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187 of 192 found the following review helpful:
 This is a gem! Aug 09, 2009
By S. Murphy
Just so you understand my perspective, I am somewhat obsessed with kitchen appliances (waffle makers in particular). I make protein waffles in big batches for my kids every week or so, and freeze the extras. For many years I used a Vitantonio Premier Classic Waffler, but finally got tired of standing there for a really long time while cooking waffles one-by-one. The waffles also were never quite as crisp as I liked. So, then began my quest for the perfect waffle maker (which I define as having medium to large capacity, and the ability to quickly and consistently produce crispy and perfectly golden waffles). I purchased and tested many, many waffle makers over the span of 16 months, ultimately gathering an inventory of 13 waffle makers of various shapes and vintages. The Calphalon is the best I have found of the modern waffle makers. Here is why:
First I bought the Kitchenaid Pro Line Series Waffle Baker, which makes two big round Belgian waffles at a time. My kids decided the waffles were too big, and I decided the waffles weren't crispy enough, so I recently passed the Kitchenaid along to a friend. Fast forward past several other waffle makers . . . .
Then, hearing that retro waffle irons were better than modern wafflers (see, e.g., Frugal Gourmet among others), I obtained a vintage 1950's Sunbeam CG from a relative, and actually purchased a refurbished 1940's Sunbeam W-2 from Toaster Central. These beauties are from back in the day when products were built to last a lifetime, and non-stick coatings had not yet been invented. Both vintage waffle makers yielded superior results, much better than any of the modern waffle irons I had tried. I chalked it up to the cast aluminum cook surfaces (no non-stick coating) that must be appropriately seasoned and maintained. I was ready to give up on modern waffle makers.
Then . . . I read about the Calphalon "No Peek," with its "bronze" non-stick cooking surface. Well the Calphalon is the first modern waffle iron I have found that can match the crispy texture and consistently fabulous results of the vintage wafflers. I am thrilled that a modern producer has finally created a product to match the crispy and delicious results of the vintage wafflers. Thank you Calphalon -- I absolutely love this product!
(Also, I love the waffle recipes from King Arthur The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook/Dedicated to the Pure Joy of Baking; for chat about vintage waffle makers and really good waffle batter and sourdough pancake/waffle batter see The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American; and my favorite book about the history of waffle makers see Antique Electric Waffle Irons 1900-1960: A History of the Appliance Industry in 20th Century America)
66 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 Consistent Performer Dec 30, 2008
By T. May
This waffle maker offers consistent service in the crafting of waffles. The unit sits authoritatively on your counter. It offers no nonsense crispness selection and rings politely when the waffles are done. There really is no need to peek, so the marketing is true. In the space of five minutes, you can have breakfast for two; or ten minutes for breakfast for four.
You may have to make a batch at each setting to get a feel for the degree of crispness offered. In any event, the inside texture remained moist and slightly chewy, regardless of the darkness/crispness chosen.
A nice feature is that the unit can stand on its side for storage. It cleans up very easily, as long as you do not over fill the squares. No more than 2 cups of batter, as recommended.
Although Calphalon describes this as a "Belgian" waffle maker, I believe this overstates the thickness of the waffles it prepares. They are certainly thicker than, say, Waffle House pancakes, but they are not true Belgian waffles, which should be closer to two inches thick. This unit offers a nice compromise between the two. The waffle cells are deep enough to hold little pools of partially melted butter and syrup in nice proportion to the amount of waffle in the average forkfull.
56 of 58 found the following review helpful:
A great all-around waffle maker Mar 26, 2009
By Yoda
"Mark"
I am pretty picky when it comes to appliances and cookware. My wife and I wanted a waffle maker that would make more than one waffle, so that our family of three could all eat at the same time. Our old waffle maker made just one lousy waffle and then would take forever to make the next waffle for the next person. Not a fun way to eat a "family" breakfast on Sunday morning. Anyway, we finally sought out a replacement. This waffle maker meets all our expecations.
First, this waffle iron heats up very fast and evenly. I like the fact that I can dial in a predictable temperature (i.e., browning and crispness is controlled this way). I find it important to let the batter sit at room temperature a few minutes, so it is not so cold when it hits the waffle iron). Not to mention variations in ambient room temperature, an open window, etc. So, there is a lot of variability in cooking waffles and for consistent and predictable results you want to try to control the variability. Nuff said on that.
The waffle iron cooks the waffles evenly out to the corners, which is surprising considering how difficult it is to get even temperatures in square corners. The waffles cook almost evenly on top and bottom, but the bottom gets slightly darker than the top. A rotating waffle iron would take care of this very minor issue. This is my only reason for wishing I could give it a 4.9. Each waffle square takes about 1/2 cup of batter. Also, we always use a whole grain, hearty batter and tend to mix it on the thick side, and it handles this type of batter perfectly. Once closed it takes just about 90 seconds to get a near perfect waffle that is crispy and brown on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Also, the sliding lock on the side works great, as it keeps the waffle maker from opening as the waffles fluff up inside while cooking. We make extra and just freeze them to pop into a toaster and enjoy them in a hurry. The second batch of waffles cooks just as quickly and evenly, so no issues with variation in cooking cycle as found in some other waffle makers. Again, just try to keep the ingredients and cooking conditions consistent. The waffles do not stick at all, I mean they just lift out cleanly and easily - just perfect every time.
I was going to spend twice the amount of money but when I saw this waffle iron I thought I'd give it a whirl, and it has met my expectations. A rotating iron would perhaps eliminate the slight variation between top and bottom, as well as more evenly distribute the batter perfectly into each corner, and a round shape might cook slightly better. But not to the point where it would be worth spending any more money. The finish on this waffle maker also goes well with my high tech kitchen, which includes Wolf appliances, Sub-zero refrigerator, and quartz countertops. It has a certain bling factor, which I like, and appears to be well made. As far as "no-peek" goes, I think this is unnecessary marketing hype, and actually cheapens the high tech and quality image that Calphalon conjures up. You have to peek, at least until you figure out the cooking characterisics of this waffle iron. You wouldn't cook something in the oven without looking at it would you? I also like the consistency and thickness of the waffles that are produced (not quite restaurant thickness, but not too thin either) and the waffles reheat perfectly in a toaster (see my review of Breville toaster, which I also rate very highly).
Anyway, I am very satisfied with this waffle iron, as it cooks 4 high quality waffles evenly and quickly without sticking. And that is exactly what I expect a waffle iron to do! Buy it.
31 of 31 found the following review helpful:
BUY THIS WAFFLE MAKER!!! Oct 11, 2010
By P. Kruger
I'm not normally the reviewer type. I usually just read everyone else's reviews, buy the product, love it, and move on. But I am so impressed with this waffle maker that I feel compelled to write about it.
I was ready to buy the Cuisinart WAF-6 (and I would recommend it based on its reviews if you're a die-hard fan of the thinner, traditional-style waffles), but then I spied this Calphalon. The reviews were slightly better than the Cuisinart, and since another reviewer said the pockets were not as deep as a traditional belgian waffle, I thought it would be a nice in-between and gave it a try and hoped for the best. The BEST is EXACTLY what I got.
Here's my top 5 favorite features of this waffle maker:
1. The chime and LED lights work perfectly. The chime is pleasant and on-the-money. The lights light up one-by-one as your waffles are cooking, appearing just like the progress bar on your internet browser. So I can cut up and syrup a couple waffles for my kids while the next batch is going, and simply look over to see if they're almost done so I can man my station.
2. As previously stated, the waffles are a nice compromise between traditional- and belgian-style waffles. I love the crisp outside and the fluffy inside.
3. NO OIL!! I have baked about 15 batches so far, and I have never used a drop of oil. I was shocked to read in the instructions that you don't have to use oil at all, ever! And in approx. 15 batches, I have had only 1 that stuck (when I had lifted the lid about half way and realized they were sticking to the top plate, I gently coaxed them with my spatula and they came right off).
4. Clean-up is so easy, they say just wipe the surface with a damp cloth (only use water), and it has worked every time. I occasionally fill it too full and a little batter seeps out the front, so I just wait a couple minutes til it dries, then just wipe it off, again with only a damp cloth. It doesn't get any easier than that!
5. It pre-heats in about 5 minutes (depending on your setting, of course), and only takes 3-5 minutes to bake a batch.
My words of wisdom to anyone buying this waffle maker:
1. Follow the manufacturer's instructions - they work!!
2. DO NOT USE A PRE-PACKAGED WAFFLE BATTER, AND DEFINITELY DO NOT USE A PANCAKE RECIPE!! PLEASE, PLEASE don't buy a real nice waffle maker and then pour liquid garbage on it! You would only have yourself to blame for having sucky or at least mediocre waffles.
3. Read my recipe, directions & other useful hints, tips & tricks below.
Here's my PERFECT WAFFLE RECIPE (it's actually from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (page 127 - "fast waffles"), except that I add sugar to the recipe):
You will need:
2 eggs
1-3/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon double-acing baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks (do not skip this step - it makes all the difference in fluffy waffles).
2. Beat the egg whites until they thicken into a foamy white texture, set aside.
3. Add milk & oil to egg yolks, beat gently until mixed, do not over-mix.
4. Add all dry ingredients to yolk/milk/oil mixture, stir with spoon first, then beat until all lumps disappear (B H&G says to leave the batter lumpy - my mum and I respectfully disagree).
5. GENTLY fold beaten egg whites into mixture, DO NOT stir or beat. I personally fold until no lumps of egg white remain visible, although others may disagree, including B H&G.
6. Pre-heat waffle iron to whatever setting you intend to bake your waffles at (I use just one notch above "Medium").
7. Spoon batter into measuring cup (for precision and easier pouring), fill to 2 cups exactly (you may have to adjust this depending on what recipe you use).
8. When chime signals iron is ready, evenly pour batter onto iron. There should be no need to spread the batter using a utensil. There may be some batter that runs over into the excess batter channel - this is fine, if not preferred.
9. I close the lid very slowly (5 seconds) to hedge against spillage.
10. Enjoy your perfect waffles when the chime sounds!
Other useful hints, tips & tricks:
1. For the setting I like, which is just a click above Medium, it ALWAYS smells like the waffles are burning, but alas! they are not. So don't be alarmed if you smell burning waffle. If they truly come out burnt, just adjust the dial down a notch.
2. This recipe makes just over 4 cups of batter, which is 2 batches on this waffle maker. The recipe is pretty easy to cut in half if you just want to make one batch. If you're making waffles for yourself, one batch will be more than enough!!
3. My kids like chocolate chip waffles - try using a hair under 2 cups of batter - pour it in the iron, THEN sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the batter. They sink into the batter and partially melt during baking, creating a restaurant-quality chocolate chip waffle the kiddos will love!
4. Some recipes I've looked at recommend substituting some brown sugar for the regular sugar - I tried this and it wasn't bad (I replaced the 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar).
32 of 38 found the following review helpful:
 Great design but poorly manufactured Aug 08, 2009
By Miss Picante
I loved this waffle iron the first few times I used it. Attractive, non-stick, no peek, nice thick but crisp waffles: what's not to like?
But then it made an odd high pitched whistle while it was baking this morning's waffles, which turned out to be firmly adhered to the surface even though I had followed the instructions and had never had this problem before with the same recipe in this waffle iron.
I cleaned it up, let it cool, and then turned it on again. After 30 minutes, it still hadn't heated up.
So it's back to the store with this one and I'm checking out other brands. This is the second time in just a few months Ive had a problem with a pricey appliance from this manufacturer: my lovely new contact grill just died after two weeks.
I think this company needs to makes sure its manufacturing standards can match its very good design standards.
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