Belgian waffles vs regular waffles?

Let me blow your mind even more.   There are 2 kinds of Belgian waflles (generally recognized).  Brussels (which are the type you'd get at IHOP), and my personal favorite, Liege Waffles, those great, street vendor ones that have the sugar crystals caramelized on the surface with light, yeasty delicious centers.   I have been striving for the second and while all the "failures" have been popular with my tasters, I'm still after the "real thing".   I'm getting closer now.   The iron (I use a stovetop cast aluminum one) has to be smokin' hot in order for the sugar to carmelize correctly.   The "true" ones use only Belgian pearl sugar (not Swedish).  But I splurged and got some at amazon, and while the texture is definitely different, we still like the ones with Turbinado sugar just fine, so I'll save those $$.   The trick is the right temp to caramelize.

I'm working on a sourdough waffle recipe... crunchy gossamer is what I'm going for. It has to puff up quickly enough to fill the iron, and then harden into an interlocking matrix of crunchy strands. They're mostly air -- large bubbles with only the thin shell of each bubble becoming crispy.

I've almost gotten it... just a bit more tweaking.

I have not, but I agree one must have a crispy waffle. I like to make a nice yeasted waffle sometimes and always make tons extra to freeze right away for the best frozen waffles.. I love ginger and gingerbread how do you make your gingerbread waffles?

 

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Originally Posted by shroomgirl 

Hey have you guys ever made gingerbread waffles or a varied flavor waffle....I like mine crispy

    I think the secret resides more so in the waffle batter than the maker.  That being said, the minimum waffle maker I would get is a Waring Pro.

   Dan

I had many waffles when I was a young child, I'm talking at least 35 years ago. They were typically a fall and wintertime treat when we came from school, never as a breakfast as you may do in the US or elsewhere. I have no recipes from home, such a pity nor do I have a waffle iron.

IndyGal is right about 2 styles. We always had Brussels waffles style where the dough covers the whole inner iron surface, very light with a nice thin crust when freshly baked. We put just a little fresh butter on it and soft brown sugar.

I would say the secret is in the whole concept of making the right batter and using the right iron. I distinctly remember the yeast smell hanging around the house when waffles were on the menu. There was only fresh yeast from the bakery in those days. Then there's the iron. We had a cast-iron one with heating elements in both parts. That thing weighed a ton. Very interesting; I found this picture on the internet showing 3 different models from which I know 2 of them;

On the left is the kind of iron my grandmothers used. Zero electric, they took the coal filling rings out of their coalstoves and placed that waffle iron on it. It had a pivoting point so they could turn it. The second one is exactly the same as we had in our home decades ago. The third one is a professional waffle maker, also cast-iron. If you're interested; www.gedelec.be has these.

Here's a picture I took in Ypres around Halloweentime as you may notice (war veterans may remember the town). Street vendors mostly sell these Liège style waffles with sugar pearl baked inside. These waffles mostly don't cover the entire inner iron surface.

never as a breakfast as you may do in the US or elsewhere.

Just as an aside, Chris, hot breadstuffs for breakfast are an American (well, colonial North American) concept. There are some people who claim it's the only contribution to world cuisine that originated here. I won't say who the snobs are that make that claim, but they come from a European country whose name starts with F.

It's always ironic how quickly newish things become the norm. Waffles, in one from or another, have existed for hundreds of years. "Belgian waffles," however, were introduced at the New York World's Fair, in the 1960s. So they've only been around for 50 years, even though most of us think of them as existing forever.

The old 5 and 10s in New york made them to order with a slice of ice cream in between. They were 15 cents back in the 50s..

Originally Posted by gonefishin 

    I think the secret resides more so in the waffle batter than the maker.  That being said, the minimum waffle maker I would get is a Waring Pro.

 

   Dan

Agreed. The main difference is the use of yeast rather than baking soda. The size of the waffles and their shape is irrelevant.