Belgian Waffle Party (or Why The KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker Waffle Maker Is One of Mankind’s Greatest Achievements)
This evening, we had a Belgian Waffle party. Before we get to the good stuff (for you foodies, anyway), let me say: Stop what you are doing right now and go buy the KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker Waffle Maker. It is the greatest waffle maker I have ever used, ever owned, or probably every will own. All of the consumer reviews, even by people who have owned this same model for years, say the same thing. It is as good as the now untouchable KitchenAid mixers that make the brand so famous. Built like a tank with the capability of making two Belgian waffles at the same time, the Pro Line model retails for $249.99 but is only $199.99 with free shipping for Amazon Prime customers. That is a fantastic price – I’d gladly have paid more and still considered it a bargain.
The Belgian waffle recipe we used called for creating two mixing bowls – one dry, one wet – and then combining them in a final step. This was the dry mix, which included powdered buttermilk, flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
The wet mixing bowl included eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract …
The final step of the wet mixing bowl, putting in the seltzer water, before combining it with the dry mixing bowl to create the Belgian waffle batter …
We had to use far more waffle batter than the recipe called for because the KitchenAid Pro Waffle Baker has a larger surface area, which is more what you’d find in a hotel or restaurant.
The KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker has a cool feature that causes the ordinarily blue timer countdown to turn red and start counting up once you miss the beeping alarm telling you your waffle is finished.
Hot, piping Belgian waffles coming out of the waffle maker …
There were Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips as a waffle topping …
The fruit toppings for the Belgian waffles included cherry, strawberry, blueberry, and apple, as well as fresh bananas, peanut butter, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, whipped cream, and almost anything else you can imagine.
One of the Belgian waffles was garnished with strawberries, whipped cream, and powdered sugar.
This was a peanut butter and banana with maple syrup Belgian waffle.
One reviewer said his family even takes this waffle baker with them on vacations. It’s so good and so consistent, there isn’t even a temperature control (it would be pointless). You pour in the batter, throw the timer to your preferred setting, and out come two perfect, gourmet quality waffles. Speaking from personal experience, I couldn’t agree more. These are fine hotel-quality or fine restaurant-quality waffles; far larger than you are going to find in a normal home waffle maker.
Let’s back up. How did I get to the point that I am now raving about a professional series waffle baker instead of talking about blue chip stocks, real estate, or the general condition of the economy?
It began during my late teens. When I moved from the Kansas City area to central New Jersey to attend college, the university had a policy that all freshman were required to be on the campus meal plan to bring down the cost for the collective student body. To keep down personnel costs, on Saturdays, breakfast and lunch were combined into brunch, complete with scrambled eggs, Belgian waffles, sausage, bagels, orange juice, grapefruits, cereal, strawberries, etc. It was one of my favorite things because everyone would sleep in, meet up, then wander over to the dining commons, often still in pajama bottoms and t-shirts.
Reviving that tradition, my family began hosting regular brunches on the weekends. Everyone stops by, hangs out for an hour or two, catches up, has coffee, discusses what is going on in our lives, and plays games before disbanding. It’s a way to keep the people who matter connected and carve out space for them by creating a ritual of it.
What Makes the KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker Special
There are several things that make the KitchenAid waffle baker better than your run-of-the-mill waffle iron or waffle maker.
- KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Maker Size: 9.3″ x 16.3″ x 10.5″
- Shipping Weight: 24 pounds
- Capabilities: The KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Maker bakes two 7.5″ diameter x 1.25″ thick waffles
- Construction of stainless steel and die cast metal
- Non-stick waffle plates; double-sided, clamshell style baking unit flips to provide consistent waffle appearance
- Constant baking temperature to help Belgian waffles come out great
- The built-in alarm warns you if your waffles are finished so you can avoid burning them
One perfect, flawless waffle out of the KitchenAid version and you wouldn’t let people pay you to use another waffle iron, much less have a riot over a $2 piece of plastic as happened at Walmart on Black Friday.
Here is what it looked like when we unboxed our KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker.
Unboxing the KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker
I feel like the world needs to know about this piece of quality engineering. It’s so nice to have a product that actually does what it is supposed to do and is built in a way you can tell quality, not cost, was the primary motivation.
