
Which kitchen appliances use the most energy?
30th June 2022
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A waffle maker is handy when you get a hankering for crisp and fluffy waffles, but not all have evenly heated cooking plates, mess-free designs and speedy cooking times to help you make perfect waffles.
In November 2021 we tested 10 bestselling waffle makers from leading brands including Lakeland, Breville, Sage, Russell Hobbs, and more, to find out which make crisp and fluffy waffles.
Read on to see which waffle makers we recommend, what you should bear in mind if you're looking to buy one and how you can make waffles even if you don't have a waffle maker.
Prices and availability last checked: 7 June 2022.
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Only logged-in Which? members can view the test results below.
If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the waffle makers we tested. Join Which? now to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.
Cheapest price: £32 at Argos, also available at Amazon
Size and weight: 8.9 x 12.4 x 32.9cm (HxWxD); 1.4kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 10.2 x 10.2cm
Approx. heat-up time: 2-3 min
Recommended cooking time: 5-10 min
Other key features: Handle lock, vertical storage, non-slip base, recipes included
The American Originals Flip Over Waffle Maker has a unique cooking method which requires you to grab the handle and flip it over halfway through cooking.
This could be a genius design if it results in evenly cooked waffles.
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Cheapest price: £42.99 at Amazon, Very, also available at Currys.
Size and weight: 9.4 x 27.6 x 23.5cm (HxWxD); 2.43kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 12 x 10.5cm
Approx. heat-up time: 4-5 min
Recommended cooking time: 7 min
Other key features: Detachable cooking plates, handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base, recipes included
This small kitchen appliance from Breville resembles a little suitcase, so it's easy to store away when not in use.
We put this compact waffle maker to the test to see if it's also straightforward to use and whether it cooks waffles evenly.
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Cheapest price: £23.99 at Amazon, also available at Currys (out of stock).
Size and weight: 15 x 30 x 26 (HxWxD); 2.6kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 10 x 11.5cm
Approx. heat-up time: 4 min
Recommended cooking time: 4-5 min
Other key features: Detachable cooking plates, handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base
Daewoo's SDA1562 waffle maker puts simplicity first, with no buttons or dials to overcomplicate the cooking experience.
Find out if the waffles it cooks are just as good as those from more intricate waffle makers.
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Cheapest price: £28.95 at Amazon, also available at Sensiohome.
Size and weight: 13.5 x 28.5 x 22.5cm (HxWxD); 1.6kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 9 x 9cm
Approx. heat-up time: 3-4 min
Recommended cooking time: 3-7 min
Other key features: Temperature control, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base, recipes included
This Sensiohome American Waffle Maker makes four mini waffles you can divide into quarters, so it could be a good fit for someone who often cooks for one and likes their waffles to be bite-sized.
We put it to the test to see how evenly it cooks waffles and whether this low priced waffle maker is worth buying.
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Only available at Lakeland: £49.99.
Size and weight: 11.5 x 28.5 x 31.5cm (HxWxD); 2.9kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 9 x 10cm
Approx. heat-up time: 3 min
Recommended cooking time: 5-7 min
Other key features: Vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base, recipes included
This expensive Lakeland waffle maker can cook four waffles at a time and it has a moat around the sides to prevent batter from leaking out if you overfill it.
While it's clearly well designed in terms of cleaning and mess, what did we make of this waffle maker overall?
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Cheapest price: £35 at AO.com, also available at Amazon, Argos, Asda (out of stock), Dunelm, Russell Hobbs, Very.
Size and weight: 10.5 x 25 x 23.2cm (HxWxD); 2.5kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 11.2 x 12.7cm
Approx. heat-up time: 4-5 min
Recommended cooking time: At least 3 min, with regular checks until golden brown.
Other key features: Detachable cooking plates, toastie and grill plates included, handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base, recipes included
We've tested the Russell Hobbs 24540 before as a toastie maker, but now we've put it through its paces as a waffle maker too.
You can head to our toastie maker reviews to see how the toasties turned out, or read our full waffle maker review to see how it fared at making waffles.
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Cheapest price: £100 at Argos, also available at Amazon, AO.com (out of stock), Sage.
Size and weight: 14.6 x 24.1 x 29.2cm (HxWxD); 3.65kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 18.8 x 14.3cm
Approx. heat-up time: 5-6 min
Recommended cooking time: 3-4 min
Other key features: Temperature control, handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base
This is by some way the most expensive waffle maker we tested, with most other waffle makers costing less than half the price of this one.
Our test results reveal if it's worth stumping up the extra cash to purchase this Sage waffle maker over cheaper rivals.
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Cheapest price: £35.99 at Amazon, Currys, also available at Argos, Robert Dyas, Very.
Size and weight: 11 x 29 x 25.5cm (HxWxD); 1.92kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 13.8 x 14.1cm
Approx. heat-up time: 4 min
Recommended cooking time: 15 min
Other key features: Detachable cooking plates, toastie and grill plates included, handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base
The Salter EK2143 has the longest recommended cooking time of the waffle makers we tested, but if the waffles are perfect, they could be worth the wait.
Find out what we thought in terms of ease of use, cleaning and cooking ability.
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Cheapest price: £24.99 at Amazon, Currys (out of stock), also available at Robert Dyas (out of stock).
Size and weight: 10 x 29.2 x 24.3cm (HxWxD); 1.94kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 13.5 x 13.5cm
Approx. heat-up time: 4 min
Recommended cooking time: 3-6 min
Other key features: Handle lock, vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base
We made several batches of waffles with this low priced Tower waffle maker and judged them on how evenly they cooked and their texture.
Photographs were taken of the waffles we cooked so you can see how they look as well as what we thought of them.
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Cheapest price: £24.99 at Amazon, also available at VonHaus.
Size and weight: 12 x 23.5 x 34cm (HxWxD); 2.2kg
Cooking plate size (per waffle): 9 x 9cm
Approx. heat-up time: 2 min
Recommended cooking time: 3-8 min
Other key features: Vertical storage, cable tidy, non-slip base
This VonShef waffle maker was the quickest to heat up out of all the models we tested, so it could be a good fit for those short of time.
Our full results show how easy we found it to use, what we thought of the waffles we cooked, and more.
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If you're looking to make the perfect topping for your waffles, see our picks of the best ice cream makers.
Investing in a whole electric appliance to make your waffles might not feel worthwhile, especially if you're short on kitchen space or only fancy waffles for breakfast occasionally.
If this applies to you, did you know that you can also make waffles using a griddle pan?
They won't have the little holes you so often see in waffles made by a waffle maker, but the charred grill lines of the griddle pan can give a different but equally appealing look to your waffles.
Prefer this method of making waffles? Check out our recommended griddle pans that impressed in our tests.
To find the best waffle makers we put together a selection of tests to separate the top performers from the disappointers.
We chose and bought 10 waffle makers widely available at UK retailers and brands and cooked up more than 20 waffles for the tests.
Here's how we assessed each waffle maker we tested:
The best waffle makers should be sturdy, made of high quality materials and designed to make the user experience as comfortable as possible.
We checked each waffle maker for signs of poor manufacturing, for example loose parts, fiddly buttons and sub-par non-slip feet, and praised them for being easy to store, clearly labelled and for having useful features such as a drip catcher for overspill.
We timed how long it takes each waffle maker to heat up before it's ready to cook, how easily detachable plates can be removed for cleaning, and how clear and bright the indicator lights are.
Waffle makers that make audible beeps when they're ready to go earned extra points, while slow to heat and poorly labelled ones were penalised.
We cooked several batches of waffles with each waffle maker following the instructions for each.
Using Jamie Oliver's waffle batter recipe, we made waffles with every waffle maker we tested using the same ingredients, and took as much care as possible not to overfill or underfill the cooking plates.
Waffles that were evenly browned and had a crisp outside and a fluffy inside scored highly, and undercooked or uneven waffles were given lesser scores.
After cooking with each waffle maker, we cleaned each one following the instructions and noting how easy or difficult the task was.
We looked for tricky to reach spots or stuck-on bits of waffle batter that will prove more difficult for you to clean after you've used them.
Several waffle makers we tested were also tested as toastie makers. See our toastie makers results to find out how they compare.