I bought the CCP509 for my office, believe it or not. I wonder how many people have a popcorn machine that stands about five feet tall in their office? I’ve used it a handful of times, and so far, the machine is just outstanding. Even the veryfirst batch came out perfect, which I was very pleasantly surprised about.
Assembly took me about 40 minutes and was fairly easy, even for me, a mechanically declined assembler of just about anything! The machine is beautiful; it actually looks elegant, and has a genuine antique appearance. Three panels of the popper assembly are made of glass, and the door is made of plexiglass.
After pre-heating the kettle for about five minutes, you pour the popcorn goodies in, and in about two minutes, the popcorn comes spilling out of it. It is genuinely exiting, and I imagine that kids would love to see it in action.
I think a big part of it might be finding where to buy supplies for the machine. I haven’t been able to find Country Harvest Pre-Packs in the four ounce size here on Amazon (six ounce size is available), but I went to a website called Home Theatre Express and found two different kinds of pre-packs especially for four-ounce machines like the CCP509 (I hope Amazon carries them soon if they really don’t at present). The popcorn, oil, and salt are all in one package to pour into the kettle, and it works wonderfully. Each batch makes enough for three people easily.
I have visited a website for home theatre afficianados, and they swear by the machine (they also recommend not using more than a four-ounce pre-pack so that the stirrer doesn’t jam, and I’ve had no problems with that at all). One co-worker calls it the best popcorn she’s ever had. I, personally, love making popcorn on the stovetop, but having this machine at work is delightful, and makes my office smell like the snack stand at the movies.
For the price, this is one of the best deals you can get. You may want to look at one of the six-ounce models if you want to pop in grande volumes, but all in all, I am really thrilled with this model, at a very reasonable price. It’s a treat.
