TL;DW: Some microwaves have a popcorn button that just runs a timed cycle. Some better microwaves have steam sensors that attempt to divine when your popcorn is done, and a select few Whirlpool/KitchenAid models actually have acoustic sensors (microphones) that listen for the pops and stop the cycle when the popping slows down. Makers of microwavable popcorn don't know what kind of microwave you have, though, so they all warn you not to use the popcorn button.
I had a hot air popcorn popper as a kid and the popcorn was always way worse than the stuff from the cinema. Instead, get a big metal bowl and use the Alton Brown methode
My old microwave made perfect popcorn in 2 minutes. The new one burns a bunch of kernels in 1m45s but leaves a shit ton unpopped. They're supposedly the same wattage.
Show some support for this guy. He's one of the few decent sized creators that joined the fediverse but has faced a bunch of harassment. Masto: https://mas.to/@TechConnectify
Maybe it was people upset that they just spent an hour of their life watching a video about his retro fridge. I didn't want to do that. Especially when I clicked the video and saw that it was an hour long. But, here we are an hour later and I understand fridges and fridge design evolution better but still need to do work. STOP BEING SO INTERESTING!
That's essentially what the video is about, there are two (technically three) types of popcorn buttons, ones that use a humidity sensor, ones that have a pre set time based on average popping time of bags of certain sizes, (and super fancy ones that have the humidity sensor as well as a sound sensor that listens for the "x number of seconds between pops" sound sensor)
I have a really cheap microwave. I doubt it has a humidity sensor. And it puts 3 minutes on the clock as soon as you hit the button, so the time isn't dynamic at all
I use a silicone popper bowl with plain kernels, and I do use the popcorn button on my reclaimed LG microwave. It heats until it detects steam, then it gives a countdown. In my experience it tends to overcook the popcorn so I actually just stop it when the pops are 2-3 seconds apart, as it says on bagged popcorn. Though it depends, different varieties and batches of popcorn can pop differently. I have actually had to add extra time for some kernels.