very good, but the lid broke. I am going to look for one that has a solid metal top. But the pop corn is great, and you can put sugar in there with the oil and salt to form glaze, and cinamon, pepper, chinese five spice, and so on

The butter drip cup handle/hook broke on the second use. I am having trouble getting to the manufactures site. The rest of the popper is wonderful - a little too easy to burn the popcorn though.

This popper makes GREAT popcorn but it is hard to get the lid on and off. The handle slips sometimes if its not pushed in all the way. But the great-tasting popcorn makes up for the difficulty of use.

This popper makes the best tasting 'corn -- way better than any micro-pop, and better than most movie theaters, unless they pop their own on the spot. But it does require a bit of diligence to make good 'corn every time. You have to keep turning the crank the entire time or it will burn. Don't put the heat up too high, just medium-high or so. And finally, you know how nasty dried-on oil gets -- so clean the popper with soap and water after every use. It's easy to do, if you do it every time. I also wipe it down after washing to prevent rust. It looks like it might rust if you left it wet, but I have had no problems with that. I have never removed the lid entirely, as one reviewer mentioned, but it is not hard to reach in and clean with the lid still attached. I definitely think the trouble is worth it for such great-tasting 'corn. If you really love popcorn, this is the ideal popper.

As far as taste, the popcorn was good- but as far as construction goes, the popper is very poor quality. I knew it was probably a bad sign when the first thing i pulled from the box was a list of where to buy replacement parts.I used the popper 3 times. It is very difficult to hold the popper still during popping. The doors on the top don't stay shut during popping, so you can expect to get splattered with hot oil occasionaly.Upon the third use the top came off and the viewing window cracked. The hinges on the top are poor quality.As for burning popcorn/oil, I have never had that happen, but then again i used coconut oil instead of the oil they sold with the product.I hear the stainless steel popper is better.