Sometimes, old school is just better.

[KAdams4458]

The wife and I just retired our newish Krups waffle maker. It just couldn't hold a candle to our new-to-us, vintage GE waffle iron and sandwich grill. It's certainly not the first time in my life that I've discovered something which is getting on in years can still whoop up on newer, flashier versions when it comes down to function and longevity.

Sure is shiny. The chrome plate on modern stuff doesn't tend to have such deep reflective properties. It took a lot of Bar Keeper's Friend and three hours to clean the decades of grime off of it, though.





Well, it's not a non-stick surface, but it sure is tough as nails. I had to soak the plates in Simple Green for a while to loosen all of the carbon enough to scrub it off with a toothbrush.




Ah, the plates flip over to reveal a smooth surface that's perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches! George Foreman is an imitator, folks, not an innovator.





But that's not all! It also lays out flat to provide two horizontal cooking surfaces, and both plates have spouts to direct liquid run-off away from the food.




This sucker takes only two minutes to reach its highest temperature setting, as opposed to the Krups, which took about six. A waffle is ready to serve about a minute after the batter is poured with this old GE. The Krups took about 6 minutes to cook two waffles half the size, and a three or four minute wait while it ramped back up to a high enough temp for the next two waffles. The old GE is ready to have batter poured back in as soon you have pulled out the previously cooked waffles.

It's amazing to me that people today would rather buy cheap crap every few years instead of buying something good one time and using it as long as it still functions. What, on a whole, are we thinking?