PRODUCT REVIEW! Kamenstein Digital Scale (no they aren't compensating me in any way)

A bunch of years ago, I bought this digital scale:

https://www.amazon.com/Kamenstein-Stainless-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B00AQMGFDI

ALSO available in red:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQMGFG0/ref=twister_B00AQMGFC4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I got mine at Costco, but you can get them anywhere  I use it ALL the time, I weigh everything that I bake.  I weigh ALL the bread unless I specifically say I don't.  I weigh my mail on this thing, it's precise!! Over the years, I've bought many scales and uses all sorts of types.  THIS is my absolute favorite of all of them.

This scale is easy to use, easy to clean, easy to read! easy to adjust to zero out and to set the units of weight.  I LOVE this thing.

I am going to start writing more recipes by weight so you're all going to need one too.

NOW then, this is the punctuation on this review.  After all these years, the display was looking funky...I tried new batteries, i tried old batteries, I tried used batteries.  Ooops, oh no, my beloved scale was dying???  I called the company:

them:  Thanks for calling Kamenstein, how can I help you?
me:  HORROR, my scale is starting to do weird things with the display!
them:  OH don't worry, give me your name and address, we'll send you a new one, sorry you might have to wait up to a week.
me:  A WEEK? that's FANTASTIC!  thank you so much!  I love a lifetime guarantee.
them:  We're happy to help, let us know if you have any questions or need more help.....

THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is customer service.  So, my sad dead scale is sat here beside me, it doesn't owe me anything.  I have used and abused it for way too many years and the fact it's guaranteed for life?

Well, get online and get yourself a Kamenstein digital scale and if you feel like letting them know you saw my recommendation, that's great but I didn't write this to GET anything, I wrote it so YOU can get it!

/go get it

tracy

Watch this space for some impending massive Nesco appliance testing

I wasn't going to mention it here but I can't even wait so I'm telling you all now!

So, I had a LONG conversation with a representative from Nesco about me using and testing and reviewing and (I will here) develop some recipes for whatever pieces they send me.

I had an hours long chat with the rep then sent a long, detailed follow up listing all the fabulous new products I was prepared to use and talk about and now... now we wait...

I sent a follow up email last week, it can't be long now.  So, until I tell you differently, don't buy any small appliances, I may have new recommendations in the not too distant future!

I will update as the details flow...

((excited))  because I love their products and can't wait to use some of the items I haven't used before.

ok... now we wait...........  it can't be THAT long I'm sure.....

/tracy

Voyages with my Waffle Maker OR What ELSE can I cook in my Waffle maker besides waffles OR Reasons I'm the best house on the block to visit

Seriously.  I don't think I actually cook as many waffles in my Waring Pro as I do other things. A girlfriend and her daughter came over tonight for chicken lessons.  No, we have actual chickens and they are babysitting them when we go out of town so they had to have chicken lessons.

After the lesson, we were standing round in my kitchen, like we do (there's not much to chicken lessons)  I pulled out the waffle iron and yeah, we played.

No big recipes, kitchen alchemy moments or epiphanies here, it's just more of what I do with what I have.  I just throw stuff against the wall (metaphor) and see what sticks. :)

Hello MUFFLE! *yeah, Connor named these too.  I've made these since he was little but they're WAY better in this sort of waffle maker...

Grasp one boxed, bagged, sacked, muffin mix, the one that you only have to add water or milk to.  We don't want high brow here!

Well, I don't need to tell you the rest, just look:

One pack of Blueberry muffin mix, just add milk.  The bag said 1/2 cup, I added slightly less.  Mix it up in a big plastic bowl and put a blob on each quad of the waffle iron, close the lid, flip and wait.
  
DING

OK, 2 mins and you're eating muffins.  OK, it's not muffins but you're eating Muffles!  Delicious and easy and quick and you can add butter in the nooks and craters and, well, c'mon there's nothing bad about this, nothing at all!  I didn't take many pictures because, well, we ate them as fast as they came out of the waffle iron which was FAST, 2 minutes each batch.

ROUND 2

Another bag, they were on sale for .30/each, I couldn't NOT buy them.  Same deal, dump into bowl, add milk.  These were considerably runnier so they ran together more like a, well, waffle.  Drop into waffle maker, close the lid, flip, wait for the dulcet tone signalling muffin joy and ... well ...  here you go.
  
ROUND 3

Eggs, you know I did!  You know I HAD to.  2 eggs in a bowl with a tablespoon of water, some salt some pepper, whip like mad with a fork. Pour it into the preheated, greased, waffle iron.  How COOL does this look?  It almost filled it.  I tipped it back a bit to try to fill in the holes.  I waited a second before I closed and flipped and when I did...

  
OH it was not happy with me.  My girlfriend and I squealed with delight as it spit and sputtered and spewed forth eggy goodness from the sides.  I had faith though.  I merely scraped the eggs away and waited... You could see it trying to expand, look at the growth on the side!
  
I didn't wait for the ding... LOOK!!  Holee cow!  It worked!  I picked it out and we ate it fast.  Fabulous and I think a fun way to get kids to eat eggs!  Sprinkle cheese or throw it in a sandwich.  I cheered that we'd invented a gluten free waffle! HAHA
  

Well, OK, that's tonight's little play date with the Waring Pro.  I love this thing and am continuously on the look out for stuff we can make in it. 

So, besides the Stuffle 

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/11/two-ideas-here-first-gravy-then-another.html

the cornbreadwaffle thingy

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/11/two-ideas-here-first-gravy-then-another.html

the sweet rolls

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/11/canned-sweet-rolls-in-waffle-maker.html

the cinnamon rolls

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/11/canned-sweet-rolls-in-waffle-maker.html

and actual waffles

http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/11/waffles-belgian-waffles-in-my-waring.html

I am having quite the relationship with this little appliance!  I'm secretly hoping I get to play with the counter top roaster because I can only imagine what I could do in THAT. 

Go get one of these things, they're crazy fun.

/Tracy

Canned sweet rolls in a waffle maker, experiment. SUCCESS! You CAN heat up an oven and wait 20 minutes, or you can pop a can, load, flip, ice and eat in 2. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I didn't make this up.  Every once in a while I feel the overwhelming need to say that.  I am a solid believer there are no new ideas in cooking, only reworking of existing once.  I am inspired by loads of things, recipes, pictures, ideas I hear about or just stuff that pops into my head. 

This isn't even a re-work.  I saw a picture of these and looked to my right...I have a straight line of sight into my kitchen...through the bead curtain of course, and saw my new Waring Pro Waffle maker.  *I* can do that.  I stood up, walked into the kitchen and this is exactly what I did. 

There's no recipe here, just the pictures.......  I also can't type much, my fingers are covered, thickly, with rich, gooey, totally chemical laden, canned icing and sometimes, there's nothing on earth that will beat it. 

Get a coffee, send someone to the store and behold:

I got this with some meal deal at my grocery store.  Pop it open, turn on the Waffle maker, I set it to 3.5, pretending I was involved in the preparation.  I wanted to feel this procedure actually needed me.  I fear it didn't.
  
Spray your beloved waffle maker and pop one little round in each quad. Close the lid.
   

flip and time for 2 minutes.  Open!  *SQUEAL WITH DELIGHT* pop those little delicious nugget weird shaped delights onto a board.

  
Ice 'em.  OH, it fills the nooks and crannies and waffle divots of joy!!  Connor (horror!) decided he wanted his plain.  WHO wants a canned roll plain?  *sigh*
  
oh WAIT A MINUTE, leaving 4 plain means more MORE icing for ME!  You may want to avert your eyes at the shock and horror of exactly how heavily I iced the next one I ate.  I only confess because we've built such a relationship, I wouldn't show just anyone.  Behold, the big kahuna waffle ironed canned sweet roll with orange icing, OR it could also be referred to as.....  Behold, my orange canned icing with some waffle ironed sweet roll to carry it to my mouth.  You choice?

I suspect there will be a run on waffle makers and canned sweet rolls.  I'm heading to the store now just to see what else I can waffle in my newly beloved Waring Pro. 

/enjoy

ADDENDUM (or, here's a sweet added bonus of this idea!) : 

The teenage boy got up on a Saturday morning, offered me coffee and to make breakfast and proceeded to pop a can of cinnamon rolls (regular, not orange), cooked them in the waffle maker, iced them and presented me with warm sweet rolls with icing for breakfast with my cup of coffee.  

THAT ALONE IS WORTH THIS MACHINE! HAHAHAHA  *and no, he doesn't even want anything! 

/enjoy even MORE!

Waffles, Belgian Waffles in my Waring Pro Belgian Waffle maker... the experiment and the results

I sort of feel like I'm in theory debunk mode.  I've cooked things in my Nesco Pressure Cooker that you really shouldn't cook in there and now I'm onto Waffles.  I love waffles.  I prefer round ones.  OK, that being said, I do realize there's no difference in flavor between round waffles and square waffles, I just think that waffles should be round.  It's my thing, I apologize to the square waffle people but here, in my world and on my blog, waffles are round from this point forth. 

My favorite hotel moment on any vacation is the waffle maker.  I stand there and the smell is sweet and eggy and I wanted the same effect here. I received my first Christmas present yesterday, the Waring Pro Belgian Waffle Maker, thanks mom!  

OK, hotel waffles, here we come. 

Now I have some waffle recipes and I read some waffle recipes and I could not believe that the only way I was going to get a light, airy, fluffy and flavorful waffle was to enter "separate eggs" land.  If I want a waffle, I do not, not, not, want to spend time separating eggs and whipping white and, perish the thought, folding anything into anything in the morning.  I don't want to use machinery, effort, or in fact, use anything other than a bowl, a spoon and my new, fabulously beautiful, waffle maker. OH and when I want waffles, I don't want to have to think about them the night before, either. 

I unpacked the thing of beauty this morning.  Connor came downstairs and sat at the bar...watching me... 
"making waffles, mom?" (he's the 14 year old master of the obvious)
"Oh yeah, we're going to have hotel waffles"
"sweet, do you have a recipe?"
"no... I'm going to wing it, ready to test?"
"you know it!"

TRACY'S BELGIAN WAFFLES 

HEAT up your fancy Belgian Waffle Maker

In a 4 cup measuring bowl:
2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
a glug or two of vanilla

WHISK like crazy to lighten the color and make fabulous whisk against a glass bowl kitchen noises

Add 
1/4 cup melted (and cooled) butter (c'mon, it's breakfast!)
1/2 cup milk

WHISK some more

Dump, all at one time
2 cups self raising flour

MIX with a spoon, slowly, adding milk (up to another 3/4 cup) as needed to make a thick batter.  Don't worry about small lumps. 

Drop it onto the hot waffle maker, set to 4,  close the lid and spin and immediately smell the sweet eggy goodness, just like the hotel!

DING DING!  (* ALREADY ??   wow that's fast!)  So, here we are; the moment of truth!  

BEHOLD!!  **delighted** 

I made the whole batch, it made 5 waffles.  I sprayed it before the first waffle and then redid the bottom grid after the third.  Connor and I split the first waffle, he ate the second and we have 3 left, cooling, that I'm going to toss in the freezer and he can toast them at will. 

Here's the pics! 

This is one of the easiest appliances I have EVER opened.  Out of the box, a quick wipe and plug in.  It also beeped exactly as the instructions indicated it would and I'm 3 minutes from waffles... this is all good.

Here it is, unpacked, what a beauty.  Oh cute bomb, Connor!  And yes, that's a vodka bottle,  My mother brings, me Canadian maple syrup, from Quebec, in vodka bottles when she comes to visit.  There's nothing finer than having a table full of teens for breakfast and plunking the vodka bottle in the middle of the table.  :)  My reputation is in tact!
  

The only batter shot, it's quick and easy and makes SUPER light and fluffy waffles without ANY culinary drama!  Oh and look, the maker came with it's own little server cup, sweet!
  

I sprayed the grills lightly with canola spray.  I poured the batter in the maker (I was a little skimpy the first one,..)  Close it, flip it, wait.....
   

DING DING DING! wow that's fast and look, we have WAFFLES!!  Blobs of butter and a drowning with "vodka bottle" syrup.  DELICIOUS! Perfectly cooked, crisp and tender.  There's nothing about this I don't love.
   

Ready for the next one... and the next and the next
  

The machine cleaned up easily with a wipe and it's cooling and I'll put it away.  Sure, it's big and might be a pain to store but I knew that when I bought it so no surprise there.  I'll find somewhere for it to live.  That place will be close though, I see me using this OFTEN! 

So, the VERDICT: 

BRILLIANT!  A solid thumbs up from me and from the teenage boy. 

It's SUPER easy to use, fast, easy to clean, easy to cook with.  The result, on level 4, was perfectly crisp, tender waffles.  Sure, all these accolades are only from the first use but there's no reason the outcome is going to change.  

I am already thinking of OTHER things I can cook in this...  bread dough? pizza dough? bread? stuffing? cake batter? cookies?  My alchemy committee is already very busy.  I'll link from here when I do what it is I'm about to do with my new toy... 

So, go make some waffles.  Easy, light, and no egg separating, no white whipping, folding or machinery use.  Just a bowl, a whisk and a spoon and you will be in waffle heaven in absolutely no time at all.

/enjoy

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

The leftover, frozen, waffles toasted up a DREAM!  They came out of the toaster oven crispy on the outside and remained tender and fluffy on the inside.  Absolutely perfect leftover breakfasts!  The teenager has already asked me to cook up a double batch to keep in the freezer so he can nosh at will.  Oh yes we are happy happy happy with this machine.  

/enjoy again!