On Mon 21 Feb 2005 06:56:28a, Top Spin wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:26:56 -0500, George >
> wrote:
>
>>Top Spin wrote:
>>> On 20 Feb 2005 14:08:01 -0800, "Ken" >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Wayne,
>>>>
>>>>This Panasonic microwave is so powerul that the only thing I use
>>>>full-power on is boiling water/making tea. For anything else, I drop
>>>>the power down to seven or eight to put it down to the old fashioned
>>>>1,000 watt power rating. If Top Spin is still reading, this may
>>>>account for his burned popcorn. (I make my popcorn with olive oil on
>>>>the cooktop so no advice there.)
>>>
>>>
>>> Still here. I just made another batch of popcorn. This time on 80%
>>> power. I set it for 6 minutes and stood by the oven. The popping
>>> slowed at about 2 minutes so I stopped it. The corn was badly burned
>>> in one area.
>>>
>>
>>
>>Maybe try a different popper? We have a Panasonic 1,300 watt unit. I
>>picked up a $8.00 popper in Target last year. I put the prescribed
>>amount in the popper, set full power (10) and 3 minutes. I circle back
>>when the popping slows and stop when popping stops. There is no burning
>>and only a few unpopped kernals.
>
> It doesn't seem like it can be the popper. I have had it for years and
> it worked perfectly with the old microwave. Actually, on two different
> microwaves.
>
> I am beginning to think that this one just has a hot spot right in the
> center of the unit.
>
> Is it possible that this one unit is defective? That's also hard to
> believe. There are so few parts to a microwave.

I didn't realize you were using a microwave popcorn popper; I assumed you
were using microwave popcorn. I've never used a popper in my MW, so can't
really address that.

Yes, it's certainly possible that there could be a problem with your MW,
and worth checking out. Do you have problems using it for any other
cooking?

Wayne