Waffles are so simple. Obviously, they require a waffle iron, but apart from that I can quickly mix up a bunch of ingredients I always have at hand in a single bowl with a pour spout, using a single fork to stir it, a plastic IKEA cup for measuring ingredients (exactly 1 cup), and a 1tsp measuring spoon. I try to use "standard" dishes whenever possible because they're so much easier to clean (stack neatly in the sink and easily loaded into the dishwasher). Specialised tools like whisks just aggravate me.

And so delicious!

FWIW whisks to me are basic kitchen equipment, anything but specialized.

To me specialized would be something like an "avocado cutter" or a "poached egg cooker", etc. Or a waffle iron ;)

Absolutely. I'm still using the same balloon whisk I bought almost 30 years ago during my "no power tools in the kitchen" phase.

See my reply to your comment's sibling.

Ok; I guess you can fork with a whisk ... you can't really whisk with a fork!

You can sometimes whisk with a fork but it's a lot of work.

It’s a bit like cutting with a spoon.

I, too, am annoyed by special purpose tools and gadgets in the kitchen. It's for that reason that I'll point out that whisks are far from special purpose, especially in comparison to a waffle iron.

Yeah, but if I'm making waffles, the waffle iron isn't optional. The whisk is.

And by "specialised", I don't mean uncommon, I mean anything other than a basic spoon, fork, bowl, plate, or knife. A whisk has a very specific, specialised purpose, and I'll use one if I need to (such as when baking a cake), but a fork does just as good a job in the same amount of time for the waffles I make.

The reason for this is I hate dealing with all these one-offs when loading and unloading the dishwasher. One more bowl or spoon doesn't add any time if there's 20 other identical ones anyway, but every specialised tool like a whisk or a dedicated measuring cup adds disproportionate complexity to the process.

It's also why I dump all the spoons, forks, etc. into separate compartments (handles up) in the silverware holder in the dishwasher. Putting them all back in the drawer is a single step, but takes only a few more seconds when loading it.

Thanks for this. I am going to try your recipe.

Few months back we bought Waffle maker with great expectations. However after 2 disastrous attempts which resulted in very stogy waffles, we put that away. I was wondering should if we just buy some readymade batter that some stores sell.

Real waffles use yeast, sadly another item that's becoming scarce. Here's the Cook's Illustrated recipe which I use very often, it turns out excellent waffles.

1 3/4 C milk

1 stick butter (melted but not hot)

2 C flour

1 T sugar

1 t salt

1 1/2 t yeast

2 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

Whisk everything together in a lidded container. Stick in fridge overnight (10 hrs min, 24 hrs max). It'll be thick and bubbly in the morning, ladle it in your hot waffle iron, don't whisk it down, it'll deflate the gas. Makes 7 - 8 waffles.

if you have flour you can have yeast in the form of sourdough starter. I make my waffles with my pre-feeding castoff occasionally.

I still see yeast online with reasonable shipping time: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HST626C/

Waffle makers also produce phenomenal cornbread (or cornwaffles) in minutes.

Otherwise it's an appliance that doesn't get much use around lunch/dinner time.

Brush waffle iron with oil, place a handful of tater tots inside, and close to cook.

I'll happily eat cornbread at any meal

I'm not a big believer in prepackaged mixes of cakes/etc., but Krusteaz Belgian Waffle mix is da bomb. Good enough that I don't bother making waffles from scratch unless i'm out.

also put sugar in, amount to taste!