Homemade waffles are one of the most delicious parts of an at-home breakfast. They are almost endlessly customizable — you can add any ingredients, seasonings, or flavorings to make sweet and savory waffles.
The good news is that it’s easier than ever to make waffles at home — and it’s also pain-free to clean up after cooking. With these picks for easy clean waffle irons, you’ll find a great hassle-free way to make breakfast without a mess.
We evaluated numerous waffle makers and determined the best easy to clean waffle maker to be the Breville waffle maker with smart IQ and easy to use controls.
- Operation Mode: Smart waffle-making
- Material: Stainless Steel
- Dimensions: 12.25 x 12.25 x 5.75 inches
- Operation Mode: flipping mechanism
- Material: Stainless Steel, Plastic
- Dimensions: 6.76 x 9.9 x 9.06 inches
- Operation Mode: Double flipping mechanism
- Material: Stainless Steel
- Dimensions: 10.63 x 16.5 x 10.25 inches
- Operation Mode: Easy to use slider
- Material: Stainless Steel
- Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 3.9 inches
- Operation Mode: Easy to use
- Material: Non Stick, Plastic
- Dimensions: 14.13 x 12.6 x 6.18 inches
The Best Easy to Clean Waffle Irons
This list covers the best easy to clean waffle maker for any need or budget, covering waffle makers with additional features from across a range of specifications; there’s an easy clean waffle maker for any cook.
1. Breville Smart Easy to Clean Waffle Maker
Specs
The Breville Smart Waffle Maker brings the smart home to your waffle maker. It features a Waffle IQ, which senses when your waffles are done based on your cooking preference. Whether you want a light, fluffy waffle or a darker, crispier one, this waffle maker will tell you when they’ve finished cooking. It also has a manual cook setting if you prefer to cook your waffles yourself.
Thermal heating also makes your waffles cook evenly, making the edges crispy and the center cooked. And when you’ve finished, cleanup is a breeze. The waffler maker is made of stainless steel on the outer body with a non-stick cooking surface. The waffle iron also includes a moat to catch extra batter, preventing it from making a mess on the countertop.
What it Offers
The Breville Smart Waffle Maker strives to take the guesswork out of waffle making. It offers users the security of knowing that their waffles will cook without being burnt. Users will also be happy with the reduced mess and cleanup that comes with this waffle maker.
This waffle iron is one of the most advanced on the market currently. Most comparable waffle makers offer browning controls and other similar settings, but the Breville Smart Waffle Maker is one of the few to introduce smart waffle making.
Compared to Other Products
Most other waffle makers are entirely manual — you have to flip waffles and hope that they’re being cooked fully without burning on the outside. This waffle maker is one of the first to introduce smart waffle-making technology into its cooking.
It allows you to sit back while the waffle maker senses when the waffles are done, and not just on the outside like most other waffle makers — it detects doneness throughout the waffle using its thermal heating technology.
The Breville Smart Waffle Maker makes cleanup and cooking easy with a batter moat and stainless steel outer body.
This maker is also one of the rare multi-waffle makers. Most other products make only one waffle at a time, while the Breville Smart Waffle Maker can cook up to four at a time.
- Waffle IQ — intelligently cooks waffles to any preference.
- Thermal heating to cook waffles evenly — no more crispy edges and undercooked batter
- Stainless steel material — easy to clean both inside and out
- Moat to catch waffle batter inside the waffle maker and keep it from spilling out
- Can make four waffles at once — one of the largest batch waffle makers on the market
- Price — at about $200, it’s on the more expensive side of waffle makers.
- Large — some users have noted that it’s hard to find a place to cook the waffles on a countertop because of the unit’s size
- It can be confusing to use — the maker presents multiple settings, so it can be hard to figure out how to use them on your first try.
2. Hamilton Beach Non-Stick Waffle Maker
The Hamilton Beach Non-Stick Waffle Maker is a classic flip waffle maker that browns waffles on either side by turning the waffle over. This action also makes the waffles thicker and fluffier, according to Hamilton Beach.
Additionally, the waffle maker features a multi-setting browning control and removable plates to make cleanup a breeze with this easy clean waffle maker.
What it Offers
The Hamilton Beach Non-Stick Waffle Maker offers browning control, letting you cook waffles to your preference. Additionally, the flipping mechanism is usually only seen in restaurants, giving home chefs the chance to make restaurant-style waffles at a bargain.
Compared to Other Products
This model features removable plates that make cleanup easy. Removable plates are less common than non-removable plates, and they generally make for easier cleanup.
While you can clean removable plates in the waffle iron, it is much easier to pull them out and run them through the dishwasher. This way, you won’t worry about damaging the plates, and you’ll know they are clean.
This waffle iron is also one of the only waffle makers on the market from a well-known company with a flipping feature, allowing you to make thicker, restaurant-style waffles in your own kitchen.
- Removable plates — the waffle maker’s removable plates can go straight into the dishwasher.
- Browning control — easy switch browning control that lets you make waffles as dark as you want them
- Non-stick surface — easy to remove waffles from the cooking surface and easy to clean off
- Flipping — the flipping mechanism is unique in-home waffle makers, producing thick and fluffy waffles typically only available in restaurants and other food service areas.
- Batter moat — a small internal area that catches extra batter before it spills out onto counters
- Only one waffle at once — many other waffle irons can cook up to four waffles at once, but this maker only cooks one.
- The batter can seep between removable plate areas — the area where the removable plates clip in leaves a small gap that some users have reported finding batter drippage in
- Non-stick coating can peel — after a period of using the waffle maker, the non-stick coating can begin to peel, leaving non-stick residue in your batter.
3. Cuisinart WAF-20 Belgian Waffle Maker
The Cuisinart WAF-20 Belgian Waffle Maker can make two waffles at once, all while using a spinning mechanism to make your waffles thick and fluffy.
What it Offers
The Cuisinart WAF-20 offers waffle flipping with the opportunity to make two waffles at a time instead of just one. This design is innovative as most of the other similar waffle makers on the marker only make one waffle at a time. Most other multi-waffle makers produce flat, thin waffles, while this unit offers home chefs the chance to make multiple thick, Belgian-style waffles at once.
Compared to Other Products
Compared to other flipping waffle makers and other round waffle irons that only cook one waffle at a time, the Cuisinart WAF-20 can make two waffles at once. While these other standard waffle makers can produce thick and fluffy waffles, they can often only do so one at a time. The Cuisinart WAF-20 cuts down our waffle cook time by half.
- Flipping waffle maker that cooks multiple waffles — similar flipping waffle makers or round waffle irons only make one waffle at a time.
- Browning control knob with six settings — six settings let you cook waffles to your desired doneness.
- An audio signal to know when waffles have finished cooking — in addition to LED light signals, the waffle maker also gives a three-tone audio beep to let you know waffles are ready to be taken out.
- Heavy — at 13 lbs, it’s about twice as heavy as other similar waffle makers, which might make it a hassle to store and more when it’s time to use it.
- Parts of the housing are plastic — the rear post of the waffle maker has a plastic outer body. Because this post is near the waffle maker’s cooking surface, it could melt over time.
4. Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker
The Cuisinart Round Classic Waffle Maker has a browning control with five settings with single waffle capabilities. This unit is small, not taking up much space — a common complaint with other, multi-featured waffle makers.
What it Offers
The Cuisinart Round Classic Waffle Maker doesn’t offer any additional features outside of what other similar waffle irons have but does give home chefs a reliable cooking experience with a small counter space footprint.
Compared to Other Products
Compared to other similar products, the Cuisinart Round Classic Waffle Maker has an advantage in its small, light size, and low cost. It’s the least expensive model on this list, making it a good buy for first-time waffle makers or people looking to cook waffles for a smaller group of people.
- Five different cook settings — multiple cooking and browning settings let you cook waffles to your desired doneness.
- Easy-to-use slider for cooking — the slider makes it easy to choose the setting you want and pick adjustments in-between.
- Non-stick — while the plates are not removable, it is easy to clean.
- Small — unlike other waffle makers, it takes less space and sits directly on the countertop
- Affordable — this waffle iron is the cheapest one on the list, good for home chefs looking to make a small batch of waffles or not cook as often
- Not many additional features — this waffle iron is one of the most basic ones you can get, but that might be a plus for some users.
- Only cooks one waffle at a time — unlike some other waffle makers, this model can only cook one at a time.
- Plates are not removable — the cooking plates are not removable, and you must clean them in the waffle maker.
5. DASH No Mess Waffle Maker
The DASH No Mess Waffle Maker is a waffle iron that lets you make multiple waffles at once, with the capabilities to make other grilled foods like paninis and hashbrowns. While this iron is less customizable than comparable products, it makes up for its lack of additional features with opportunities to make other types of foods.
What it Offers
The DASH No Mess Waffle Maker makes for a versatile, large-batch cooking appliance that doesn’t take up much space on the kitchen counter. It offers home chefs an iron that makes a restaurant quantity of waffles while also being easy to store and use without taking too much space.
Compared to Other Products
Unlike other waffles makers, the Dash No Mess Waffle Maker can also make more recipes in addition to waffles. It can make paninis, hash browns, and pizzas.
Unlike other similar waffle irons, it does not offer any extra controls or customization during cooking. The only indicator is a light on the outside. It signals when the iron is ready to cook and again when the waffles are ready. There is no other opportunity to customize brownness or doneness other than manually.
- Makes four waffles at once — one of the highest count waffle makers available to home chefs on the market
- Can make multiple recipes — also makes other types of foods, including flatbread pizzas, paninis, and hashbrowns.
- Overflow area — a small area on either side of the waffle plates collects extra overflow batter. This area can also give you the bonus of additional, smaller waffle products.
- Bargain price — this waffle maker is much less expensive than other comparable models while also producing four waffles at once
- The casing is plastic — the outer housing of the waffle maker is entirely plastic, and it may begin to melt or damage after continued use.
- No controls — this waffle maker doesn’t have any outer button or sliders, unlike most other waffle makers. It only has a light indicator to tell you when the unit is heated and when the waffles are finished cooking.
- No other additional features — while this waffle iron can cook large batches quickly, along with making more food types, it does not have any smart features or customizations.
How to Easily Clean a Waffle Maker
The easiest way to clean a waffle maker is by letting the waffle maker cool off after cooking. The good thing about waffle batter, even if it has spilled on the surface and made a mess, it still dries almost immediately. Once the waffle maker cools, you can wipe away the remnants of unused waffle batter with a paper towel or damp wipe.
If you still have an additional leftover mess, you can pour a small amount of cooking oil on the plates and let it sit for a few minutes. This process should help lift the leftover waffle batter, and then you can repeat the process above with the paper towel. Now it should be clean.
See our guide on how to stop waffles from sticking to waffle maker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about cleaning waffle irons.
The easiest way to clean a waffle iron is by trying to take care of the bulk of the mess once you finish cooking your waffles. Once it’s dried, the waffle batter is easy to wipe off. You can use a paper towel or cloth to clean out the cooking area of the waffle maker.
No. Waffle irons are appliances and shouldn’t be washed in the sink. This method can damage the housing and cooking areas of the waffle iron and, most importantly, could be dangerous for you. Instead of washing your waffle iron in the sink, try the above methods to clean off your waffle maker.
While the easiest waffle maker to clean has removable plates, cleaning a waffle iron without removable plates is still hassle-free.
You can often use a paper towel or damp cloth to wipe away any residual mess from waffle making. Make sure that the maker is unplugged and completely cooled off before attempting to wipe it off.
Conclusion
If you’re searching for the best easy to clean waffle maker on the market, the good news is that there is a waffle iron out there for any budget or cooking preference that also comes with the added benefit of being easy to clean.
Whether you are looking for a simple round, one-waffle maker, or a high-end smart waffle maker that produces batches at a time and senses when waffles are perfectly cooked, both are out there. And both are easy to clean.
