I just received the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker from Harvey Norman. And that’s perfect, because my wife loves waffles!
She adores chocolate waffles, strawberry waffles, even waffle blankets.
But, truthfully, up until now I haven’t lived up to her waffle-loving expectations. In our wedding vows I promised to buy her at least one waffle a week (my groomsman had to tell me to stop waffling) – yet the only one I’ve ever given her was a stale, hard-as-concrete thing, that had been sitting at the local servo for who knows how long. And they don’t even sell waffles there.
The reality is that she’s been forced to forage for waffles herself for far too long.
But, totally aware of the error of my ways, I’ve decided to shift gears. With the awesome Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker coming into my possession, I’m going to make her waffles every chance I get. And if they’re tasty enough, I’m hoping she’ll forgive me!
Firstly though, what is a Vertical Waffle Maker?
The Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker features an upright design that incorporates a funnel at the top. The funnel allows you to pour batter into the machine once it’s pre-heated, without having to open it up. This makes for mess-free waffle cooking, eliminating splashes and drips.
The vertical waffle maker design also works to evenly distribute heat, so your waffles are always thick – and fluffy or crispy, depending on your preference.
What is the advantage of the Sunbeam Vertical Waffle Maker’s Shade Select function?
The Sunbeam Vertical Waffle Maker’s Shade Select function lets you create waffles to your desired level of fluffiness or crispiness.
With five waffle shade settings to choose from – ranging from light and fluffy to dark and crispy – this functionality lets you follow recipes to a tee or lets you go off script and make your waffles just the way you want them.
All it takes is a simple turn of the Sunbeam waffle maker’s shade select dial.
What makes the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker easy to use?
The Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker is smart and intuitive.
Just turn it on and it will pre-heat. Once pre-heated, it will beep to let you know it’s ready.
All you need to do next is use the included measuring cup to pour batter into the funnel, and then select your shade of choice. The Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker will detect the added batter and turn on an LED screen countdown timer to let you know how long it is until you can eat (it’s never long!).
What waffle recipes can you cook with the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker?
With this innovative Sunbeam appliance, the world of waffles is your oyster (although, oyster waffles probably aren’t the waffle recipe you’re hanging out for).
From decadently sweet waffles to mouth-watering savoury waffles, anything is possible with the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker.
Filled with exciting waffle recipe ideas, the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker e-recipe book is a great resource. This Sunbeam waffle e-book has recipes for vegan waffles, gluten free waffles, choc chip waffles, apple crumble waffles and ham & cheese waffles, to name but a few.
In fact, two of the waffle recipes in the book – corn-fritter waffles and vegan raspberry & coconut waffles – were the first two creations I decided to make for my wife. Wish me luck!
Setting up the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker
I pulled the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker out of the box as soon as I got home. My wife’s eyes lit up.
“Waffles….finally!”
This was off to a good start. And what made her and I even happier was how little room the Sunbeam waffle maker took up on the bench thanks to its vertical design.
After setting it up – and by setting it up I mean simply plugging it in – I opened up the waffle machine and greased the plates with cooking oil (Sunbeam recommends doing this for the first use – after this, there’s no need to oil them again).
I then turned the power switch on, and the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker began to pre-heat.
It was time to get cracking.
Corn-Fritter Waffle Recipe for the Sunbeam Waffle Maker
As the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker pre-heated, I began preparing the batter for the first recipe – Corn-Fritter Waffles. Now, why did I go with this non-traditional, savoury waffle option to kick things off (besides the fact that it sounded delicious)? Because it was dinner time – and I promised my wife waffles!
I mixed together the flour, baking soda, egg, milk, melted butter, salt and pepper, creamed corn and… ahhhhh, I forgot to buy corn-off-the-cob or even corn-on-the-cob! For corn-fritter waffles, this looked like it could be a major error on my behalf.
I was just hoping the Sunbeam Shade Select Waffle Maker would be so good that it wouldn’t matter!
Pushing ahead, I used the measuring cup to pour the exact amount of batter required into the Sunbeam waffle maker. As it filled up the contents of the machine, the LED countdown timer came on. I turned the dial to cook to a medium shade and let the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker do its thing.
Within minutes, the tantalising smell of waffles wafted through the air and our dinner was ready.
My wife was chomping at the bit as I plated the waffles.
“Wait a sec, I’ve got to take a photo of these waffles for the Harvey Norman blog,” I told her.
“Well don’t use that plate then – it looks like it’s from a 1990s home shopping informercial.”
So, my wife found another plate (I don’t know, I’ve still got a soft spot for ’90s infomercial plates), before replating the meal. Then I took this happy snap.
Now, it was time for the most important part. Eating the waffles!
Without corn (besides the creamed corn I popped in), I was a little nervous how my wife was going to respond. She took a bite of the corn-fritter waffles sans corn and… a smile appeared.
“This waffle is actually really, really good!”
I was relieved – the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker had made up for my ingredient-buying blunder.
As my wife went to take another bite, my almost-three-year-old daughter swooped in and took a bite for herself.
“This is my favourite food ever!” she exclaimed.
An unbelievably good Sunbeam waffle maker review – but, having tasted the possibilities, it meant that she now refused to eat any more of the soup that had been prepared for her earlier. It was time to whip up another batch of dinner waffles (I refused to give her mine!)
Vegan Raspberry & Coconut Waffle Recipe for the Sunbeam Waffle Maker
With the success of the previous night’s corn-fritter dinner waffles, I woke up excited to try out a vegan raspberry & coconut waffle recipe for breakfast.
However, before I’d even had a chance to get halfway to the kitchen and the Sunbeam waffle maker, my daughter had legged it past me and was already opening the cupboard to pull out the flour. I’m starting to think she’s even more of a waffle fan than her mum.
Luckily, unlike the corn debacle, I had remembered to buy raspberries.
So, off I went mixing together the ingredients, including raspberries, coconut oil and coconut milk, amongst a few others.
Soon enough, the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker had heated up – and in the batter went. This time I selected a medium-high shading level.
Now, the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker is very quick, but my daughter still managed to get in a couple cries of “I want waffles now!” before they were ready.
I was tempted to tell her that in my day we had to drive from town to town to find half-decent waffles rather than the four minutes it was going to take for her to receive waffle perfection – but, just then, the Sunbeam Select Vertical Waffle Maker beeped to let me know breakfast was ready!
And, after learning my lesson the night before, I knew exactly what plate to put my wife’s on.
With this legendary breakfast sitting in front of us, we all began to tuck in. Savouring the delightful taste of the waffles, my wife agreed that I was forgiven for never having bought her waffles prior – so long as I agreed to make her some with the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker at least once a day from here on out. My daughter agreed.
Where to buy the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker in Australia
Ready to eat waffles, waffles and more waffles?! Come into your local Harvey Norman and see the Sunbeam Shade Select Vertical Waffle Maker for yourself – or shop it online. Our friendly, expert staff are keen to help with any queries you have.
Bon appétit.