It's difficult to know where to begin in reviewing this Belgian waffle maker, so I'll begin with our 1st waffle made in it, which I still remember making. Even though we did not use a recipe from those included, yet following the other directions, the 1st waffle was absolutely perfect. It was perfectly formed - no ragged edges from too little batter - no burned-in-the-center but uncooked around the edges. It was fabulous, maybe an inch thick and with indentations truly as deep as ever I'd seen. The outside was crisp and the inside was moist and cooked just enough. That's how the 1st waffle came out. But that's how the 2nd turned out as well, and the 3rd, and the next, and the next... For months now, my family and I have been truly enjoying the most heavenly waffles we've ever eaten, and this waffle iron just makes endless numbers of perfect waffles.
Many years ago, we began what's happily become a family tradition - waffles on Saturday morning with eggs on top and bacon or sausage on the side. Even now, our married children still return for this wonderful time together.
Before buying our Waring WMK 300 to replace an old waffle maker that finally died, we suffered thru many bad and some dreadful waffle-makers until I got disgusted, did the research, and discovered what you too will surely agree is the best Belgian waffle maker available. For a few weeks there, our Saturday morning tradition looked like it was actually breaking down. In that time period, we returned several waffle makers for refunds. Scheesch!
OK, there are a few points one should note about this WMK300 waffle maker; We call it our WMD 300...
If you're used to deeply browned waffles, as we were, as a visual measure of done-ness, forget it. When it beeps, take them out and enjoy them. They'll not be quite as deeply browned, but they will be perfectly done, and you will quickly learn to love them that way.
We give a quick baste with a pastry brush every time before pouring in the batter. Spraying with Pam or some such should work just as well if you like chemicals - we use coconut oil. Brushing before every one may seem obsessive/compulsive, but on the other hand;
a. there's never anything to clean up,
b. the waffles effortlessly come out (you can actually pinch between two indentations and pull the whole thing out with your hand), and
c. the coconut oil imparts the most wonderful taste (and healthful) richness like nothing else can.
OK, sometimes the oil runs down and is caught in the stainless steel spill pan below, but that rinses off in 5 seconds.
Use the measuring cup provided - I still do after months of use. That's how we make a rather stiff batter exactly fill out the iron and make perfectly formed waffles.
Keep the lid closed unless you're ready to pour in another thing of batter. Otherwise, and this is especially true if you use thicker batter and higher settings as we do, (5 1/2) the green (ready) light will go out as the top element cools when left standing open. Evidently, when the top element cools a little, the iron will think your cooking and will start the timer, throwing off the internal cooking cycle. So, don't pour in batter unless the green (ready to bake) light is on. Keeping the lid closed will keep the green light on if you need a few moments before pouring in more batter.
As adults, we can (read should) only eat one waffle made from this machine. Understand that this is not going to produce dinky waffles the thickness of sandwich bread slices you stack up on your guest's plate. These are real waffles, so plan your batter-making accordingly. But they keep very well in the oven at 170, and maybe covered with an aluminum foil hood. We turn the waffle maker's dial down and switch it off when we're ready to sit down for breakfast. If more need to be made, it heats up very quickly so why leave it on.
Clean up: There's nothing to clean up, really. Rinse the stainless steel spill pan if necessary. Since we always use the measuring cup, we never have spills - yes that's really true. Once the lid is closed and rotated, batter just doesn't leak out, although we've never intentionally tried to overfill it.
The time and effort to write this review is an indication of my admiration for those who still make great appliances without regard to how cheap or how many corners might be cut in their design or manufacture.
If you're considering this as a gift, budget for two of them and keep one for yourself.
UPDATE - A year and a half later…
The elements in this magnificent waffle maker have started to tire of producing endless perfect waffles. This made it increasingly difficult to peel the waffle away from sticking to the top cooking element. If your waffles are sticking, don’t use more oil, try this “fix” instead.
After pouring in the batter, close the lid but do NOT rotate the head for 50 seconds. Set a timer that can handle settings less than 1 minute in length. We make the first turn of the head at exactly 50 seconds, and then wait for the “finished” beeps from the waffle maker, as we always did. Voila… perfect waffles that virtually fall out of the top element, or are easy to lift from the bottom element. I suspect that, over time, the heating disparity between the cooking elements will increase, requiring a wait longer than 50 seconds before rotating the head. Bear in mind that this waffle maker has been producing waffles of insane greatness (the name of the recipe we use) continuously for 18 months, so we don’t mind this very slight adjustment.
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