Product Review: Presto® Flipside™ Belgian Waffle Maker

One of my favorite breakfast foods has always been Belgian waffles. When we eat breakfast out in a restaurant I always enjoy ordering and eating a delicious Belgian waffle. I have purchased the frozen waffles at the grocery store but they are just no comparison to a Belgian waffle. One time when my husband and I were out of town we ate breakfast at the hotel's restaurant where we were able to make our own Belgian waffles. The waffles were probably the best Belgian waffles I had ever eaten but using their waffle maker was very difficult. It took two of us to figure out how to use it and what to do! By the time my waffle was ready there was a line of people behind me waiting to make their own.

When my mother wanted to know what I would like to receive for Christmas, the first item that came to mind was a Belgian waffle maker. I have wanted to make my own delicious waffles at home so I don't have to wait until we go out to eat to enjoy them.

Thanks to my parents, for Christmas I received a Presto® Flipside™ Belgian Waffle Maker. Even though I was excited to have received this great present, I was also worried that it would take me forever to figure out how to use it even with following instructions. I tried out my Presto® waffle maker yesterday for the first time and I was surprised and very pleased with how easy it is to use.

The Presto® Flipside™ Belgian Waffle Maker is a professional-style unit that is designed to bake extra thick waffles in 3 minutes to 4 minutes and costs under $60. There is a battery-operated countdown timer on the unit with a digital display that will beep when your waffles are done baking so there is no guess work involved.

I purchased a box of Belgian waffle mix from Wal-Mart and mixed up enough batter yesterday to make 3 waffles. The instructions recommend when using the waffle maker for the first time to brush with a light coating of vegetable oil. Once you heat up the waffle maker, you pour 2/3 cup of batter into the waffle maker. The unit has a light that turns off once it is warmed up so again there is no guess work involved. I set the timer for 3 ½ minutes and the timer will countdown five seconds before the actual baking time begins. The waffle maker flips 180 degrees to evenly spread the batter so that the waffles will come out crispy on the outside and fluffy and moist on the inside. So after closing the lid and ensuring that the handles were tightly closed, I flipped my waffle maker 180 degrees. When the timer went off, I opened up the lid and was very happy to see a fluffy, big Belgian waffle that looked like it was made in a restaurant. The waffle easily came out of the waffle maker and I had very little clean up. I just took a warm cloth and lightly went over the grids of the waffle maker. The only negative aspect of the waffle maker I found was that it seemed to take an extremely long time to cool enough so I could put it away.

The waffle maker stores very nicely and takes up little room in my cabinet and it is a great appliance I recommend to anyone who likes waffles as much as I do!