John Myers
Work before pleasure? When baking waffles, the first thing to do is feast. And afterwards it’s almost the same for everyone: nobody likes to clean the waffle iron. With our guides for light and stubborn dirt, that changes – and you’ll get the tiresome job done in no time.
Cleaning Waffle Makers: Basic Guide
Regardless of whether you are cleaning a new device with an intact non-stick coating or an old waffle iron: If the utensil is only slightly soiled after a big feast, this basic cleaning is sufficient. That’s how it works:
- Unplug the device and let it cool down.
- When it is no longer hot but is still warm, wipe the plates with a damp cloth. It is important not to use detergent. Remnants of this could remain on the plates and make later waffles inedible.
- Place kitchen paper on the lower plate and close the device. This is how you remove the last remnants of fat and dough.
And if a small residue of the dough sticks stubbornly: Put some vegetable oil on it. The dough soaks up – and you can easily wipe away the remains.
By the way: Never use pointed utensils such as forks to clean your device. You should also not use brushes or sponges on devices with a non-stick coating. They could damage the plates and render the waffle maker unusable.
Tip: Do your waffles regularly stick to the iron? In our post on “Do you have to grease a waffle iron?” learn how to fix it. And so that you can enjoy it, we will also tell you our delicious basic recipe for waffle batter.
Cleaning waffle irons: Step by step against burnt food
If you want to clean a burnt-in waffle iron, you have to resort to other means and make a cleaning agent that is as smart as it is efficient: the cleaning waffle. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Mix a paste of a tablespoon of cornstarch and water.
- Put this on the preheated device and bake this “dough” like a normal waffle.
- Take the “baked cleaning dough” out of the device. The burned-in dirt then sticks to the cleaning waffle.
Incidentally, you can also clean your waffle iron with cornstarch – alternatively, you can clean a waffle iron with baking powder. Then mix your cleaning waffle with baking soda instead of cornstarch. The rest of the procedure, however, remains the same.
Do you have a device with removable plates? These are the easiest to clean. You can clean the waffle maker under water or simply wash the plates yourself and then use them again. Of course, the electronics on the device must not get wet in this case either and are not suitable for cleaning under running water. You can also read here how to clean your kettle.
