My perfect Belgian waffle (maker)

Unboxing my “new” waffle maker a few month back.

I used my “new” waffle maker to make the largest, most perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside Belgian waffles I’ve ever made at home. I’ll have to do some work to improve the batter recipe, but the waffle maker was solid.

It’s been years since I’ve made waffles at home, after having gone through different waffle makers that ultimately failed on me. They either started to char the outside while retaining the uncooked batter on the inside, or they simply stopped turning on.

This time, I was determined to find a waffle maker that not only made good Belgian waffles, but one that would last - preferably for a lifetime, but I’ll accept a decade.

It took me hours of frustrating research to realize that the majority of modern waffle makers on the market do not fit my ”use it and don’t toss it” criterion. Even high-end waffle makers that I invested in hoping that they’d last longer failed. They were better, slightly sturdier, but even they needed to be replaced within two years.

I finally came up with a solution to look for vintage waffle makers (back when manufacturing practices and quality control were better). I took a chance as they had no warranty and were produced decades ago.

You see, the decline of manufacturing globally didn’t occur to me until a few years back during a conversation with my late grandfather when it became painfully clear that planned obsolescence has become the strategy, not just for our smart phones, but for almost all the electronic products we use in our daily lives.

I was visiting my grandfather and one morning he woke up, cut open a few oranges, and decided to make juice using his electric juicer. “The electronics made in the US are so sturdy” he said. “Your mom brought me this juicer over 30 years ago, and it still works so well. I think it’ll live on even longer than me.” He was right. That was the last time I saw my grandfather before he passed.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him at the time that our world has changed. That manufacturing technology and quality assurance that has been steadily improving over the last several decades has been pushed aside for faster and cheaper. That so many of these companies with best practices and know-how went out of business. That nothing lasts over two years nowadays. That our consumer-centric culture has created an insatiable demand for more, as people crowd their homes with stuff they don’t need in place of stuff that they treasure, use, and pass down to the next generation.

This didn’t make any sense to me, especially at a time when our species is facing a climate crisis and existential challenges. But I still have faith that people are becoming more aware and starting to question their purchase decision. As for me, I want to be proactive in making the small changes I can personally make.

So after several more hours of research, I found my perfect waffle maker on eBay, likely older than me but still “ brand new in box”.

Some digging around informed me that this company was around for decades making both consumer and commercial waffle makers, before reducing their production to only commercial waffle makers, before finally, from what I can tell from the lack of information, going out of business in the 2000’s.

I was both excited and nervous to unbox and try it out - not knowing if this would still make decent waffles, if the batter will burn or stick to this old new technology, or if this was just a terribly silly idea.

Making my buckwheat waffles

It was wonderful to see how heavy and robust this little waffle maker was built and how ginormous the waffle iron was for a single waffle.

To our delight, the waffle maker worked and worked very well! We had to cook it for seven minutes, rather than the two minutes as per the instruction that came with the box (gluten-free waffles usually take longer). And though I need to do a bit more work on the batter (I used too little oil, the hubs remedied his waffle by slathering it with melted butter which came out insanely delicious), this waffle maker is definitely the best I’ve owned, hands down.

My hope is that this will last me a lifetime, no warranty needed.

(2022 update: since I typed up this post, I’ve purchased a second one off of eBay and can now make TWO waffles at a time! Seriously one of the best purchases I’ve ever made)

Crispy Buckwheat waffles. (We served it with butter, not pictured)