The 5 Best Waffle Makers for Weekend Brunch, Tested and Reviewed

Our Favorite Waffle Maker

Your ideal waffle maker is one that fits your needs and makes waffles the way you like them – crispy, extra golden brown, or on the softer side. We chose the Cuisinart Vertical Waffle Maker as our best overall pick because of its high score during our rigorous testing process. We loved its easy-to-use and clean nonstick plates, customizable settings, and vertical design for fuss-free storage.

Our Waffle Maker Tests

We scoured the market and tapped our editors for recommendations to come up with a list of more than 17 waffle makers, which we evaluated side by side. We rated the results for cooking performance, design, size, ease of cleaning, and overall value. Using both yeasted and non-yeasted batter, we made three batches of each type with every waffle maker. We measured pre-heating speed, browning and overall doneness, and batter overflow, and we noted observations for use and cleanup throughout. After compiling our notes and data, we picked the very best in seven categories.

What We Learned During Waffle Maker Testing

• It's key to know your preferred waffle style. The two most common types of waffles are Belgian and American. If you prefer American-style waffles, which are thinner and crispier than their counterparts, you’ll want a classic waffle maker with shallow plates. For thick, fluffy Belgian-style waffles, look for models that are labeled “Belgian” or that have deeper plates.
• You'll sacrifice some efficiency if you want a more compact waffle maker. Consider not only the size of the appliance but also the size of the waffles. Waffle makers can be quite large, so you may want to invest in a compact, easy-to-store model if you don't have much space in your kitchen or on your counter. The size of your waffles, meanwhile, really depends on personal preference. A mini waffle maker, of course, cooks smaller waffles, which are great for breakfast sandwiches and desserts. Other waffle makers produce waffles as big as your plate. There are waffle makers that make one waffle, two waffles, and sometimes even four. If you're entertaining a large group of people for breakfast or are catering an event, you may want to consider how many waffles a maker gets out and how long this will take.
• The bells and whistles aren't usually going to make or break your choice. For the most part, waffle makers aren’t very different from one another besides the size, shape, and depth of the plates. However, some models have various browning settings for desired doneness, timers for the cooking time, and indicators for when the plate is hot, while others don’t have any sort of functions.
• The less batter spilled, the better. Waffle makers can be tricky to clean, especially if you overfill them with batter and it spills over. A waffle maker with nonstick plates is usually easier to clean (and even more so if you can remove the plates). If batter spills over, you should be able to simply wipe it clean. Some waffle makers have wrap-around moats to eliminate the spillage issue.
  

Other Waffle Makers We Tested

Strong Contenders

Dash Mini Waffle Maker ($10 at Amazon)

The Dash mini is great for small portions and kids, but given the size it's not ideal for efficiency's sake during waffle-making.

Cuisinart WAF-200 Belgian Waffle Maker ($58 at Amazon)

This waffle maker cleaned up like a dream and heated fairly quickly. Despite being fairly happy with this model, we found the batter did not distribute evenly without stirring or swirling around when pouring. It was also a bit bulky to store, and the waffle quadrants split when removed from the heating plate.

Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker ($120 at Amazon)

This waffle iron prepares two authentic Belgian waffles with its rotating mechanism and adjustable browning control. The cooking plates are coated with nonstick, and there are readiness indicator lights and audio beeps. Although the waffle maker cleans up nicely, we found that it did not cook as evenly as we wanted, with one side either being browner or paler than the other.

All-Clad Classic Round Waffle Maker ($130 at Amazon)

Glossy stainless steel gives the All-Clad Classic Round Waffle Maker a lavish look. Settings include seven adjustable toasting levels, but we still found the waffle quite pale using the medium heat setting. Even with the highest level of browning, the edges of the waffles turned out pale.

NordicWare Original Stovetop Belgian Waffler ($65 at Nordic Ware)

You can use this Belgian waffle iron right on your stovetop. Preheat both sides on the stove and pour the batter in. Then, close the iron using its interlocking hinges and let it cook for about one minute before flipping over the iron for another couple of minutes, and voila! You have a waffle. It’s lightweight, but we noted difficulties with batter distribution and uneven browning between the yeasted and non-yeasted batter.

What Didn't Make the List

This Oster Belgian Waffle Maker from Oster makes 8-inch round waffles with nonstick plates and a cool-touch handle for extra ease. Its waffles, however, turned out much too thin for us to consider them the ideal Belgian style that the appliance touts. The Chefman Anti-Overflow Waffle Maker is easy to use, but we thought it would have been nice to have audio indicators along with the lights, as the doneness of the waffles isn't very clear with the lights alone. At first glance, the Black+Decker 3-in-1 Grill Griddle Waffle Maker looked great. Unfortunately, we found that it would have been better to have one single function that worked excellently than multiple functions that gave average results. While the cooking plates on the Presto FlipSide Electric Waffle Maker are reversible, they're not very secure, and they popped out of place during testing. Securing them back into place was difficult, as the plate was already hot. The Nostalgia MyMini Waffle Maker features a preheating light that goes off when ready, but the waffles turned out inconsistent between tests, with uneven browning. The maker did not respond well to making one waffle after the next, so it needed a longer reheat period.

Our Expertise

Lauren Musni is a Food & Wine contributor who holds a journalism degree from Rutgers University and a culinary arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America. For this article, she used our test results and personal experience working in restaurants to determine the best waffle makers on the market.