How to make perfect crunchy popcorn? I always found my popcorn a bit soggy and noticed the microwaved packets aren't. So yesterday I made a little experiment with a friend of mine. 

I took popcorn kernels and microwave popcorn sets then conduct these experiments : 


Microwaved popcorn (900W, 2'20'')
Air popper machine (the cheap one you find on all Chinese store)
Stovetop without oil
Stovetop with oil 
Stovetop with butter
Stovetop with microwave popcorn (at this step I discovered that this kind of popcorn is completely coated with palm oil)
Air Popper machine with microwave popcorn


Here the results : 


Crisp perfect
Very soggy and quite small
Burned, they didn't really popped 
A bit soggy
same as 4 but with a better taste
Very soggy 
Almost same as 6. 


Eventually I still don't understand why I can't make popcorn as good as the one I can eat in theaters. 

Any idea?
Over the years, I've microwaved, air popped, and tried a pot on the stove...even tried over an open fire.  Once I found the Whirley Pop, I never returned to any other method.  You can't beat it.  Perfect "crunchy" (maybe crisp is a better description?) popcorn every time.