Breville BWM640XL Smart 4-Slice Waffle Maker with Adjustable Browning Control - Stainless Steel - Perfect for Breakfast, Brunch & Family Gatherings

This waffle maker is straight from the Jetsons!Functionality - This thing is really good at one thing and thats making waffles. Well if you've ever spent any time on social media you've probably seen food videos of people making hash-browns or cinnamon rolls in their waffle iron. While I'm not saying that this wont work for that, I would personally go for something with shallower grooves, or a non-Belgain style maker. That being said if you purchased this thing to make waffles, which you probably did, it works wonderfully. I've made all types of waffles in this ranging from authentic Belgian style Liege yeasted waffles with pearl sugar to your run-of-the-mill Bisquick shake and pour in this and get perfect results every time. Actually it is beyond perfect, you get that crispy crunchy exterior like it was just out of the waffle maker on a fancy hotel buffet on the medium setting. The settings, and wow are there a lot of them. I'm sure this waffle maker has more electronics in it than Apollo 11 had to land on the Moon. You can customize your batter type, and your crispness setting with the very well built and easy to use knobs on the front of the machine. For me, the default color is the perfect setting for most waffles and I like mine crispy. Unless you like almost black waffles I wouldn't really advise going past the middle. If you like softer waffles make sure to go lighter than you think because you can always press the handy "A Bit More" if it needs more time. Now on to cleanup - The nonstick coating works very well and you barely need any oil to get it going. The only problems I've had cleaning it is with those Liege pearl sugar waffles I talked about earlier. The sugar caramelized in the bottom of the maker and took a long time to completely remove. However...this is more of a problem with the nature of the recipe than the maker itself. If you are just making normal waffles than you should have no problems with cleanup- just make sure its cool first. Finally, the moat around the outside really helps with cleanup compared to traditional waffle makers, but we will touch on that more next.Problems - This thing is HUUGE. When you pull it out of the box you feel reassured that your $250 didn't go to waste and you got a substantial, well built product. This however is the only upside to the size. Living in an apartment with a small kitchen it is hard to find a place to store monstrosity. It is also hard to find a place to use it on. Its lid does not have a soft close feature like you might find on a fancy toilet-seat, it just slams shut if you let it go. This is a big problem because it is so tall. So tall in fact that it does not open under my cabinets and I have to use it in an area where there are no cabinets overhead. When opened fully it is taller than by 6QT Kitchen-aid stand mixer. If this is a problem for you then I would advise getting the 2 slice model because I would believe it opens to a lesser height. It is also heavy and has a substantial footprint. If you spend this much money on a waffle maker you might want to proudly display it out on your countertop, but because of the moat that catches the expanding waffle batter it makes it have a very large footprint making it hard to justify giving it so much real-estate for such a speciality appliance. If you do choose to move it back and forth from cabinet or pantry to countertop just realize it is not the lightest thing in the world.Conclusion - If you have $250 to burn on a waffle maker then you cant get much better than this, but if the price is a barrier for you there are cheaper options from Breville and other manufactures that will probably give comparable results without the price tag. If you have tall cabinets or an island in your kitchen this is a good buy, but if you don't I would go for the two slice model just because that lid wont close slowly if your hand is under it and it can't be opened all the way prevent closure, thus turning your hand into a Belgian waffle if your hand thats holding it open slips. All in all this is an amazing piece of technology and its crazy how far simple things like a waffle maker have come. Do you need it? Probably not, but it makes killer waffles well every time and if you can get past the size and drawbacks associated with that it is a near perfect machine.Also- The measuring scoop they include is very helpful for portioning the waffles. I tend to add a little bit more than the scoop says but thats just me.