pizzelle makers

[devlin]

Anybody know anything about what makes for a good pizzelle maker?

And is an aluminum plate better than non-stick? Or is it just a mess to deal with?

[baroness]

I have 3 irons:

4-up mini CucinaPro; 2-up standard VillaWare; 2-up in-between-size Salton. All are non-stick, and I'd recommend the first two machines. Salton was less expensive -- and you DO get what you pay for!

My mother started out with a 2-up bare metal iron--which worked fine until the sticking started. Then it became less fun...and hard to reliably remedy.

The design detail is slightly finer in the bare metal irons, but I prefer non-stick!

[andiesenji]

I have several and generally use the single irons as I always have overrun with the two and three segment irons. I have one that produces three oval pizzelle and it is very difficult to get right. Fortunately the mistakes are entirely edible!

I have two of the CucinaPro non-stick irons and they work okay.

However my favorite is actually the Krumkake Express (non-stick) made by Chef's Choice.

I got mine from another vendor but it is available at Amazon.

I find the temp control on it is superior to that on the CucinaPro, but that is just my personal preference.

[Kayakado]

I had a Salton and replaced it with a Cucina Pro with the shiny non-stick finish and love it. Fantes has all kinds - plus recipes. Scroll down the page for the electrics

http://fantes.com/pizzelle.html

[devlin]

Thanks for those recs.

I've been wanting a pizzelle maker for years, dating back 15 years to when my ex mother-in-law used to routinely drop off massive bags of pizzelles which rarely lasted two days. I love them, and she made the best pizzelles I've ever had, and I keep looking and sampling.

My impression, though, was that her earlier cookies, made in a single pizzelle iron with a non-stick surface, were better than those she started making later when she got (as a gift from a son) a double iron with a non-stick surface. The later ones seemed less crisp to me, nearly rubbery. The early ones were the best pizzelles on the planet.

[andiesenji]

To tell the truth, the best ones I have ever made were baked on a stove-top iron that was given to me by an Italian lady about 45 years ago and it was old then. It had been so well seasoned for so many years that nothing ever stuck to it.

I still have it but haven't used it for many years because it had to be constantly watched and I had to stand at the stove.

Now I sit at the table with my electric irons in a semi-circle in front of me and as I finish adding batter to the last one, it is time to remove the cookie from the first.

It's sort of like slow-motion juggling.

[baroness]

Thanks for those recs.

I've been wanting a pizzelle maker for years, dating back 15 years to when my ex mother-in-law used to routinely drop off massive bags of pizzelles which rarely lasted two days. I love them, and she made the best pizzelles I've ever had, and I keep looking and sampling.

My impression, though, was that her earlier cookies, made in a single pizzelle iron with a non-stick surface, were better than those she started making later when she got (as a gift from a son) a double iron with a non-stick surface. The later ones seemed less crisp to me, nearly rubbery. The early ones were the best pizzelles on the planet.

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I don't think the new iron was at fault; with some irons, you need to press down (with a hot-mitted hand) very quickly after you close it. Some of my irons have handle clamps that achieve the same thing -- a thinner and therefore more crisp cookie. You may need to play with the baking time and temperature a bit, as well.

Really humid weather is hard on pizzelles, too.