Oster 1-1/2-Inch Thick Belgian Flip Waffle Maker CKSTWFBF21, Brushed Stainless Steel

Anyone having trouble using this waffle maker may need to just give up and let someone else make them. It really is as easy as the instructions say, as long as you FOLLOW THEM. Pre-heating and pre-oiling (with a spray) is absolutely essential, as is following the directions on your mix. I used Krusteaz' 28 oz. box of Belgian Waffle mix, which only requires egg, oil and water and it couldn't be easier or more consistent (unless you pay a restaurant to make and serve them to you). I ended up mixing up the whole box, since you can freeze waffles, but the batter cannot be frozen. This is due to the leavening action, which starts when you add water to it and will kind of fizzle out after time (baking soda I imagine). The Krusteaz mix (full box recipe) claims to yield 8-10 7-inch waffles, but you have to remember that OUR little jewel makes jumbo 1 1/2-inch-think waffles so the actual yield I found to be 7. That is 7 of the tastiest, crispy on the outside and fluffy-tender on the inside, delectable morsels you can make at home. The amount of batter for each waffle will necessarily change slightly, depending on the batter mix used, but this one needed just a touch over 3/4 cup (I used a ladle that holds that exactly). I found when making the first couple, that the batter was REALLY thick so I actually added about 1/4 cup more water to it and it worked out just right. The trick is that the batter should just barely cover the peaks in the bottom pan. The batter will expand and if you put too much the pressure could damage the device. If the batter is really thick, you might want to have a heat-proof spatula handy to spread it out from the center. This waffle maker is every bit as good (so far) as the $800 professional one I used to use 20+ years ago when I was a breakfast cook at a resort marina. Not as heavy-duty, obviously, but I also did not find it in the least flimsy in operation. Add to that the lack of a loud-mouthed boss yelling at me and the experience was near blissful. The "doneness" dial worked accurately and I found the halfway point to be ideal for the mix I used. It heated up incrediblty fast and even in between waffles, I did not end up waiting long at all. As for telling when the waffles are done, the indicator light comes back on generally before I consider them done. But it is a simple matter to just close the lid and give it another 30 seconds or so as needed. Cleanup is easy and fast (wipe with a handful of napkins) and it stores in a reasonable amount of space. I can easily see taking this little wonder along for large family get-togethers on the weekend and making waffles for the whole kit and caboodle. A little fresh fruit, whipped cream and/or powdered sugar can also make for a sinfully decadent dessert session. The only conceivable downside is that the waffles are SO DAMNED BIG, they are a meal unto themselves. I can barely finish one and my wife was more than filled up by a half! I look forward to experimenting with different batter mixes, mostly because using the Krusteaz or similar mixes will result in spending about a buck a waffle. Now that is a screaming deal compared to restaurants, but I can buy a whole lot of Eggos for that $7 and the missus wouldn't go for the expense for long! In short, I HIGHLY recommend this waffle maker, and at $34 (when I bought it) delivered with Amazon's fantastic service and support - it is one of my favorite bargain finds.

I never used to like waffles and never saw a need for a waffle iron, that is until I had Belgian waffles recently! I know I am late to the party but Belgian waffles are wonderful! So, in my quest to be able to enjoy these delights at home, I went on a search for a good Belgian waffle iron. I read so many reviews and settles on this one because of the excellent reviews, as well as the small size of the appliance. I forgot to buy waffle mix while at the store so I just used the recipe in the book that came with the Oster Flip to make my very first batch of waffles. I was surprised to see cornstarch as one of the ingredients but it said that cornstarch makes the waffles crispier. I made the waffles batter as directed and sprayed the waffle iron with Pam since this was my first usage of it. I set the temperature about 3/4 of the way, poured in the batter after the green light came on and flipped it over. After a few minutes, the green light on the bottom (which is now on top since it is flipped) came on and my waffles were done! I flipped it back and opened the lid and was very pleasantly surprised by the beautiful golden brown waffles that awaited me! Somehow, I had poured the correct amount of batter into the maker on the very first try and they were perfect! Unfortunately, the second batch I made, I kinda over did it with the batter and had some seep out. But, thanks to the drip plate that comes with the maker, it was very easy to clean up the drippings. I ended up making 4 batches of waffles and they all were a nice golden brown and smelled delicious! Since it is just my husband and myself, I put the extra waffles in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Having lived in Pennsylvania for many years, I used the other waffles to serve my husband my Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken and Waffles! Previously, I had used those frozen things that are advertised as waffles and it seemed so wrong to use them with such a good recipe! The waffles I made in my brand new Oster Flip Waffle Maker were delicious and perfect for my chicken stew! They were so nice and crispy on the outside (thank you cornstarch!) and soft and tender in the inside! And they are so nice and thick, with deep pockets that the chicken gravy could fill. I noticed that the waffles did not get soggy and were crispy throughout the meal! It was the best dinner of Chicken and Waffles I have ever had! The next morning, I decided to see how well the frozen waffles held up. I took two and put them in our toaster oven on the toast setting. I set it on very brown setting and turned it on. When the buzzer went off, the waffles were hot and browned a little darker than when I put them in. I put some berries and whipped cream on the waffles and dug in. The waffles were soooo good!! Once again, they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Freezing the waffles didn't affect the taste or texture in any way. The only suggestion I would make is to maybe cook them to a lighter brown if you are planning on freezing them to allow them to finish browning in the toaster oven. As others have said, the Oster Flip Waffle Maker is very compact and doesn't take up much room on the counter. I like that it is narrow and not very tall so that I can fit it into one of my cabinets. I really like this waffle maker and plan to use it often! I found a great website that gives you other ideas of things to make in a waffle iron. Check it out: http://www.listotic.com/23-things-you-can-cook-in-a-waffle-iron/ I can't wait to try the waffle brownies! :)

The very first waffle made with a package waffle mix was so perfect, I was absolutely stunned, perfect colour, crispness and perfectly cooked. The next one was made with a different mix, (this one required addition of an egg, while the other required just water and oil) because of course I had to be the experimenter on my first try! Bad idea! Although I did wait for the green light to come back on as recommended, it seemed as if that mix required a different heat setting and cooking time, it was quite brownish, appearing somewhat burnt, and although I did eat it, no one else wanted to touch it! The texture seemed undercooked but it did not taste that way. I forgot to lower the heat on my second attempt and got similar results. The last one I managed to remember to lower the heat, but I think the colour was still a bit brown although it cooked better at the lower heat. That's all I can say right now. I am eager to try a simple homemade mix as opposed to a packaged batter and I am definitely going to try storing batter because preparing them fresh each time seems like it defeats the purpose of speed! I have not attempted storing any yet, so I will update the review if I have any new observations to add. In terms of physical appearance, the unit looks solid enough for the price and though the cord is a bit on the short side, I guess that's not a big issue. The handle bends to the side which I thought was to make it easier to turn but apparently that's for storage purposes. I was hoping that the flipping would activate the cooking process as in the cool ones they have at the hotel, but oh well.... One thing to note, I was looking through the little instruction book (which actually includes recipes btw) hoping for a "quick start" protocol, but there was none. I did not know what heat setting to start at, so I started at the highest, and it turned out to work for the first waffle but not the others, so I believe a bit more guidance would have been great, which is somewhat of a concern and mainly the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.

We love waffles and our waffle iron was getting old and was just OK. So it was time to hunt through Amazon. Found this one and I'd say it is one of the best buys I've made. Here's why 1) The waffles are phenomenal. Almost too good, after all you can't eat waffles all the time! I've tried two different recipes and both worked well. I will say a really fluffy belgian recipe may not be the best as the waffles are thick and they can collapse under their own weight. 2) The thing is wicked easy to use. You plug it in, fill it up, flip it over and wait for the green light, that's it! 3) Super easy to clean Couple of things you should know. First the drip tray goes on top of the bottom bar (I had a moment where I thought it must go underneath the whole thing You will over/under fill it at first, no worries, it just takes a little adjusting to get it right. Same with the doneness, play with the heat control until you get it exactly where you want it. Took me two tries, so it is not hard. Don't flip it back. I did that once cause I had forgotten to make my heat adjustment. you wind up with a weird separated waffle, don't do it. In general, I would plan for your first batch to be experimental, but once you've dialed it in you are solid forever Finally, for those of you who gave a lower rating because they couldn't figure out how to turn these things. Really?!? OK, it only turns in one direction, but it turns in that direction freely, and does not turn on the other at all. So go with the machine and you will be fine. Hope you enjoy yours!

I bought this as a birthday present to myself (really an excuse to buy something I don't need since I already have a waffle maker). Having said that, this waffle maker was actually sturdier than I expected for an appliance under $40. I prepared the "Classic Waffle" recipe, sprayed the grids lightly with vegetable spray and followed the instructions in the booklet on how much batter to use. I set the temperature control at about "1/3" and baked for approx 2 minutes total each (not totally depending on the temperature control for accuracy). All were baked perfectly, came out without sticking (needed to use 2 spatulas and a prayer to remove it as one big waffle) and there was little cleanup needed. This makes a really thick, fluffy kind of special occasion waffle vs my other waffle maker; really great with with fresh strawberries/berries and whipped cream. Tried reheating the extra waffles in the waffle maker (per the instruction booklet) which was simple and worked well. I found I really did "need" this maker after all. No, the grids are not removable, it's not made out of stainless steel, batter from scratch takes time, and getting the correct amount of batter and temperature may take some trial and error -- but the end result is well worth it. I couldn't be happier with this purchase.

I ordered the Waffle Maker about 3 weeks ago, I know its not a long time for having it but I love it and it works great!! I dont really like to ordering anything online but the Waffle Maker sold here where i live is $60 and knew Amazon had the same one for a better price. It arrived on time nothing was broken everything works, I used a basic waffle mix that comes on any pancake box, sprayed it with Pam just to make sure it wouldn't stick (Last Saturday i used it and forgot to spray Pam and I was so upset I thought it was going to ruin the waffle maker but not to worry nothing happen and came out just like the others had the perfect waffle the first time, might have to mess with the temp just to get it the way you like it. Takes about 5mins for each waffle a lot faster then making pancakes, very easy clean to clean you just unplug let it cool and clean, (I wipe it down with a damped paper towel.) By the way the waffle maker comes with directions on how to use it and its very basic. I make waffles twice a week. I would definitively recommend this. Only bad thing for me is when making waffles the box recipe makes 4 waffles every time and its just my husband and I, We can only eat one each or if he's at work I only eat one and I have all this batter left over..Kinda a wast but if you have a big family you have nothing to worry about other then you might run out of batter because everyone will love the waffles. Hope this helps ********UPDATE********* I've had this waffle maker for about 6 months it still works nothing's broken or messed up, my family loves coming over for breakfast. I still haven't made pancakes since I ordered this, from time to time I still forget to spray Pam but its okay it doesn't stick I use my waffle maker 4-5 times out of the month and still looks brand new. I would definetly recommend this to everyone!!!

I got this waffle iron for a Mother's Day gift. We used it once and it made really decent waffles. The middle heat setting gave us the crispy outside and soft center we like. One waffle is HUGE...and super filling, so personally one half of these waffles is enough. We wiped it down and put it away. Next time we got it out we noticed the plastic on the handle where it meets the iron was cracked all the way across. Glad I saved the box as it is being sent back. Could have been a glitch in that particular one. I am not sure I will order another one base on that defect. Seemed a little cheap when I first picked up the product the first time, so not that surprised.

I bought this waffle maker after a lot of reading and research. When it arrived, I tried it out with a store Belgian waffle mix, from a brand whose pancake mix is amazing. I was so disappointed when the waffles were AWFUL...tasted like cardboard. I varied the recipe according to suggestions on the box...still awful (and this is a well-known brand, and not cheap). Hoping that it was the mix and not the machine, I went online searching for a scratch recipe. What I found was this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/waffle-of-insane-greatness-recipe.html And let me tell you...BEST WAFFLES EVER...better than any restaurant. Does it take longer than a box mix? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely! If you're going to invest in one of these appliances, its worth the extra few minutes (and calories) to get results like this. It's not like you're going to be making waffles every day (though it is tempting). One recipe makes two waffles...perfect, maybe a tablespoon of leftover batter. As for the waffle maker itself...it heats quickly. Easy to clean with a damp paper towel. Wafflkes are crispy outside, fluffy inside. Drip tray came in handy my first few tries, until I figured out when to stop pouring the batter. Overflow from these beginner's goofs wiped off tray and maker easily with a damp sponge. Dial for darkness control is great, too. I couldn't be happier with this purchase. :)