With the advances made in air popping technology over the years, as far as I can tell, the only reasons to oil pop corn any longer include:With the advances made in air popping technology over the years, as far as I can tell, the only reasons to oil pop corn any longer include:

1) Your customer base is so used to it that you're concerned they may not appreciate change. I've heard this concern before, but every customer we've who has made the switch so far has been very glad that they did.

2) You specialize in sweet flavored "Kettle Corn" varieties. This being where you add sugar and flavors directly into the popping kettles. It's popular at fairs and carnivals here in the states, though it may or may not be a popular product in your market. In this scenario, oil popping will always have the advantage.

3) You already own perfectly good equipment with many years of service life and don't wish to make the investment. There's nothing inherently wrong with this logic, but with the cost of quality popping oil increasing, many are surprised how quickly the savings provided by air popping can pay for brand new and state of the art equipment.

On the other hand, the advantages of air popped corn are not often fully considered by those still frying seed in oil.

1) As already mentioned, air popped corn offers tremendous cost savings over oil popping. For those that want a thorough analysis, there is another article on this blog that addresses the subject.

2) Because the finished product is not saturated in oil, when properly packaged and stored, air popped corn can stay crisp and fresh for much longer than oil fried varieties.

3) For anyone even mildly interested in eating healthier, air popping eliminates the not insignificant amount of saturated fats, trans fats (depending on the oil used) and, of course, calories contained in the finished product.

4) Properly prepared, air popping can produce a lighter and crispier mouth feel than oil popping and many consumers do prefer this as a taste preference.

5) Clean up with an air popper requires not much more than a broom, whisk and/or handheld vacuum. The tough, greasy, thick buildup that is inevitable with most oil popping equipment is completely absent from air popping processes.

While popping with oil still has its place, and especially within small production equipment, each year that passes brings more and more professionals into the air popped community.