Benchmark 11040 Street Vendor Popcorn Machine, 120V, 980W, 8.2A, 4 oz Popper

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Price: $459.35 $340.26   

Product Feature

• Antique styling
• 3 Years warranty
• Commercial grade
• Heated warming deck
• Stainless steel food-zone

Product Description

4 oz popcorn machine. 85 Quarts per hour. All of the street vendor poppers feature stainless steel food-zones, 20 mil anodized kettles (for easy cleaning), heated warming decks, old-maid drawers (for un-popped kernels), tempered glass panels and an industry longest 3 year parts warranty. These kettle inners are constructed of thick gauge anodized aluminum for maximum performance and easy cleaning. Aluminum provides the best heat transfer of any "cookware approved" alloy while the 20 mil thick anodizing armors the kettle for durability and provides a super-slick surface for easy cleaning. The kettle jackets are made from stainless steel for corrosion resistance and easy cleaning. All street vendor poppers have a 50 watt heating element in the base to keep the popped corn fresh and warm. Since heat rises, bottom heating is preferred to heat lamps that only heat the top layer of popped corn. The heated warming deck will keep popcorn at the ideal serving temperature for long periods of time. The warmer is necessary for situations that require that popcorn is available on demand like concession stands, convenience stores, parties or retail establishments. You won't have to worry about biting into an un-popped kernel with the Street Vendor's old-maid drawer. The perforations in the bottom stainless tray allow the un-popped kernels to fall into the drawer leaving only fresh and fluffy popped corn in the holding bin. Simply "rake" the popped corn with a scoop and the old-maids fall through the openings. Street vendors are designed to be simple to operate making them ideal for locations that have multiple operators. The master switch turns on the warming deck and the interior lamp. The kettle switch turns on the agitating motor and kettle heat for a popping cycle. For safety, the kettle switch will not operate without the master switch in the on position. Measures 21" width by 34" height by 18" depth.

Benchmark 11040 Street Vendor Popcorn Machine, 120V, 980W, 8.2A, 4 oz Popper Review

I purchase this machine used on Craigslist. The previous owner had passed away. I had spent months doing research on many machines, and realized there were many. Most were imports, and of lower build quality and wattage. My first choice without actually seeing one was the Paragon followed by the Gold Medal both with 1200 plus watts, even on smaller units. The requirements for any machine was repair parts availability period. Too many companies are here today and gone tomorrow, and things alway break.

I went to the Benchmark USA web sight and found replacement parts for every part on all their machines along with the manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRP). Where will you find that from any manufacturer? Replacement glass down to the rubber bumpers in the cart legs as well as kettles. The replacement parts prices were very reasonable and that immediately made the decision an easy one for me. I tend to fix everything when it breaks, or at least attempt to, its the mechanical engineer in me.

I also noted something in this machine I have not seen in any other machine marketed. Any size kettle 4,6,or 8 OZ fits in the same single size popper cabinet. Check out the dimensions 21" L X 18" D X 34" H no matter what the kettle size. Very smart engineering if you ask me. The 8 oz unit is advertised as 1430 watts which means it will get down to business. UL will not allow a higher wattage in a household rated appliance running on 110 volts. They do offer 220 volt options on all their units however.

Now down to how it works. Great! At first, I thought 8 oz would be a little too large for the three of us but I was wrong. The unit came with a case of 8 oz packages. The previous owner had not even opened the box. The shipping label said Paragon International, Nevada IA. The contents, Country Harvest Special Blend and uses coconut oil. In addition there were a great number of 6 oz packets of Pop Weaver brand and using sun flower oil. I tried both and can't say which is best at this time. They are both delicious.

The cooking instruction are clearly printed on the door of the popper stating heat for five minutes before adding contents to a cold popper. I put the contents in as instructed and much sooner than I was expecting everything was popping, and you don't want to think about walking away when popping starts, as in a flash thing were done. I was a little disappointed in that I wanted to watch this thing work for a few minutes at least but such is not the case. The 6 oz package could not have taken more than a minute after the kettle was preheated and the popping started.

The first thing I noticed about using this popper and probably true of any popper of this type, is there are no hulls to speak of sticking in your teeth. I hate that of microwave popcorn. I'm not sure if all are like this or if it was because of the brand of the two popcorns used. Time will tell. The Country Harvest brand had a carton shipping label dated Mar 29,2007 and it's now Oct. 26,2011. The packages have no expiration date printed on them and are of course sealed. I'll certainly try some fresher popcorn if we can stop eating it before its all gone. That's a lot of popcorn and it taste great even if one is at least four years old.

The machine is very well built. The Benchmark 11080 has a shipping weight of 68 pound and the cart's shipping weight is 51 pounds. That should tell everyone it is a very strong unit! Nothing flimsy about it- nothing, not even the four oz. machine since the only thing different is the kettle.

I learned from reading other reviews on other machines it's easiest to load by pouring all popping contents into one container such as a cup, then pouring into the popping kettle. Try it you'll like it much easier and less likelihood of spillage.
Pros:
1. High wattage make this unit very fast in completing its popping.
2. Very easy to clean simply unplug the pot if need and remove or wipe with paper
towel while the kettle is still hot. The unit stir mechanism can be removed as well as the lid without tools for easy cleaning, but it's not obvious until close inspection.
3. Warming tray and old maid tray can be removed an put in a dish washer if needed seldom required.
4. The smallest 4 OZ machine has same working size cabinet as the 8 OZ and therefore not cramped when filling popcorn bags or boxes.
5. No sharp sheet metal corners or parts to cause injury when cleaning.
6. Glass panels all sides, with Plexiglas doors.
7. Vendor web site show replacement parts and MSRP clearly.
8. Price point clearly lower than all other machines in this category.
Cons:
1. Vendors web site user guide show assemble drawings and does not detail easy of taking unit apart for easy cleaning with no tools in clear written form.
2. Sometimes the lid binds when popcorn is rising and the stir mechanism will stop requiring operator to quickly unstick to make stir stick continue. If this happens the popper is always nearly finished popping anyway, and really did not present a problem as much as an annoyance.

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