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Cleaning waffle makers


How to Clean an Electric Waffle Maker

By

Jessica Harlan

Jessica Harlan

Freelance food writer, trained chef, and kitchen equipment expert Jessica Harlan has written eight cookbooks on topics such as quinoa and ramen.

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Updated on 10/10/19

 The Spruce

Waffles are a welcome breakfast treat on a Sunday morning, but what's not welcome is the task of cleaning the gunked-up waffle maker. All of those crevices in the grid are prime batter traps and it can be frustrating.

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Don't give up on waffles just yet. Cleanup doesn't have to be a pain if you have a few tricks in your arsenal. Before you cook another waffle, commit these tips to memory.

Steps to Getting That Waffle Maker Clean

The trick to cleaning a waffle maker is timing. It should not be hot, but don't put it off or forget to clean it either. Make a habit of cleaning it as soon as it cools down and you should have no problems.

  1. Wait for the waffle maker to cool before cleaning.
  2. Use a dry paper towel or a damp cloth to wipe away crumbs and soak up excess oil drips on the grid plates.
  3. Use a damp cloth to wipe down the exterior.
  4. To remove stubborn, baked-on batter drips, pour a few drops of cooking oil onto the batter. Let it sit a few minutes to soften, then wipe it away with a damp cloth or paper towel.
  5. Removable cooking plates can be gently washed in warm, soapy water, rinsed clean, and air-dried.
  6. Make sure your waffle maker is completely dry before putting it away.

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Don't Forget the Oil in the Grid

After every few uses, you will need to clean up oil that collects in the grid. Follow these simple steps:

  1. Wrap a small piece of paper towel around the pointy end of a chopstick.
  2. Moisten it slightly with white vinegar.
  3. Use it to wipe away the oil and residue within the grid.

5 Tips for Waffle Maker Maintenance

A good waffle maker that you know and trust is a great tool in the kitchen. With a few tips, you can keep it working and looking as good as new.

  1. Always refer to your instruction manual or the manufacturer's website for cleaning tips specific to your waffle maker.
  2. Nonstick waffle makers should only need a light coating of cooking oil before the first time they're used for the day (not before each waffle is made). It's better to use cooking oil either in a refillable spray bottle like a Misto or to brush it on with a pastry brush. Aerosol cooking sprays can leave a gunky residue on the nonstick surface. 
  3. Never submerge an electric waffle maker in water.
  4. Don't use sharp or metal tools to remove the cooked waffles or to scrape off caked-on batter. This may scratch the surface and create future problems with stuck waffles.
  5. If your waffles do begin to stick, make sure that you're greasing the grid with a proper amount of oil. Also, the butter in your batter will play a significant role. The more butter in your recipe, the fewer problems you'll have with stuck waffles.

How To Clean a Waffle Maker

Kitchen

How To

by Shifrah Combiths

updated Nov 21, 2021

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Waffle irons aren’t typically an everyday breakfast kitchen apparatus. Yours may be stored in an out-of-the-way spot, fit for small appliances that get pulled out on weekends or special occasions. Here’s the thing, though, about waffle irons: Even if they’re not used as often as, say, the toaster, they still get grimy, sometimes exceptionally so, and you may find yourself shying away from using it at all.

Dirty waffle irons aren’t only unpleasant to look at; stuck-on food and a stubborn film of baked-on oil interfere with cooking and releasing your waffles, making what’s supposed to be a fun tradition disappointing and frustrating.  

Cleaning the impossibly gross waffle iron you’ve stashed away for far too long can bring back those memory-making mornings of crispy little squares slathered in butter, gleaming with syrup, and piled with berries and a tuft of whipped cream. Here’s how to do it.

Note: The following instructions are for nonstick waffle irons.

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Unplug your waffle iron and let it cool: If you’ve just cooked some waffles, let your iron cool down completely before you attempt to restore it to like-new glory.

What You’ll Need

Instructions

  1. Unplug your waffle iron and let it cool: If you’ve just cooked some waffles, let your iron cool down completely before you attempt to restore it to like-new glory. 
  2. Remove loose crumbs: Use dry paper towels or a soft-bristled brush to remove any loose crumbs. Don’t use any abrasive tools, as they could damage the nonstick surface of your waffle iron plates. 
  3. Sop up any excess oil: With dry paper towels, absorb any still-wet oil that has pooled in your waffle iron grates. Folding your paper towels and fitting the edges into the lines of the grid helps reach oil that’s collected there. 
  4. Prepare your rag: Grab a rag that has a bit of texture (like terry cloth or microfiber). Wet it and apply a small amount of dish soap. 
  5. Wipe down the inside of your waffle iron: Use your soapy rag to wipe down the inside of your waffle iron. If necessary, you can use tongs to help guide the rag into the nooks and crannies of the waffle iron.
  6. Make a paste: If any burnt-on food or stubborn oil spots remain, make a paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.
  7. Let the paste sit: Spoon the paste onto the grates and let it sit for at least a couple hours. The secret ingredient here is time. 
  8. Clean off the paste: After some time, the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda paste will turn brown as it absorbs the dirty oil that’s been stuck to your waffle iron. Wipe the paste off your waffle iron grates with a clean, wet rag. Swap out your rag and wipe again until any and all residue is removed.
  9. Do the detailing work: Scrape a toothpick through any small cracks that have accumulated waffle batter or crumbs.  Wipe the exterior of the waffle iron with a damp rag and a small amount of dish soap. Wipe again with a damp rag to pick up any soapy residue.
  10. Dry the waffle iron: Use a cloth to dry the grates and the outside of the machine. Make sure it’s dry before you use it or put it away.

How to properly clean your waffle iron | Decorate

Who doesn't love a good fresh waffle? Many people don't want to pay for waffles at the cafeteria because they prefer to do it in their own home with a waffle iron. Anyone who has tried them knows how good they are and how easy they are to make. But cleaning the waffle iron well is another matter.

Whether your favorite waffles are sweet or savory, one of the keys to better tasting and looking waffles is a clean waffle iron (you don't like waffles that stick to the machine and come out in chunks).

These days, the terms waffle iron and waffle iron are used interchangeably. p. Technically, a waffle iron is made of cast iron, not electric, and is used to make waffles directly over a stove or campfire. A waffle iron is a small appliance with fixed or removable plates. If you have a real waffle iron, it should be cleaned like a cast iron grill or kitchen utensils.

Index

How often to clean the waffle iron

The waffle iron should be cleaned after each use. This will remove food particles that can promote bacterial growth. . A more thorough cleaning after a few uses will remove excess oil that can go rancid and ruin the taste of the next batch of wafers. If you use the waffle maker only occasionally, you should clean it more thoroughly before storing the appliance.

What you need

How to clean a non-removable waffle iron

How to clean the waffle iron with removable plates

If your waffle iron has removable plates, unplug the machine and let it cool down. Wash the plates in warm soapy water or put them in the dishwasher if recommended by the manufacturer. Follow the same tips to clean the exterior and remove plaque as recommended above.


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How to clean the waffle iron from carbon and fat, what products will be needed

Delicious crispy homemade waffles are prepared in a couple of minutes. But after baking them, a dirty waffle iron remains - the dough sticks to its relief surface, soot and greasy deposits form. To keep the device in working condition, it must be cleaned immediately after use. 9Ol000 waffle iron

How to remove carbon from a waffle iron

Black carbon deposits are usually subjected to prolonged soaking, boiling or roasting. In another way, a thick layer of burning and fat cannot be cleaned off. But a waffle iron is not a frying pan: not everyone can be put entirely in a pot of boiling water.

If your appliance is designed to make waffles on the stovetop or has removable parts, soaking the soot in a cleaning solution is the best way to clean it up. Place the utensils in a large container and use one of the recipes:

  1. Add a pack of soda and a bottle of silicate glue to a pot of water, leave the waffle iron to soak until the dirt softens.
  2. Rub laundry soap into water, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. "Cook" the dishes for several hours until the soot begins to move away.

Old deposits will not dissolve in water, but will become softer and can be removed with a little physical force. Scraping dirt with a metal washcloth or a knife is only permissible from the outside. You can’t scratch the waffle iron inside, you will have to use a toothbrush, carefully cleaning the corrugated surface from dirt.

How to clean old oil and fat from a waffle iron

Oil deposits inside the waffle iron can be easily cleaned with improvised means:

  • Moisten the powder with hydrogen peroxide.
  • Close the lid and let the agent work.
  • After one hour, clean the inside of the appliance with a toothbrush.
  • Repeat the entire procedure if necessary.
  • Wipe the cleaned surface with a damp cloth, then with a dry cloth.

    • Vinegar or citric acid solution is applied to the plates with a sponge, mustard powder is poured and moistened with water. The next steps are the same as cleaning with baking soda.

    If you can remove and soak the panels, a solution is prepared from the specified funds in proportions for 1 liter of water:

    90 g 90 g 90 g 9 g 9 g g.
    Means
    100 g
    VSSUS 100 ml
    Lemonic acid 1 bag

    WAFELNIC WITHLOM COLUSION COMPLETICS OF ACTIONS.

    Pieces of dough from the waffle iron must not be scraped off with a stiff brush or picked out with metal objects. After such “executions”, the waffles begin to stick to the coating, and their cooking turns into a real torment. In order not to scratch the plates, the dried dough must first be softened.

    Removable panels are easier to clean: place them in a bowl of warm water without detergent. After a few minutes, everything that has dried will get wet and can be easily removed with a soft brush or sponge for washing non-stick dishes.

    Waffle iron with non-removable plates clean as follows:

    1. Brush off crumbs with a soft bristle brush.
    2. Moisten a kitchen towel with hot water and wring it out so that it does not drip.
    3. Place a wet cloth on the soiled surface, close the waffle iron and let it soak.
    4. Gently scrape off the softened dough with a silicone spatula or non-abrasive sponge.
    5. Wipe with a clean cloth.

    Wafers must not stick to the plates. But if the finished products are poorly removed from the surface, they constantly leave behind pieces of dried dough, the coating is hopelessly damaged and you should think about replacing the panels or buying a new waffle iron.

    How to clean an old Soviet waffle iron

    Many families inherited old Soviet waffle irons from their mothers and grandmothers. After many years of lying on the mezzanine, these rare devices are able to serve more than one generation of waffle lovers. But their condition usually leaves much to be desired: a thick layer of old fat, black soot make the device unsuitable for use.

    How to clean up old waffle irons depends on their type. In Soviet times, both cast-iron and more "advanced" electric models were in use.

    The first ones look like two corrugated "frying pans" connected to each other for cooking waffles on the stove. Dough is poured onto one of them, the other serves as a lid.

    Thick cast-iron plates with future wafers pressed tightly against each other are placed on the stove. The dough is browned on both sides: first from the bottom, then the waffle iron turns over.

    It is easy to care for such a device - as for ordinary cast iron utensils:

    The washed waffle iron can be additionally ignited on the stove:

    This treatment will create a natural protective layer on the surface of the waffle iron, and it will be easier to care for it: the dough will not burn.

    After cleaning the cast iron with household chemicals, the first portion of waffles should not be eaten, it is better to throw them away.

    It is more difficult with the old Soviet electric waffle iron: it cannot be boiled like a cast iron, and it does not have a non-stick coating, as in new models. Do not scratch the inner surface - use products that dissolve fat (soda, vinegar). Outside, the device can be cleaned with a brush, iron washcloth, pemolux - this will not affect its performance.

    How to clean the waffle iron

    It is advisable to have the manufacturer's instructions handy. But if the memo is lost, follow the following rules:

    1. Electric waffle irons must not be immersed in water, they must be cleaned carefully, preventing moisture from entering the case.
    2. Teflon parts must not be rubbed with abrasives or left in water for a long time. Consider the coating of removable plates: non-stick - do not soak!

    Non-dismantling waffle iron is cleaned in the following order:

    1. Disconnect from mains.
    2. Sweep away crumbs with a soft brush.
    3. Remove sticky dough and oil with a paper towel, sponge.
    4. Try to remove burnt spots with a silicone spatula.
    5. Moisten everything that does not scrape off generously with vegetable oil.
    6. After a few minutes, the oil will soften the greasy coating - remove the mass with a paper towel.
    7. Wipe the surface with a damp kitchen towel.

    The outside of the housing is also washed with a well wrung out cloth to prevent water from penetrating into the electrical box. Do not plug in the appliance until it is completely dry.

    The waffle maker with removable panels is cleaned a little differently:

    1. Unplug the appliance and let it cool down.

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