Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My wife and I really wanted to be able to make Kettle Corn at home. We had developed a real hankering for the stuff when trying it at a local Movie Theater. Enough so that we would only go to Theaters that had it for sale. After realizing we were addicted we had two choices go broke going to the movies or figure out how to make it at home. Making it at home won out when I found several videos online that showed how to make it easily using a pot just like this one but a different brand. I came to Amazon to purchase that other brand pot. But after doing some research I found that it had been replaced by a much less liked version of it's former glory. After reading about a bunch of brands and looking for them locally I purchased this version of the popcorn popping pot over others because of claims that it was a more sturdy pot and the latching mechanisms to hold the lid down. I was worried about claims about the teeth and gears but decided to take the risk. The Good: I have been extremely pleased with those features that sold me on the Lindy's Popper. The pot is a good quality Stainless Steel pot with a nice heavy base. Given the heaviness of the metal I expect it to last for a very very long time. The latches that hold the top down are also very good. They latch positively and are quite strong. I can and do lift the pot to dump things out and it all stays in place with no play and no worry. The Bad: One thing I did find was that as other reviews have said the gears were not a great fit. But being something of a "I can fix that!" sort of guy I decided to try to fix it rather than just sending it back. I took a very good look at the gears mounted on the top of the pot and realized that they looked as if they had been made and then almost dipped in some more metal to make them shiny etc... It seemed to me like it was that dipped coating that was the problem. It had taken sharp clean gears and made them a soft rounded mess. So I decided to reshape the gears and try to solve the problem. I went out to the garage and got out a very small triangular file that I had in the garage. This file came as 1 of 8 files in a set from Home Depot for $9.94. I used this one because it most closely matched the shape of the gear teeth. I filed carefully and tested often and I had perfectly meshing gear teeth as a result. All in all it took less than 2 minutes to produce perfectly meshing gear teeth. Before I did the work on the gears they didn't mesh well at all and it flexed things enough to worry me about breaking. After the work they are smooth with no binding or flexing at all. The second issue was somewhat related the "paddle" at the bottom that stirs things to keep them from burning had wicked sharp edges on it. Enough so that I got a small nick on my hand and it cut the sponge I was cleaning it with. I took the file to those edges and in one or two passes over each edge with the file that sharpness was completely gone. This was again a minutes worth of work and solve that problem completely. The Summary: For the price? Honestly? I shouldn't have had to fix either of those things. It should have been in top notch form right out of the box. But they were also very easy fixes and it works so well that I am pleased with my purchase. I would absolutely recommend this popcorn popping pot to others, WITH the clear caveat of "you need to do the 2 following things" before the purchase was made. My wife and I have tweaked and played with kettle corn recipes ever since we got the pot and have it down to a science. We have made it probably 4 times a week since we got the pot. In fact... I think tonight is a good night for the next batch. So get this great pot. Spend 5 minutes fixing it up before the first use and you should have many years of great service.