C and I put it on our wedding registry all those years ago as a fun to have item, and were delighted when we discovered that one of our friends had purchased it for us. We enjoyed many weekend waffle brunches that year until the day that I accidently snapped off the plastic on/off knob that also regulates the temperature setting.
I tried to glue it back on but that didn't work. I figured I could still turn the metal switch that the knob was attached to with my fingers, but quickly learned that the metal switch gets too hot to handle with bare fingers. I tried oven mitts but they were too stubby, and poking a pair of metal tongs at it just seemed like a bad idea.
It would have been a shame to throw the whole thing away, the iron itself still worked after all, so I packed it up in its box with the intention of fixing it when a better idea came along.
3 years have gone by since then and I still haven't found a solution, but I haven't yet given up. This past weekend my sister and her family came to spend the night so I took this as motivation to prepare a fun and filling breakfast menu. In the morning there would be waffles for everyone, knob of not.
I figured that if I pre-set the temperature when it was unplugged, all I'd have to do is plug it in and add the batter when the iron got hot. What I forgot, unfortunately, is that there is a technique to waffle making that involves the perfect ratio of batter, temperature and timing.
The instant I lowered the lid steam billowed from the seams and hot batter oozed out and down the front and sides of the appliance and all over the kitchen counter like molten lava. I quickly moped up as much as I could making sure to keep it from dripping into the exposed knob area and electricals. I then tried to open the lid but it was fused shut. Even my brother-in-law couldn't pry it open and managed to snap a wooden spoon in the process. I finally unplugged it so the batter wouldn't char and cause a fire.
When the iron cooled enough to be handled my brother-in-law gave it a good tug and finally got the lip open. Batter was burnt and crusted onto the waffle grooves. I started to the scrape off what I could, but this was going to be a big clean up job. With 5 hungry people hovering in the kitchen and a big bowl of batter waiting to be cooked there was no time to scrape, so I took out my trustee frying pan and went to work. That morning there would be pancakes for everyone.
I haven’t touched the waffle iron since then. I think it still needs time to cool off – a “time out” as Lauren would say. Maybe it was trying to tell me to leave it alone. Maybe the knob can’t be fixed and I should just throw it away. But somehow I don’t think so. I think after a little love and attention and after the crusted batter has been removed, we can enjoy our weekend waffle brunches again someday.
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