"Waffley" Tasty Fun in the Kitchen! (Kenwood Disney Waffle Maker)

Member Name: lel1969

Product:	Kenwood Disney Waffle Maker
Date:	11/02/09 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to use with great tasting results.

Disadvantages: No low fat, low calorie recipes!

My daughter, Erin, is now 11 and turning into quite the young lady. She loves to "help" me in the kitchen when I'm making the tea, she loves setting the table and washing the dishes and trying to help me cook, although this can sometimes be more of a hindrance! But I don't like to discourage her. For her Christmas I wanted to get her something of her own for the kitchen, something we could use together but that ultimately would be her first real kitchen appliance. She has recently discovered sweet waffles, which she loves toasted and spread with butter, so I thought a waffle maker would be the perfect gift.

I had a look at quite a few different ones but most of them were multipurpose ones, making not only waffles, but doughnuts and toasted sandwiches as well, but I just wanted a plain and simple waffle maker. This was when I came across the Disney Waffle maker. I happened to notice it in Currys, where it was half price, reduced from £19.99 to £9.99. This looked great, a real working kitchen appliance but with a bit of fun about it and at a great bargain price too.

==A Bit About the Waffle Maker==

The waffle maker itself is approximately 13.5" x 10" x 4" in size. The top hinged area and the bottom handle area are both in sturdy plastic and the middle section is in a really eye-catching shiny chrome with the outline of Mickey Mouse embossed in the middle. Along with the waffle maker there was a simple to follow instruction manual, which included 4 different simple batter recipes - Traditional Waffles, Lemon Sponge Waffles, Vanilla Waffles and Cheese Waffles. The inside of the waffle maker comprises of 2 black non-stick hot plates featuring 4 Mickey Mouse head shapes with indents for his facial features. All looks great but what will the results be like?

==Making the Waffles==

We have only tried the traditional waffle recipe, which is simple and easy to make and should be left to stand for at least an hour before cooking. I have found that if Erin wants waffles for breakfast, it is best to make up the batter mix the night before and just leave it in the fridge over night ready to use in the morning, this saves a lot of time! Before your first use the plates of the waffle maker should be wiped over with a damp cloth, just to ensure they are clean. Once the mix is ready you should turn the waffle maker on. There is a little red light on the top of the chrome panel, this will light up as soon as the power is switched on and it will go out once the hot plates have reached the required temperature. The mixture should then be poured into each of the 4 Mickey Mouse faces. I found it easiest to put the batter mix into a jug for this part, we did initially try spooning the mixture from a bowl, but this was too messy and by the time we had reached the last waffle the first one was almost ready. Using a jug helps to carefully manoeuvre the mixture into each face and can also be done much quicker, we also found it much easier for Erin to do this way. Care should be taken not to spill onto the sides of the plates, although if this is done, it is very easily wiped clean when the plates have cooled. Each face should be filled as full as possible, I found that if they weren't quite full then the mixture didn't quite seem to reach the top plate when closed, producing a waffle with one brown side and one pale side. If you do manage to fill each face to capacity this seems to produce a more evenly cooked, crispier waffle. Once each face is filled as full as you can manage then the waffle maker should be closed and there is a little snap clip on the handle to hold the plates together tightly. After 3-4 minutes (the suggested cooking time) the waffles should be ready to eat!

==The Results==

The results were wonderful! Although the waffles only take between 3-4 minutes to cook, this seemed like and eternity to us! The waffles we first made I didn't quite fill the faces to capacity so were brown and crispy on one side and quite soft on the other side, but still tasted wonderful. Once we had mastered the filling of each face to capacity we were then producing evenly browned crispy on the outside and soft on the inside waffles. Most of these waffles were eaten immediately after leaving the hot plates, with my whole family standing patiently waiting for the next batch to be ready; they were then snapped up and spread with butter. Oh they tasted wonderful with melted butter dripping down our fingers. Butter wasn't enough for my son though; he got out the ice cream, blueberries and maple syrup and made a small feast from his. Almost all of the waffles were eaten immediately after cooking but there were a couple left, which were eaten a couple of hours later, they were still very tasty but had lost there crispiness and had a more chewy texture. After use once cool the hot plates are very easily wiped clean.

==My Views==

Was this a good buy? In a word yes. It was simple and easy to use producing great tasting (and fattening!) waffles. Erin was able to help make the waffles herself, although I wouldn't leave her to do it on her own. I liked how quickly the waffles cooked and how easily the waffle maker was cleaned after use. I liked the look of the waffle maker with the shiny chrome plate, although I did feel it got quite hot during the cooking process, not too hot for me to touch but perhaps could be hot enough to burn little hands, but as with all kitchen appliances, care should always be taken during use. Overall I would definitely recommend this product as a fun and tasty addition to anyone's kitchen. My only wish would be that someone can now come up with a low calorie, low fat recipe for waffles!

Many thanks for reading.

©lel1969

Summary: A super addition to your kitchen appliances.