****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Amazing crêpe maker. It's cast iron... It gets hot and it STAYS hot for a good while after use. I teach, and I've used this equipment for making crêpes for my students... It can handle several hours straight of nonstop crêpe-making in one sitting. I had to have fed at least 100 students... It can make large crêpes or small ones. This crêpe maker is large and heavy, so it will take up some storage... It is not light and easy to transport, especially if you are weak at lifting anything... This is a pretty serious piece of equipment, and it does require some care. Need to use a small amount of oil in between each crêpe — but the results are 100% worth it, if you have the right crêpe recipe.The best part about this crêpe maker is that it is so large, the crêpe batter is very unlikely to spill off to the side. You can make large crêpes without worrying about spilling too much. This maker doesn't have a raised edge — but the surface area is so large that, as long as you have good batter-spinning technique, you won't ever have to worry about spilling batter on the sides.Other crêpe makers, especially cheap ones that are small, often have raised edges, but the raised edges of other crêpe makers don't actually do much to keep batter from pouring on the sides.This one is actually very easy to keep clean (on the sides of the machine) just because it has such a large surface area to work with. Wherever it is placed and used, the heavy cast iron plate will stay hot for a while after use — so it's important to make sure that, if you're using this for a restaurant or for an event, that the crêpe maker can stay for a while to cool before moving.Although the maker is heavy, the handles make it easy to move around.However, I wouldn't try to move this thing around too much while it's hot. If you're strong and muscular, you might be able to move it short distances during heated use, but the thing is so heavy that it's easy to touch the cast iron plate while moving around.I don't know much about the specifics — there are holes on the side of the crêpe maker to help with ventilation. This seems like it makes it more "temperature-stable" than other crêpe makers.I don't use the T-spinner that came with the crêpe maker... They're nice. I'll have to test them more.On the other hand... The crêpe flipper that came with it is very simple, but it's the best crêpe spatula I've ever owned! I wish I knew where I could buy another one just like this! You can use this to not only flip crêpes, but the unique square shape of the flipper spatula lets you flip the crêpe — and then you can slowly "roll" the crêpe flipper spatula. The other thing is — the crêpe flipper tool itself is flat on the bottom, so you can "lay" it on top of the hotplate when you're ready to flip. Unlike other crêpe flippers, this one is thicker, so it's not flimsy. The angle at the tip of the flipper tool is cut perfectly to help make the crêpe "rise" off of the cast iron plate.Lastly — the temperature dial, of course, helps you adjust the temperature up and down as you're cooking. Like I said earlier, the hotplate gets hot pretty quickly, and stays hot for a while after you're done cooking.So far, all of the cooking I've done is indoors, not outdoors.For those who are professional chefs — sorry, I can't get you information on the temperature of the hotplate.However, for those of you who are experienced at-home crêpe makers, if you're looking for a more serious machine, this one does pretty well, I think. I was nervous about buying it at first, due to the cost and due to no reviews yet, but so far, I'm glad that I bought this.
