Waffles are always delicious in the morning. However, what is annoying, and it is something that sometimes gives you nightmares, is getting the waffle iron clean. All those caked-on leftovers and dirt. You’d rather not get into that at all. It can be frustrating, but fortunately we found a solution.
I hereby give you a few handy tips that will effortlessly loosen those caked-on scraps and make cleaning the waffle iron a minimum of effort, so you can enjoy your hatch waffles next time without a hitch.
How do you make sure caked-on scraps come off effortlessly?
The hack that makes residue easy to wipe away? Timing. You let the waffle iron cool, because it needs to, but you also shouldn’t leave it on too long. What we often see is that many put off cleaning the waffle iron on purpose, and this is often tempting, but you really shouldn’t do this.
Let the waffle iron cool, but not too long
So letting the plates in your waffle iron cool down is definitely important. Cleaning a waffle iron while it is still hot makes no sense and this is also dangerous. Unplug it and wait for the plates to cool down. However, if you wait too long, the leftovers from your waffle will start to crust, and then it will be difficult to get the waffle iron clean.
Waffle iron cleaning: Make it a habit
Just make it a habit to let the waffle iron cool and clean it immediately after a few minutes of cooling. It’s not something you look forward to, but you also don’t want to have to clean it when the waffle iron is full of caked on dirt again.
It’s just part of it
Now, many waffle irons cannot go in the dishwasher, and so you will have to clean the waffle iron again yourself. In a few minutes you’ll do the whole job if you use my method. I’m going to make sure that cleaning becomes a matter of minutes.
A roadmap
- Remove the plug from the socket
- Close the appliance and let it cool down
- Use a damp piece of kitchen paper to wipe away crumbs and excess drips of oil and grease on the griddle
- Use a damp cloth to wipe down the exterior
- To remove stubborn batter drips, when cleaning a waffle iron, it is helpful to sprinkle a few drops of cooking oil on the batter. Leave these on for a few minutes and then wipe them off with a damp cloth
- If the waffle iron has removable baking plates, you can carefully rinse them with warm water and detergent
- Make sure the waffle iron is completely dry before storing it away
IMPORTANT: Never clean the waffle iron using sharp objects! Sometimes blades etcetera are used to remove stubborn batter drips for example. Do not do this! You can seriously damage the waffle iron with this.
A damp cloth will often get you a long way
So cleaning a waffle iron requires little more than a simple method of damp kitchen paper or a damp cloth. So the hack is mainly in the timing. Once the waffle iron has cooled down, immediately wipe it with paper towels and proceed with cleaning.
Some tips for maintaining your waffle iron
Then finally, we have some tips for maintaining the waffle iron.
Please refer to the manual
The best general tips for maintaining your waffle iron can often be found through the manufacturer. There are often specific tips for properly maintaining the waffle iron in the manual or on the website.
Coat with oil
Do your waffles get sticky? If so, grease them with a reasonable amount of oil. The amount of butter in the batter also plays an important role. The more butter in the recipe the less likely a waffle will stick. If waffles start sticking frequently it affects the life of the waffle iron.
Waffle irons with non-stick coating
Waffle irons do have a non-stick coating that need only a small and thin layer of cooking oil before being put into use (not with every waffle, once will do). It is then better to use cooking oil from a refillable spray bottle, for example. If you do not use too much oil if you have a non-stick coating on the waffle iron then you can enjoy your waffle iron a lot longer.