Inside CR Test Labs: How we test microwave popcorn settings

Each microwave oven in our Ratings (available to subscribers) gets evaluated with a number of different tests, including heating evenness, defrosting, and ease of use. One score that you won’t see in the test results in the Ratings is how well each microwaves makes popcorn, though it is a small part of a microwave’s overall score.

We use the automatic popcorn setting on each microwave to pop a 3.5-ounce bag of a national brand’s natural-flavor popcorn. The vast majority of the machines we test do at least a good job, producing a minimum of 9 cups (about 2,100 milliliters) of popcorn.

We do encounter the occasional kernel clunker. The automatic setting on one model we recently tested tended to burn the popcorn, for example. The model in the video (below) that left 56 unpopped kernels is no longer on the market—it’s our “reference” microwave whose popcorn abilities leaves us hungry.

If your machine usually overcooks popcorn or typically leaves lots of unpopped kernels, skip the automatic setting and adjust the time accordingly.

Essential information: To avoid being a dud yourself on February 3, be sure to have enough food, drinks, and other essential provisions on hand for the Super Bowl. If you’re in the market for a new microwave, read our February 2008 report.

 

Comments

[Bob]

Reading the information regarding microwave popcorn reminds me of just how silly the dominance of this propduct has become. I am not a total "tree hugger" or granola person but still find that using my Whirlypop popcorn cooker with almost any decent popcorn and about 2 tablespoons of peanut oil is so much better, cheaper and tastier than any microwave I have tried. It takes ma about 5 minutes to cook up a huge bowl of corn and another 1 minute to clean up. I hope the masses wil give this old fashion method another look.

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