This is the best waffle maker I have owned, and I have had several over the years. Serial LEDs let you know the progress of cooking, and a bell tells you when the waffle is done. Thermostat works well, and waffles are cooked predictably. Once it is up to operating temperature, it takes only about 4 minutes per waffle. I've used it about 6-8 times, and so far no sticking. A good value for the money.

Great waffles!

I make waffles for my famiily weekly, some times two batches in a single week! When my old Cuisinart died suddenly I was shocked! I started checking reviews and decided to go with this one. It is a little pricey but worth it. Waffles do not stick, not even the first time. I love the tone it gives when heated and when waffles are done. Buy this, you will not be disappointed!

The very best waffle maker ever!

This is my 3rd wafflemaker in my almost 29 years of marriage. We enjoy a nice family breakfast on weekends and often times we decide it's a waffle kind of day. This Caphalon Waffle Maker is by far the Cadillac, I love it! The quality is unbelievable, and clean up a breeze. It makes beautiful Waffles whether you make batter from scratch or a mix, you cannot go wrong. I highly recommend this item!! Cathy

Very nice. Easy to clean. Wish it made 6 waffles at a time!

calaphon is expensive ,but it is a wonderful product and well worth the cost .

Very Pleased So Far...

I'd been thinking about a new waffle iron (I guess they call them waffle makers now) for quite some time. The old Black & Decker model I owned was seeing no usage due to poor performance and messy cleanup.

After a considerable amount of research on numerous websites, I narrowed the field down to two contenders:

* Chef's Choice WafflePro M850. This is clearly one of the best, if not the best, unit out there. Gets great reviews, has excellent non-stick coating which never needs oiling, has separate temperature and timer controls, has very high power (1750 W), and is *assembled* in the USA (for what that's worth). It also costs an obscene amount, $180, and comes with a 1-year warranty. Given the price point, USA factor, and technical hyperbole ("the result of years of research..."), I was disappointed that the manufacturer does not back this up with a better warranty. By the way, coupon codes do not seem to work for any Chef's Choice products.

* Calphalon HE400WM "No Peek". This unit also gets very good reviews on most web sites, but has some worrisome negative comments as well. This also has an excellent non-stick coating, has a single darkness control, and has high power (1500 W). Like almost all other units, it is made (and assembled) in China. It retails for $100 and comes with a 1-year warranty, with 5 years on the non-stick coating. It is important to note that coupon codes are valid on Calphalon products, which may lower the price significantly.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find anyone who had compared these two units directly.

Given all of this, I decided to go for the Calphalon unit. I received this last week, and put it through its paces this past weekend, making 4 different batches of waffles: (1) the recipe included in the User Manual; (2) a pumpkin recipe; (3) an apple recipe; (4) a banana/chocolate-chip recipe. All of these used whole grains and were very low in fat, so were not exactly traditional waffle recipes. Somewhat to my surprise, these all turned out very well, and I am now eager to try even more experimental recipes in the future (a quinoa recipe is beckoning...).

I will mention that the single darkness control is a bit odd; it's not entirely clear whether you're adjusting the temperature or the baking time -- or both. In any case, I didn't play with this much, and used settings between medium and medium-high. All the waffles turned out nicely and evenly browned, both top and bottom. The waffle maker also bakes the waffles relatively quickly, although I'm sure this depends a lot on your recipe, how much batter you load up, and your darkness setting. I didn't time this accurately, but believe the baking time was around 3 minutes. The waffle maker also has lights and a chime to alert you when the waffle is ready. I found this to be generally reliable, except when I overfilled the maker with batter (see below). This same lights-and-chime method also serves to let you know when the waffle maker is preheated.

I will also note that, because the batters I used were very thick (and sometimes chunky), I had trouble with adding too much batter. In this case, I didn't have any issues with overflowing and baked-on messes, but the waffles did get very thick, which popped the waffle maker open a bit and significantly increased the cooking time (which I had to monitor by eye). However, the waffles still cooked thoroughly and tasted great.

The non-stick coating was wonderful. I was able to peel off the finished waffles with my hands. Cleanup was trivial and practically unnecessary -- I just wiped the (cooled) waffle plates with a damp cloth.

Don't expect much from Calphalon customer service. My unit arrived with what I believe to be some minor workmanship issues. Nothing serious, but something I thought a "premium" brand company would want to know. So, I sent a note with some photos. The reply I got back several days later was completely generic ("we sincerely apologize if you have experienced an issue with our product..."). I fired off a retort, and haven't heard back. Cross your fingers and hope that you will never have to contact them.

LOVE TO MAKE WAFFLES !!!

This is a great waffle maker, i have never ever made waffles before but now i cook it almost everyday. Nothing sticks on the plates,the chimes is not annoying at all. It gives me enough time to put the batter in and take the waffle out without burning it. Cleaning is a breeze since nothing sticks all i got to do is wipe it clean with a damp cloth and we're good to go (I'm a clean freak so i clean it everyday)...I highly recommend this waffle maker it's sooooo worth the money..

Excellent Quality and construction

I was looking for a quality replacement for a 30 year old waffle maker and this one was rated hightl although costly. It is however well worth the price as it lives up to all of its publicity.

Excellent fast heating waffle iron

Calphalons waffle iron heats fast and grill good on both sides. The beeping is a little anoying but you can live with it. Would be nice with a spill edge around the iron rim to catch overflow but you have to learn to measure the correct dough. Would recommend this waffle iron to anybody.

Easy easy easy

This waffle maker is a fantastic addition to my kitchen. I had been looking for a 4 slice maker for years and this one surpassed my greatest expectations. I would highly recommend it. Waffles were light and fluffy and cooked perfectly every time!!

I am glad I finally broke down and bought the waffle iron. It is a good product, heats quickly and cooks the waffles at the setting that I want. I am also freezing the leftovers and they are just a good as the fresh waffles. I will proabely never buy a frozen waffles from the grocery store again.

AWESOME!

This waffle maker is kind of expensive but I guess you get what you pay for. It makes great waffles and it pays for itselt because you spend NO TIME cleaning up! Nothing sticks! I don't even put oil in my batter and the waffles come out easy and I put NO oil on the plates. It's just that good!

Use of the wafle iron

The lights and the chime make waffle making easy with this appliance.Starting with the preheating, I adjustthe knob to between medium and dark. The light indicator tells you when it is preheated as the light moves to where you had set it.You then spread the batter around the iron, close and wait for the chime to ring and your waffle is cooked.Try not to overfill the iron as it will spill over.I usually maks more than what we need and store it for future snacks or meals.Easy to clean.

I bought this waffle maker for my husband, who likes waffles every weekend. He loves it - it makes perfect waffles in a short time, and is very attractive.

Happy Family

This is the best waffle iron I have ever used by far. My family was thrilled and they could each get what they wanted in a waffle as far as how crispy or soft. Thank you.

Excellent Waffles!

We've been without a waffle iron for over 15 years and finally decided that we needed one that didn't stick like the one we threw out so many years ago. This was it. We've had several batches of waffles over the past three weeks and each and every waffle has come off without a sticking episode of any kind. Cleanup is a breeze... just wipe off with a damp cloth. Love this waffle iron so much, we just ordered another for a Christmas gift. Well worth the comparatively high price. You won't be disappointed.

Great waffles

At last the perfect waffle maker is produced. This little machine is a pleasure to work with. I used boxed waffle mix and followed instructions that came with waffle maker pouring exactley two cups of batter and out came perfect dense/fluffy waffles with no overflow.I think the trick is to use two cups batter spread evenly and before pouring onto grates let batter sit about four minutes. Really loved the NO clean up afterwards.

Great waffle iron

We really like this waffle iron. It makes perfect waffles and is easy to store and clean

a very nice waffle iron

I got this for my family so we could make and freeze waffles when we make them. We've not yet used the iron but it feels of good material and construction. I would recommend this if you like waffles and are looking for a good waffle iron.

Easy to use

This machine is nice looking, sturdy and makes perfect waffles