I pop my popcorn in a saucepan on top of the stove. If, and it's a big if, you get the temperature correct, you really don't need to shake the pan. Every time I move, there's a month or so of experimentation, and some burnt popcorn, until I figure out the settings required for the new stove. Once I have that figured out, I put in three kernels as a "test pop." When they pop, I pour in the rest, cover the pan and just let it pop without shaking.
You can pop corn by just heating the pan to "high." But if you don't shake that pan, some of the popcorn will burn. If the heat's too low, it won't pop. Lowspark, sounds to me as if you have found the sweet spot where the kernels pop but don't burn. That makes you a popcorn popping master!