Customer Reviews

Cuisinart WAF-R Traditional Waffle Iron

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I am loving the aesthetics of this thing. It reminds of the heavy-duty, no-nonsense waffle makers at a Waffle House.

The iron heats up quickly - no more than five minutes from off to level 4. The indicator lights are bright, and the audible alert isn't loud or shrill. Any stainless steel case will get hot, so if you are accident-prone, skip this unit and go with one with a plastic case.

I have to disagree with some of the complaints about the handle insulation - this unit isn't a panini press, and doesn't require you to grip it with your whole hand and yank up. Slight upward pressure with your thumb is all that's needed to disengage the lock, free the waffle, and open the lid. And speaking of the locking mechanism: it works perfectly on mine. It is very subtle and does the job.

The plates are non-stick and don't require oiling. I have made dozens of waffles, ranging in doneness from spongy to crispy, and every single one has released cleanly. Again, all it takes is a gentle upward pressure on the handle with your thumb until the lid opens.

One welcome surprise about this unit: it is designed to be stored vertically! The plate hinges and lip of the base make a tripod, giving you more storage options.

My only issue with the WAF-R is that I think the gutters could be a bit bigger. With a new batter, that first waffle can get a little messy.

For many, many years, we had a Sunbeam traditional waffle iron with adjustable browning. We loved it. It finally quit. We went out and bought a Belgian waffle maker. Hated it. Gave it to the Salvation Army. Tried another brand of Belgian waffle maker. Didn't like that either. Gave it to the church. Realized we didn't like the "Belgian" waffle style but could not find a traditional waffle maker in the local stores. Finally found the Cuisinart Traditional waffle maker on line. It took a little getting used to but makes very good "traditional" waffles. Not as good as our old Sunbeam but acceptable.

The first waffle came out OK, but on our second try the lid mechanism locked with the waffle inside. We tried everything to get the waffler open but had to send it back, trapped waffle and all.

This waffle maker is so nice. The waffles come out crisp and fluffy and perfect every time. Don't listen to the people who say bad things about it. They probably never read the manual (which is very helpful by the way). It contains all kinds of recipes I never would have thought of. Also, I have never spilled a drip or had it run over as others have stated. Just use a heaping 1/3 cup and your waffles will come out nice and round without spilling. This is a well made high quality product that should last quite awhile.

The waffles that this makes are very thin. Also if you happen to overfill the iron, it is very hard to clean, there is a seam that everything seems to collect in and is very hard to get out of. But the waffles do come out nicely, and the timer with an alarm is a nice feature.

This is the best waffle maker we've had. There's a beep to tell you that the waffle is done, but if you don't get there right away, the waffle doesn't burn, but the waffle iron will beep every so often.

I purchased my unit on 03/29/08 and noticed one change from the manual I downloaded from the Cuisinart website.

NO LOCK and no mention of one in the manual that came with the unit so it cannot be stored upright. However, a moot point since I have lots of under cabinet storage area.

On first use, before seasoning the grills I turned the unit on high and left it on for about 30 minutes to burn off the usual newness all heating units seem to give off at first and then let the unit cool off. After this, I seasoned the grills using lots of cooking oil to season up the bottom of both grills doing the bottom first and the tricky part was to do the top the same way and making sure it was level and to keep the grill open for the top seasoning. I turned the grill onto high and let the oil season the metal grills for about 10 minutes for each grill I seasoned this way.

NOTE: This does not season the tops of the squares of the grill since oil does not come into contact with the metal at these raised points.

I turned off the grill and let it cool down then soaked up all of the oil with paper towels. I then sprayed the grill while cool with "A LOT" of PAM cooking spray and turned the grill back on and closed it and let it set for another 10 minutes then turned it off and let it cool. I then cleaned the grills with a warm moist wash towel and let it air dry.

I then proceded to do a first test throw away waffle. I set the grill on the highest setting and waited for the audible tone and then sprayed both grills with PAM and put in just over 1/3 cup of batter. I waited for the audible tone and waited about an additional 30 seconds. I opened the grill and will note the waffle was attached to the upper grill, however it released very easily. I will note that the waffle was somewhat burned but I expected that.

I turned the grill down to the #4 setting with the grill open for a few minutes then resprayed both grills with PAM and refilled the grill with the same amount of batter. This waffle turned out quite well.

I proceded with a second and third waffle and both came out even better.

However, I note that most waffles seemed to stick to the top grill. I sprayed a little more PAM on the top grill and the fourth was on the bottom grill when I opened it.

I've been making waffles everyday and note that most times the waffle is attached to the top grill when I open it. However, the waffle comes off very easily. I think I just don't give the upper grill as good a coating of PAM as the bottom.

So far the waffles some out extremely well.

My old unit (Toastmaster) didn't have a lock and since the Cuisinart unit makes good waffles I won't miss or notice it.

The coating on the waffle iron flaked off after only a year and a half. I was happy with the waffle iron until this happened, but now it's useless. We now get little black flakes of teflon on the waffles plus they stick to the plates. My children love waffles so I'm buying a new waffle iron but not this one.

After watching Elton Brown on Food Network one evening, I realized that a round traditional waffle maker is the best choice. After researching the best, I came up with Villaware and Cuisinart. Cuisinart has been wonderful, as I already own 2 food processors and a toaster. How could I go wrong? This Waffle iron far surpasses my previous one and is beautiful to look at.

Thank you Amazon!

Alan Casey
Winter Haven, FL

I inherited a great waffle iron from my mother. It had been a wedding gift to my parents in 1943 and still works like a dream. I moved it to my vacation home in Newfoundland and wanted a similar waffle iron to replace it here in Virginia. The Cuisinart iron looks and cooks like the old iron, and it's functionally even better. The new iron has a temperature control and a buzzer that goes off when the waffle is done. The waffles come out perfect and ROUND, and they never stick.