The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Ideal waffle iron temp?

AndyPanda's picture
AndyPanda

Ideal waffle iron temp?

I have been making non-yeast waffles and they've been very good.  But I've been reading up on yeast waffles in general and Liege waffles in particular.  Most of what I read about Liege waffles indicate you need a really heavy and really hot waffle iron.   Correction, they don't say "really hot" they say "hold the heat"

This had me curious to see what temps my waffle irons are getting.  I have one that doesn't have a temp control but seems to get quite hot - it's an older, made in USA Vitantonio.  And I have a newer but still old (made in China of course) Cuisinart with a range of temp adjustment.

In searching the internet, I found very little reference to temps (just the words "bake in a hot waffle iron").   Made me wonder what temps people go for when using old style cast iron you heat up on the stove.

I measured with an IR gun and my Cuisinart gets up around 410-440F on Max (seems pretty high and it makes a pretty dark toasted waffle on Max), 370-410F Med-High, 330-370F on Med, 280-330F on Med-Low,  240-280F on Low.

The non-adjustable Vitantonio is pretty heavy for its size and I think the plates are substantial.  IR gun measured it at 460F when the light said it was up to heat and the heater went off (isn't that too hot?) and the heat element came back on when the plates cooled down to 425F.   

I've also got an old Salton non-adjustable iron and it just hits 395F when it says it's ready and cools all the way down to 325F before it comes back on again.  This iron always took longer to bake a waffle - now I see why (but I always thought the waffles were good).  

 

Mr. Waffles's picture
Mr. Waffles

For Liège waffles, 360°. At 365°, sugar decomposes too quickly. 360° is where you get caramelization, during cooktime, without the burn. For "regular" waffles, cook temps of 375° are better.