10 of the Very Best Waffle-Makers

Style: American | Shape: Round | Number of waffles: One

I love this Cuisinart maker and find the waffles it produces to be particularly delicious — and when something so cheap works so well, it earns a best overall badge. Admittedly, I’m not someone who cooks waffles on a regular basis — but I was so impressed, I made permanent room for the machine in my cupboard. The appliance’s overall small and slim profile helped it earn its spot, too. (No matter how much I liked a bigger waffle maker, I likely wouldn’t have done the same, as space is precious in my Brooklyn apartment and single-use appliances generally don’t make the cut.)

As for the waffles themselves, Gabriella Stern, former development coordinator at Hot Bread Kitchen, likened their overall stature and texture to Eggos, which I think is right on: They’re quite thin, with a super crisp exterior (more so than you would find with an actual Eggo) and almost custardy center. There are five increasing temperatures and I cook them at the recommended level three, which produces a perfectly golden-brown color. It only takes a few minutes to preheat, and the nonstick surface is super easy to wipe down with a damp paper towel. One warning: When your waffle is done cooking, the maker has a light that turns from red to green, but it doesn’t make any sound, so you have to pay attention.

To get a sense of its durability (especially given the low price), I talked to food stylist Sue Li, who has been carrying this Cuisinart waffle iron to photo shoots for more than five years. It has never failed her — even with the wear-and-tear that comes with heavier-than-normal commuting. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary about this model, but in Li’s mind, that’s a good thing. “My preferred kitchen appliances are always the most analog,” she says. “I want the least amount of bells and whistles. Oh, it has smart-phone abilities? No, thank you. It connects to Wifi? Okay, bye. This one plugs in and has a manual dial from high to low. It’s light, it’s compact, and it’s always reliable.” Stern has had hers for several years, too, and repeated a lot of the same compliments Li and I laid out — the simplicity of use, the short preheating time, the ease of cleaning. “The higher-end ones might do multiple waffles in one batch, but they take up a lot of space. This is perfect for two people,” Stern says.

If you like the idea of a simple and affordable waffle-maker, but want deeper pockets and a fluffier interior, Los Angeles Times cooking columnist Ben Mims loves his Oster Belgian waffle-maker. “I make a waffle in it every weekend basically,” he told me. And if you like the way the Oster sounds but prefer a square shape, Li also relies on her Hamilton Beach Belgian-Style waffle-maker, which she described as having many of the same good qualities as the Cuisinart.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Square | Number of waffles: One

Though there are more Belgian-style waffle-makers below, I think this particular model is incredibly straightforward to use. It’s not quite as small as the American-style above, but still more so than all the other electric ones on this list, a big plus when it comes to single-use appliances that you’re likely storing away. The machine has a power button with six heat levels and preheats in just a few minutes. There’s a light and a sound to indicate both when it’s ready to go and when your waffle is done cooking. I found the perfect doneness to be at a level four, which gave my waffles a golden-brown and slightly crisp exterior, with a light and fairly airy inside, almost like the texture of a doughnut. (This might vary a bit depending on the recipe you use, but you can always play around.)

Recipe developer and cookbook author Kristina Cho has owned this model for nearly a decade and it hasn’t let her down. She likes how intuitive it is to use and says it has “very even distribution of heat across all four quadrants.” Those quadrants also allow her to make four smaller waffles per cook to freeze and snack on later.

The machine comes with insertable pancake plates — essentially flattops, where the bottom piece has four indented circles. I have to say: I don’t find those particularly useful (there’s a great multipurpose pick with precise settings from Breville below that works as an actual flattop and panini press, too). All the plates are easy to remove and reinsert, a plus if they need more of a scrub than a wipe to get clean.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Round | Number of waffles: Two

Cuisinart reigns supreme yet again when it comes to a double waffle-maker — the kind where you fill one side with batter, close it, flip it around, and then fill the second side to make two that are done within a few seconds of each other. In testing, I found it to be just as simple to use as the models above. The heating mechanism is a sliding scale at the front that allows you to choose from five settings. The rotation of the iron is smooth and seamless to operate. And though I didn’t have trouble with overflow, there is a stainless-steel tray at the bottom to catch drips if you do. The resulting waffles are Belgian style — so bigger pocketed and fluffier than the waffles from the Cuisinart, our best overall pick. One final note: Though this might be obvious given that it yields twice the amount, this is a much bigger machine than the two above, so make sure you have the space to store it.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Square | Number of waffles: Four

If you’re consistently making breakfast for more than one or two people, you might want to opt for this bigger version from Krups that makes four waffles at a time (yes, so does the All-Clad, above, and the Breville, below, but this one is a couple inches longer than both). It’s what recipe developer and cookbook author Jessie Sheehan uses to feed her husband and kids. “I always spray it first, and it works brilliantly,” she says. “I would say literally within five minutes, maybe even four, your waffles are perfectly brown. You can also open the top and look. That won’t ruin them at all. One little thing I look for is once the steam disappears, then I know they’re done or close to being done.” She also appreciates how easy the Krups is to clean. “The plates pop out and can be put in the dishwasher. We’ve never lost the nonstick and I’ve had this iron for a long time,” she says.

Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang has had her Krups waffle-maker since 2017 and uses it at least once a month. She agrees that it works reliably well. “I’ve never bothered greasing the plates since the first time I used it, and I’ve never had issues with the batter sticking,” she says. She finds that setting the dial to four yields perfectly browned, crisp waffles with still-tender interiors.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Round | Number of waffles: One

Grain-free waffles cook differently than those made with all-purpose flour — and it can be trickier to end up with a distinctly crispy outside while maintaining a soft inside. But a while back, Moon Juice founder Amanda Chantal Bacon told me about her waffle-maker — the only one she’s ever found that does justice to her grain-free waffles (she tried and gave away six different models before finally deeming this one good enough). “With grain-free, my goal is to always get a crust, and then have a steamed cake on the inside,” she says. Without any gluten in the batter, it’s all too easy for the waffles to end up sad and flat. This iron solves that problem. It gets supremely hot, which creates a steaming effect and ensures the texture she is after.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Square | Number of waffles: One

Just like with a panini press, you can opt for a nonelectric version of a waffle-maker. It presses batter into a waffle shape just like all the others on this list, but uses the heat of the stove to do the cooking as you manually control the iron. Nordic Ware, a favorite brand of the Strategist, makes theirs from cast iron, which maintains heat really nicely (good for a crispy outside). Just make sure to season it and treat it with care (same as you would with a skillet), as the material has nonstick properties but isn’t fully nonstick. The plus side of cast iron, though, is that it will last you actually forever instead of wearing down with time.

Style: Belgian | Shape: Square | Number of waffles: Four

Another space-saving solution is to opt for an appliance that has multiple uses so you can get rid of other stuff. Indeed, food writer and editor Alyse Whitney originally bought this Breville model several years ago in an attempt to streamline a lot of the bulk in her kitchen. While it comes with grooved and flat plates to operate as a panini press and indoor grill (the hinge opens 180 degrees), you can also buy Belgian waffle plates that easily click into place, she says. The machine allows you to select the exact degrees, too — the only one on this list that does so — so you can determine exactly the shade of golden-brown and crispy you like (and adjust for different recipes depending on how the batter behaves, too). It has a high wattage so it gets hot in a matter of minutes, Whitney says. She uses it to make waffles for a crowd because it turns out four at a time and says she appreciates that when she’s done, the plates can go in the dishwasher to clean.

Style: Norwegian | Shape: Hearts | Number of waffles: One

Norwegian-style waffles are made up of distinct heart shapes forming a scalloped circle you can pull apart at the indents. According to Kristi Bissell, the writer and recipe developer behind True North Kitchen, the batter often includes cream or sour cream in place of whole milk or buttermilk to make the waffles extra-rich in flavor, which are traditionally served with brown cheese or fruit and whipped cream. As for the maker itself, Bissell appreciates that the hinges are on the back sides of the handle, as opposed to the back of the maker itself, which creates a more even shape and thickness. She points out that the maker latches tightly in the front, ensuring that the waffles never puff up. Still, there are two cook settings: one that heats more quickly and ensures an ultracrispy texture all the way through and another that heats more slowly, giving the waffle just a bit of tenderness in the center.

Style: Bubble | Shape: Hexagon | Number of waffles: One

The batter for Hong Kong egg waffles, or gai dan jai, is similar to standard waffles but with the addition of rice or tapioca flour to give them a chewy texture. Then there’s the distinct shape: a myriad of individual bubbles connected by a thin film of crispy batter. Cookbook author Kat Lieu has loved them since she would eat them from street carts in Manhattan’s Chinatown as a kid.

A little over a year ago, she purchased this electric maker to make them at home. She loves that the machine is simple with “no power button or settings you have to mess with,” she says. When you plug it in, it automatically preheats in about a minute, the outside stays cool to the touch, and there’s no greasing necessary because the nonstick surface “really works,” she says. She describes the waffles it produces as having a “smooth, shiny, and golden brown outside with a bit of a crisp” and a tender inside, “sort of like a cross between mochi and tapioca pearls,” she says. Lieu adds bacon bits and cheese to a savory version she makes for her son and sprinkles powdered sugar, matcha powder, or cocoa powder on top for a sweet take. She eats them plain, too, popping individual bubbles into her mouth, “a sensory delight through and through,” she says. To clean, she waits for the machine to cool down and brushes off any excess bits, then runs over the surface with a damp rag.