When I make waffles, I’m sometimes surprised by how much the texture varies from one batch to the next. Sometimes they are nice and crisp; other times they limp and almost soggy. I recently was browsing through a hundred-year-old magazine and came across some advice that still is helpful and relevant:
Crisp Waffles
Several small points affect the crispness of the waffle. First, we would put a hot iron. The iron should be hot enough immediately to cook the batter, it should be sizzling and more than sizzling hot. Equally important is it that too much batter shall not be poured into the irons, for a thick waffle is never crisp. Most of the waffles served to us in restaurants are, we regret to say, too thick. A strong bread flour tends to toughness, so does too much egg, unless balanced by a good deal of butter. Pastry flour helps to make a tender waffle, and so does rich milk. If you use skimmed milk it inclines to toughness, while water and butter are aids to tenderness. Further, if you pile the waffles on a plate, while they are smoking hot, they will be sure to lose crispness from the absorption of moisture from the steam.
American Cookery (April, 1925)
I am glad to know people like crisp waffles. Half my family like them soggy. I stack theirs and keep the others warm in the oven at 200°. I lay them directly on the rack. This would not have worked a hundred years ago, but I reheat mine in the air fryer.
Interesting how some like waffles crisp and some like them soggy. Great suggestions for keeping waffles warm and reheating.
I find it interesting that the article mentioned restaurants! At least in our little rural part of the country, I doubt seriously that there were any restaurants nearby!
In some parts of the U.S., small towns with almost empty downtowns today were much more vibrant a hundred years ago.
Wonderful advice even a century later. This is a great find, Sheryl, thanks.
Nice to hear that you enjoyed this post.
Really good tips Sheryl!
Thanks! I’m glad you liked them.
I prefer waffles …hubby wants pancakes!!!
I make them up in a large batch using a 60 year old waffle iron that makes 4 “skinny” waffles at a time and you can flip the irons and make it into a grill for grilled cheese sandwiches.
I Lay them on racks…. eat the ones I want hot of the iron and freeze the rest. They are perfect to throw into the toaster and as I tell hubby you can not do that with a pancake!
I’m with you. I prefer waffles – though often make pancakes because they are a little quicker to make. Your vintage waffle iron sounds wonderful. It’s nice how waffles can be reheated in a toaster.
Waffle House has honed the art to perfection.
🙂
Some things are timeless. I am glad that includes waffles.
I have done several posts on waffles over the years. The first time that I did a post, I was a little surprised that waffles had been around for more than a hundred years.
Never thought of this but there is some truth.
It’s often fascinating the topics that authors come up with in cooking magazines and books.
Yes it is. And it is funny how traditions come about. I read this recently.
A young bride cut the end off a ham and set it aside to cook later. Her mom did it that way. When Grandma saw this she asked why. Because mom does it. Grandma asked her mom why and her mom answered you always cut the end off. I did that because I never had a pan big enough to hold the ham.
Oh, such goodness with these timeless waffles!
Agree!
And that’s why I tent my waffles instead of stack them!!
Great suggestion – Until I read your comment, I never thought about “tenting” waffles. I’ll have to give it a try.
Same here!
Sheryl, I have a hammered aluminum breakfast lazy susan (from 1930-1940?) that has slots to hold toast vertically and separated from each other to maintain the crispness. It works for toast and skinny waffles but with the fat waffles I’m forced to tent – they knew what they were doing 100 years ago!
Very interesting tips. The one tip from one of my cookbooks was more butter would make crispier waffles. It gave a range of butter to use.
I love waffles so much that I used the S&H Green Stamp books my mom had allocated for me to get a waffle iron. I loved that waffle iron.
My husband, on clean up duty since I cooked, decided to put the waffle plates in the dishwasher. It did not go well and destroyed the waffle plates. I almost cried. He is very lucky I love him so much.
We went out and bought another waffle iron. While it is a good waffle iron, it isn’t as good as my first one.