At some point in history our ancestors must have decided to put corn and fire together and realized the outcome was what we call popcorn. Who invented the popcorn machine is a great question and looking back at its history lets me know why it is being asked. I believe that there must have been popcorn makers all over the country – in every kitchen, with mom knowing exactly how it works. But – a popcorn machine?

The first thing a lot of people do when you tell them they should get a hot air popcorn popper is turn up their nose. But the thing is, those stories all come from people who are used to eating either that horrible microwave popcorn that’s loaded with sodium and a whole bunch of chemicals that are supposed to resemble butter, or movie popcorn which really IS drenched in salt and butter. They just assume that because it’s popped in a hot air popcorn popper, using air instead of oil to pop the corn, that it must be healthy, and therefore – tasteless.

Charles Cretors, a man with experience both in the construction and the food industry, loved to put two and two together and see how he could make things easier when it came to roasting peanuts. He moved to Chicago in 1885, and found out soon that he could create much-wanted pop-corn with his improved design.

Funny: the original popcorn popper was designed to roast. True: much of what was roasted was liked, and this resulted in many different off-spring of the original machine. You want popcorn? Baked chestnuts? Roasted peanuts? They had it.

Yes, popcorn popped in a hot air popper IS healthier for you than popcorn popped in some type of oil. But only to a certain degree. The one or two tablespoons of oil that you use to pop popcorn aren’t really going to kill you and there are certain oils you can use that are healthier than others. But still, it’s oil and we all know what a bad rap oil gets these days. If you’re going to have popcorn for a snack the least you can do is be a little bit daring and pop it in oil.

I would understand it if it took two years because lots of competitors could see the potential of the automatic popcorn maker – the machine that would start a tradition. A patent would mean disaster for the competition. Yet it happened.

The popcorn popped in the hot air popper tastes like pure, unadulterated corn. Popcorn popped in oil has a slightly heavier texture, somewhat chewy, because it’s absorbed some of the moisture from the oil. Not to mention you get a little bit of the oil taste and, depending on the type of oil you use, that can be quite a difference.

You can also learn more dealing with Glass Popcorn Popper and Old Fashioned Popcorn Popper.