An Antique Waffle Iron

I know I’ve been writing about cooking on the road, camping with a motorcycle, but there are exceptions to everything, and this blog post is one. A while back, Lesley and I were at a yard sale and I spotted an antique electric waffle iron. I couldn’t resist it. My guess was that it had been made circa the 1940’s. Maybe earlier. For a couple of bucks, why not?

I love old things, but I want to be able to use them. When I was growing up, my sister and I ground breakfast coffee with an antique coffee grinder on a daily basis. I think some of the old things were made better. But, I had to wonder if this waffle iron would actually work,I mean, waffles have been known to stick, and this machine didn’t have a light that would turn off to tell me the waffle was done. Oh well…

The waffle iron came with a small booklet telling how to care for the machine, how to use it, and included a bunch of recipes for waffles. I knew waffles had been around for some time before electric waffle irons came out, my parents had an older one we used on top of a wood stove . You had to pick up the iron and flip the part that held the waffle in order to cook both sides. The little booklet suggested bringing the waffle iron to the table for elegant breakfasts, lunches, and even dinners. The iron was nickel plated, ornately designed, and I could see how it might fit into table settings of prized china and silver for thoroughly "modern" homemakers.

Well, last Sunday I had wire brushed, cleaned and re-cured the iron and declared it to be ready for the acid test. I whipped up a batter, using my sourdough approach, and poured the first waffle. To my delight, it looked beautiful when I lifted the handle. I gently lifted the waffle out—and threw it away. The little booklet said to do that with the first one. That way, you eliminate the risk of getting a tiny fragment of wire brush in one of your waffles. The second one was a keeper. And, it tasted great.

When we go south this winter, we have a waffle iron with Teflon coated grids, timing lights, and a knob to turn to adjust for the desired doneness. The antique waffle iron will stay here along with other old things I love because they were well-built, beautiful to look at, and still work well. But, it was exciting to use it and discover it still worked well. What a treat. Like sourdough, a time-honored thing that gives pleasure in the preparation of food as well as in the consumption. Thanks for visiting my blog.