Hamilton Beach Belgian Waffle Maker with Removable PFAS-Free Durathon Nonstick Coated Plates, Easy Flip, Ceramic Grids, Black (26031)

good waffle iron

Good quality and price.

This is the best! Easy to clean, cooks the waffles good!

It cooks a little slow. And unfortunately I didn't notice before I bought it that it only does one waffle at a time. My old waffle maker did two at a time. But the main reason I bought this was because of the removable plates. I was absolutely sick and tired of having to clean my old waffle maker. Cleaning this one was a total breeze. Easiest thing to do. I do not regret buying this because... It did cook my waffles evenly. And it's super simple to clean. I'm going to have to probably put it on the highest setting and ignore the lights and learn the timing of it. That way I'll know exactly how many minutes each waffle takes and I can time the hole meal better. I only gave it a four star instead of a five simply because it felt like it took a lot longer to cook each waffle than my other waffle maker did.

I hate how hard waffle makers are to clean. I don't like just wiping off the plate between uses. I prefer to clean with soap and water to make sure they are actually clean. Can't do that with plates attached to the base. I looked years ago when I bought my last waffle maker and found nothing with removable plates. When that one died, I again looked for so long to find a waffle maker with removable plates and finally found this. I am very pleased so far and would buy it again.We have had the waffle maker for several months now. Must have made waffles at least a dozen times. For the first couple times, I just threw the plates in the dishwasher, but noticed white spots on the back side of the plates. Even though I'm pretty sure they say the plates are dishwasher safe, they aren't. They are just cast aluminum and react to the detergent and heat. So now I hand wash them with a bottle brush. Still so much better than our old waffle maker. With hand washing, I haven't seen any new deterioration. Even with hand washing, being able to detach the plates makes a world of difference.I have noticed that this takes a lot longer to heat up, probably due to the detachable plate design not having the best contact with the heating element, but I am able to get nicely browned waffles still. Just takes a couple minutes longer. The light also takes longer to go off when new batter is put in for the same reason I suppose.As with all modern waffle makers, the cord is so short I can barely even plug it in anywhere I can actually use it, but that seems to be the trend now. Make sure to buy a short heavy gauge extension cord with it if you don't have one already.

I really like this one! Waffles are my thing and I make them 1-2x/week faithfully. I like having removable plates but did not want to purchase the same brand I owned previously which had removable plates. After a lot of searching and considering, I went with HB for the ceramic, removable plates. I've used it a couple of times and love it. Waffles are perfect, plates remove and clean up with ease. I hand wash after each use and give a quick spray of oil prior to use. I have not had an issue with sticking--waffles lift right out. If you are having a time deciding like I was, move this one to the top of the list if it sounds like this will suit your needs!

Love this waffle iron - being able to remove the plates for easy washing is a wish come true!

Here's an update to go with the pic of stuck-on waffle----After three or four weeks of constant use, I finally took off the plates and put them in the dishwasher. Upon taking them out of the dishwasher, I stuck them in the waffle maker and began using them. Big mistake. It stuck tight. I should have sprayed them with oil first. I believe the directions say you don't have to use oil on them except the first time but I didn't find that to be true. I sprayed them once but they continued to stick. So I had to use spray every other waffle and I definitely had to spray when I had a sugary ingredient like chocolate chips. So I won't be putting them in the dishwasher again. Just being able to remove them and clean them is good enough for me.Something with almost 2,500 reviews really doesn't need another one but here goes anyway. I have never owned a waffle iron. Didn't see the point but another vacation this year with a waffle iron in the hotel lobby for the complimentary breakfast made me do it. Glad I did. My teenagers love it. I love the throw in dishwasher part although I haven't. We've been using it at least every other day. Since reading about the orange peeling off from another review after a year or so, I probably won't ever actually put it in the dishwasher. I won't be mad either if it doesn't last more than a year after so much use. It also wasn't a $100 purchase so I think if it lasts 6 months I'm good. It will probably be on sale for Black Friday anyway.Our first set of waffles were perfect. The only recipe I had called for eggs but we didn't have any so I looked on Pinterest for an eggless recipe. Found - 2 cups flour, 2 tsp sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, 4 tbl melted butter, 2 tbl water, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 cups milk and 2 tbl oil. Like I said, perfect. Light fluffy kind of crispy on outside. Started adding choc. chips, nutmeg, pecans, apples, blueberries, etc. in subsequent batches. Still perfect. Just the right thickness to hold extras. We ran out of flour so tried Hungry Jack pancake complete mix and it was edible. Just tasted like pancakes, only thicker. Won't do that again.UPDATE LESS THAN A YEAR FROM PURCHASE-MAJOR DOWNGRADE FROM 5 STARSJust overheated this morning and handle melted off. Just used it yesterday and made one waffle before unplugging it to make more waffle mix. Plugged it back up to reheat. Less than 10 minutes later see pics