Lehman's Pre-Seasoned Round Cast Iron Waffle Iron

This waffle maker made me realize how much I hate waffles! It's terrible

This is a great waffle iron! Full recommendation!

very good quality, if at first your waffles don't succeed - keep trying because with proper heat and lube you will have excellent waffles! Love the healthy factor of cast iron.

Keep it seasoned well and enjoy delicious waffles.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: See the update below for second-use experience. Attached pictures are from the second batch of waffles, prepared one week after the first use of the waffle iron. I picked the Lehman's waffle maker based on the article "The Best Non-Stick Waffle Makers" at LeafScore. I completely agree with the pros and cons stated in the thorough review. For anyone on the fence, I want to address the negative reviews this product has received here on Amazon and other online retailers, and maybe provide some helpful advice: 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭: Like many others, I wanted a waffle maker that did not have a non-stick surface in order to prevent chemicals from leeching into my children's food; that includes ceramic coatings. Foregoing the debate of product safety, this is the right decision for our family. In fact, my pair of Cuisinart waffle makers were the only non-stick coated products in our kitchen. I tossed the electric waffle makers some time ago and we did without for a while. I was hesitant to try waffles on cast iron due to the apparent complexity, but the kids missed the waffles (I do believe my waffle recipe, found online, is the absolute best), I decided to make the move. 𝐌𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: I received the waffle maker faster than projected 👍 Lehman's claims the waffle maker comes pre-seasoned. It seemed to be, but I can't verify that. I washed the waffle maker with soap and water and dried it over an open flame. After the waffle maker was dry, I applied a light coating of safflower oil on both sides and pre-heated the waffle maker. My oven has a range from Low to settings 1-9 to High. I set my standard (not over-powered) stovetop burner to 5. With a small ladle, I placed four scoops of batter onto the waffle maker, spread it out evenly, then closed the lid. With a little experimentation, I settled on cooking the first side between 2:30-3 minutes and the second side 2:30-3 minutes. Between waffles, I re-coated the maker with a thin layer of safflower oil. The waffles came out fantastic with not a single waffle tearing. I used a fork to separate the waffles from the maker, when needed, but not a single waffle tore. When I was done, I had made 13 waffles and the waffle maker was completely clean. I have since seasoned the waffle maker with grapeseed oil and will be seasoning again a few more times. That being said, I expect to always add a light coat of oil when preparing waffles just to ensure no sticking. 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬: • The waffle maker is heavy; if you've been cooking with cast iron, not an issue, if not, you'll build up strong hand/wrist muscles. • The waffle maker does not open to 90 degrees. I placed a pot behind the maker so I could have the top open about 90 degrees while adding batter and removing the cooked waffle. Because the top half is heavy, you have to be careful that the waffle maker doesn't slide off the burner. I figured that out pretty quick, putting my hip against the lower handle or holding it with a cloth. This is probably the biggest issue with the maker. If you open the top more than 90 degrees, you risk the halves coming apart. That happened to me once and it's disconcerting, but like I said, I figured it out and made it work (for me). You'll find your own solution. • Don't play with the heat. Find a setting and stick with it. I believe a medium heat lets you cook the waffle all the way through without overcooking the outside. • This waffle maker makes thicker waffles than we were accustomed to with the Cuisinart. I didn't know how that would be received, but given that I have the best straight waffle recipe (again, not mine, found online), they were just as delicious. Where a couple of my kids would have had three from the Cuisinart, they had two from the Lehman's. • With the Cuisinart, despite making waffles frequently, getting perfectly round waffles was a challenge and not ending up with batter on the counter or dripping down the sides of the appliance was virtually impossible. With the Lehman's, right from the get-go, the waffles came out perfect. Was it the weight of the top half, the little drip rim built in to the maker, that I just got my portions right? Who knows, but I have never had waffles so consistently come out perfectly round. My guess is that it was the weight of the top keeping the batter inside the maker. • I can only assume the negative reviews here that deal with waffles sticking and tearing involve either not coating the waffle maker with oil or not cooking each side long enough. I made 13 on the first go and every one of them came out easily. Some required a little help with a fork, but they separated from the maker with little effort with nothing left behind. 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: One side of the waffle maker starts off hotter than the other because it has direct flame/heat on it, and when you flip the waffle maker, the first side, being hotter, continues to cook. As a result, both sides of your waffles may have different degrees of golden brown, but they will both be crisp and delicious. I found that if you try to cook the initial top side until it is the same golden brown as the initial bottom side, you'll end up with an overcooked top side. Despite overcooking a couple for that reason, I didn't burn a single waffle and not a single waffle came out undercooked. I hope you have found this review/feedback helpful. To be more efficient cooking waffles for a family of 6, I will be ordering a second waffle maker. Happy baking! 😉 ********** 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: If you skipped ahead to this update, I'll start by emphasizing nothing has changed about my initial review (above). The second time I used the waffle maker, however, my first waffle did stick and tear 😥. This was 100% my fault and this is what I did to cause the calamitous outcome: I pre-heated the waffle maker while mixing the batter. Check ✔, you're supposed to. Unlike electric waffle makers, the two sides of a cast iron waffle maker do not receive heat evenly. The two sides are connected so naturally, there is heat transfer (don't touch the top side expecting it to be cool); however, the initial bottom side gets much hotter. Because I pre-heated the waffle maker on one side and put the batter in without flipping the waffle maker, it cooked fairly instantly and when I left it on that side for the 2-2:30 minutes outlined above, disaster struck. As bad as that sounds, and as disappointing as it was, with a pointy tool, the overcooked waffle came out fairly easily, in pieces, but easily. It just took a few minutes to get it all out. I didn't let the waffle maker cool while removing the destroyed waffle. That is to say, the waffle maker was still on the burner taking heat as I removed the pieces. Once the torn waffle pieces were removed, I did not need to clean/wash the waffle maker. I flipped the waffle maker, waited a 2-3 minutes and resumed making heaven on a plate for my kids. The first attached image is the waffle that was made immediately after the failed attempt. Here's what I should have done: Pre-heating the waffle iron for the length of time that I did (probably 10-15 minutes) was not a problem. After mixing the batter, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫, let it sit for 2:00 minutes or so, and then added my batter. The top would have still been hot, likely hotter than the bottom, but it would also have cooled somewhat, not cooking the batter nearly so quickly or so thoroughly. After the first failed waffle, everything was smooth sailing as in my initial review. I like to move quickly so I pre-heat while mixing. That's why it was for so long. If you prefer to wait until after the batter is mixed, you can probably pre-heat the waffle maker on one side for 5 minutes and then the other side for 5 minutes, but I highly recommend flipping the waffle maker back to the original side before adding your batter. As stated, I probably pre-heated the one side for 10-15 minutes, adding the batter directly without flipping, a definitely no-go and lesson learned 😉. A quick note on seasoning and oiling the waffle maker. As outlined in my initial review, I cooked my first batch of waffles without mishap without first seasoning the waffle maker. The next day, i seasoned the waffle maker with grape seed oil per the provided instructions. While preparing the second batch of waffles, and after the first failed waffle, I experimented with not oiling the waffle maker before each new waffle. I had no issue removing them. I think I did three in a row before paranoia made me recoat with a little safflower oil, but if you control your heat, flip accordingly, I expect you can achieve more than that. I have not done a second seasoning, but I will, and probably a third. I hope this update has helped anyone who was on the fence about their purchase or experienced something similar. Happy baking 🧁