West Bend Stir Crazy Popcorn Maker

I am a popcorn fanatic. Have been since college - 40 years ago (ouch!!) It was an inexpensive snack. I often made 60+ gallons of popcorn for my frat parties (yes - gallons). I'd be in the basement with a humongous cast iron pop making the tasty treat for hours before the party. I now make popcorn at least 5 times each week, and started years ago with the famous Whirley Pop. Frankly, this hand powered popper is still the best, but it was hard to clean. The bottom could be placed in the dishwasher, but the cover (with wooden handle) started to cake up with oil after many uses (even with cleaning). (I recommend the stainless steel model if you want the "traditional" way to make popcorn.) So in January 2018 I made a break and tried the West Bend Stir Crazy Model 82505. To my surprise, the popper made terrific popcorn. Like previous reviewers of this model - 8231 - steam build-up can be a problem. But I always leave the top partially open in the beginning and fully open when there is a layer of popcorn to cover the hot kernels. (I never use butter). The result is perfect popcorn - hot, dry and fresh tasting. I have purchased three of the model 82505 Stir Crazy poppers since then. I replace them about every 9 months because, again, I make over 250 batches each year. The plastic top can go into the dishwasher, but the bottom can't. When the batch is done, I rinse the non-stick cooking surface in the sink with a spray of water and wipe it dry in the morning to remove any remaining oil. Invariably, after about 9 months of use, small amounts of residual oil build up under the cooking surface and in the enclosed "works" of the popper. It gums up the surfaces and the smoker starts to smoke from inside. Alas, that's time for a new popper. I purchased this popper with excitement since I could remove the non-stick cooking surface and put it into the dishwasher along with the plastic top. Cleaning problem solved. Unfortunately, while cleaning is terrific, the popcorn is not. Under the non-stick cleaning surface is a heating element enclosed in glass. It looks like an element in space heaters. It just doesn't seem to cook the popcorn (ie. heat the surface) to a high enough temperature for fast popping. The popcorn begins to pop, then hits a lull. About 30 sec. later the kernels begin to pop again, but the original ones start to burn. (My experience is that an effective popcorn maker cooks the kernels so fast that there is an "explosion" of popping so that all kernels pop in about 60 seconds.) For this popper, the majority of the kernels are tasty, but not as plump as the model 82505 and they have a slight hint of smoke. After 3 tries, and no difference in the smoke flavor, I decided to return it for the model 82505. Hope this helps. It's not a criticism of West Bend, just this new model. It just didn't work well for me.