Consistently GREAT Waffles!!!!

I spent hours researching; hours visiting stores; hours hemming and hawing over my newest object of appliance lust..... a waffle maker.

Of course my first stop was epinions. Rave reviews on this Waring. But it looked funny. Too industrial for what I was going for. (to me anyway). After several trips to the stores (30 min. away, mind you) I finally snapped and realized I was way overthinking this. It's JUST a waffle maker.

Oh how wrong I was. This thing makes heaven on a plate. I would beg my husband to take me to our local restaurant for brunch after church on Sundays just so I could indulge in a belgian waffle with strawberry syrup. Now.. I have that anytime I want in the comfort of my own home. And best of all they are hot every time and I don't have to wait in line.

It's a sturdy piece of equipment mostly all one piece except for the overflow tray that sits underneath the actual waffle iron. I've had the pleasure of using the overflow plate and it did it's job wonderfully. Plus I got the residual batter that had oozed out off the side of the waffle iron with virtually no work on my part. A wipe with a damp cloth and it was clean and tidy once again.

So here's how it works. Plug it in, set desired doneness level with the dial that ranges from 1 to 6 (I like 5, makes a nice cinnamon colored crunchy outside smooth creamy inside waffle), and flip the switch to on. A red light comes on and in mere minutes, the green light will come on and a chime will ding to signal that it's ready to receive the batter. A handy cup is provided for accurate dispensing of batter. It also has a little handle which not only keeps the hands clean but also allows me to set the cup inside the batter bowl on the rim so I don't have to drip batter everywhere.

Lifting the lid, I spray a bit of Pam on the top and bottom of the iron, (and repeat every 2nd or 3rd waffle)pour the batter in, spread a bit to get it out to the sides, close the lid, rotate 180 degrees and walk away. Voila! That's it.

While I haven't timed it... It's less than 5 minutes I'm sure from close to open of the lid. I'm sure the lighter settings would be faster. When I'm making them for hubby too.. he's usually still finishing his first when the second is ready. And he's a fast eater.

The recipe that I use consistently makes six 7 inch waffles and the first is just a perfect as the sixth.

Only twice have I had the waffle stick to the top of the iron and I only needed to wedge the spatula under the edge and it popped off. No pieces stuck on.. no sticking at all. And the two times it had stuck, I hadn't sprayed the pam after the 3rd waffle. And I don't spray that much at all!

The waffles come out perfect and ready to eat or I let them cool and freeze and they are still perfect out of the toaster oven. I imagine they'd be too big for a conventional toaster, but I have a new toaster oven so I'm happy!!

Oh.. and that industrial look? Hogwash. This thing looks very nice on my counter and blends in fine with my other black and stainless appliances. It cleans up with a damp cloth since there's no mess sticking in the grooves. I think I'll take a q-tip to it eventually though but that's because of the pam buildup. But that comes off easy enough just wiping with a paper towel.

Comes with recipes in the booklet but I've found a recipe elsewhere and just don't need to try the seemingly difficult recipes in the booklet (which are probably just as delicious).