I vote for the hot air popper , makes great pocorn with no oil which you would need if you are using the pan on the stove.

Sloanie - What I have doesn't have any special inserts that are not reusable. It is what it is, and it still works OK for me. I'm pretty sure I got it at Target, but it was many years ago.

I'll look there, thanks!

Ladies, let me tell you how I make my popcorn without any fancy gadgets. Just put 1/4 cup popcorn kernels in a brown paper lunch bag, fold the top down, run your hand under water and lightly coat the front and back side of the brown paper bag to moisten it. Put it in your microwave and hit the "popcorn" cycle. Stay near by to listen for when it stops popping and remove. My microwave is small and not very powerful, I stop the microwave when it has 30 seconds left and my popcorn comes out beautiful everytime. Do not reuse the bag as it will start to get holes and the next batch will have popcorn all over your microwave. Works like a charm and now you are in control of how much and what you want to put on it. No need for any fancy poppers or bowls. Very inexpensive too. After it is popped, I like to spray with non-fat cooking spray (right in the bag) and make a chocolate popcorn using a mixture of cocoa mix/splenda/hot chocolate mix and also a spicy version using McCormick's Smoky Sweet Pepper Seasoning blend.

Any chemical treatments on those brown bags?

Well, what a good idea!!

No chemical treatment on the bags. Just the plain old lunch sack kind. Years ago I bought some special paper bags that had this special card board piece on the bottom that allowed you to pop your own popcorn in the bag. After several uses, the bottom part pulled off and I was left with a paper bag, so I thought what will happen. The original "special bag" gave the directions to wet the paper sack slightly. So I did that with a regular paper sack and it worked just fine, so I stopped buying the other ones and just use the regular lunch sacks (that come about 50 or 100 in a package). I do not reuse these bags though. They really only work one time. And don't bother to try re-popping any unpopped kernels (just like microwavable kind - you can't do this - it burns). If yours burns the first time, don't give up just play around with how long you keep it in. It is funny how we get all these special contraptions to help us get the job done and they take up cabinet space and sometimes the easiest answer is a plain old lunch sack.

Thanks again for the info. Do you have any secrets for flavoring/salting your popped corn so the toppings stick?

Okay, ya'll have me hungry for popcorn. :lol: :corn:

I spray mine with Pam butter-flavored spray.:corn:

I spray with calorie free cooking spray (inside the bag) and then sprinkle on McCormick's Smoky Sweet Pepper Seasoning blend for a spicy popcorn. Take it to parties all the time and it is the big hit. The spicy hot flavor keeps me away from the sweets.

Popping popcorn in the paper bag is one of my favorite foods too. So much better then the chemically-tasting stuff from the store. I do reuse the bag though, I don't moisten the inside so maybe that's why I can use it again. I reuse each bag 7-10 times and haven't had any problems.

I spray with Pam or something and use a little bit of popcorn salt, Splenda & chipotle chili spice. When I'm feeling sorry for myself for not being able to eat buffalo wings, I'll put Franks hot sauce and some crumbled blue cheese on the popcorn. Amazing how substitutes like that can fill that craving sometimes.