Most people have loved popcorn their entire lives. Young children not only ate it as a healthy snack but also made popcorn ropes and hung them around their Christmas trees and for arts and craft projects.

Adults love the taste of popcorn but also enjoy it even more because it is a high fiber, low calorie snack. Popcorn is easy to make but easy to find already popped and ready to take anywhere. With society being so health conscious today, popcorn is fast becoming the number one snack food. Schools have put in popcorn vending machines to encourage children to snack healthier.

Popcorn tastes and smells wonderful, it is inexpensive, satisfies the munchies without being too filling, has no cholesterol and is low in calories. No many snack foods can claim this.

Popcorn Machines for Homes

There was no such thing as a popcorn machine until the late nineteenth century even though popcorn was around for thousands of years. The first mobile popcorn machine appeared at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The inventor was Charles Cretors. Now, you can find commercial popcorn machines everywhere, including theatres, department stores, carnivals and food shows across the country. With the development of smaller and less expensive popcorn machines, many people now have them in their homes. People choose home popcorn machines usually by brand and model but should also consider safety, durability and size of each batch. If you have a large family then you will require a popcorn machine that makes larger batches.

Commercial Popcorn Machine Shopping

When it comes to commercial popcorn machines for a business, then shopping for them will take more time and consideration. You need to determine the correct size of commercial machine your business needs to fit the demand. During your busiest time of day, try to estimate approximately how many one-ounce servings of popcorn you would sell in one hour. Divide this figure by sixteen and this will give you the size of the commercial popcorn machine you need.

When shopping for a commercial machine, find out how easy it is to clean the machine. There is nothing worse than buying anything that requires hours of work to clean as people will not use it after a while. Popcorn machines with aluminum or stainless steel kettles are very easy to clean, durable and the best when it comes to heat transfer and durability. The kettle heats up faster so there is less time spent waiting for it to pop. Tempered glass and stainless steel clean-out trays make cleaning easier. A heated popcorn deck is necessary to keep the popcorn hot.

No matter what commercial popcorn machine you choose, make sure there is a booklet with the safety and operating instructions. Always keep it handy so if a problem comes up, you can fix it.