The Idea Factory: The perfect popcorn popper

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last updated 8 January 2015

There's nothing worse than settling in for a movie with a bowl of popcorn and biting down onto an unpopped kernel, said Colin Lecher at PopSci. Now a "more careful microwave" may prevent such mishaps. Whirlpool's new, 1.9-cubic-foot microwave features a specialized "AccuPop cycle," which lets users more precisely cook popcorn. The microwave uses a sound sensor to monitor that adjusts your popcorn's cooking time as it listens to the rate that the kernels are popping. The device retails for $569 and features built-in steaming technology for cooking vegetables, fish, and rice.