The Coolest Pieces of Gear We Tested This Week

Here’s the thing about waffles: If you’re going through the trouble of making them from scratch, it likely means a special occasion or gaggle of family around. Waffles taste best straight from the iron, which means if you’re feeding more than yourself, the name of the game is capacity.

The Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker uses 1400 watts of power to crank out a pair of 7-inch-wide waffles in a few minutes. For a family of four, you could all be eating at the same time, provided the first batch is kept warm in a toaster oven. But we’re not talking about toaster-grade waffles. These chunky discs are over 1-inch tall and each side is dimpled with 24 full pockets that each reach 1/2-inch deep. That’s a lot of room to hold butter and syrup.

But equally as important, that increases the surface area which means more browning and better texture. You’re not going to get that with those flat, thin, and pale-yellow toaster deals. Going bigger? Us too. With the oven set at about 200 degrees, we kept 20 waffles warm waiting for the last pair to round out a chicken and waffle dinner and the Cuisinart never missed a beat.

In an age when so many kitchen appliances are digital with buttons and touch screens, we appreciate the simplicity of the Cuisinart. It has one switch and a knob that has six settings for browning control, that’s it. If you’re more of a waffle than pancake house, stashing one of these in a cabinet or pantry, along with a boxed mix, means fresh waffles might just creep into your new work-from-home routine.—Sal Vaglica, Men’s Journal Contributor

[$100; cuisinart.com]

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