People new to making vegan waffles sometimes give up on them right away, especially if they’re also gluten-free. This brief video addresses the most common issue encountered in baking vegan waffles: how to keep waffles from sticking to the iron. This involves spraying the waffle maker with oil properly. It will pave your path to tastebud ecstasy. “No stick” waffle makers also require proper spraying.
As shown in the video, I spray each grid for roughly two seconds. It doesn’t matter how quickly you move the can in a spiral or back-and-forth, as long as you’re covering the whole waffle maker’s surface evenly during that two seconds:
A few additional pointers related to spraying your waffle iron with oil to prevent sticking:
- With some vegan and gluten-free waffles, you might even spray each grid for 3 seconds.
- If your waffle maker is very old, or has been cleaned with abrasive tools or chemicals, the surfaces of the grids may be very scratched or pitted. If it began life with a non-stick surface, that surface may be largely worn off. The underlying surface may be one that’s relatively clingy. In such cases, the oil may not be enough.
- The self-pressurized, reusable oil bottles, while more ecologically friendly, don’t spray as fine (and evenly covering) a mist. At least not in my experience. I’ve had the best experiences with pre-pressurized cans of vegetable oil.
- I’ve tried a range of pressurized vegetable oils, and they’ve all worked fine: olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, soybean oil, and vegetable oil blends. Many people prefer certain oils over others, for a range of environmental and health reasons.