839

This Chef'sChoice 839 Krumkake Express is very well-made. The latch snaps shut strongly and snugly but is easy to re-open w one finger, the temperature control is very sensitive so that a small movement up or down on the dial varies the timer for the perfect color you want, and the unit heats up quickly and stays evenly hot. This is my first experience w Krumkake, and I've always wanted to make these myself, as they are delicious! The 839 comes with three recipes: "A Favorite German Recipe," "A Norwegian Favorite" and "A Norwegian Recipe for a Lacy KrumKake." The recipes are quite simple, and took no time at all to blend in my mini-food processor. By my fourth KrumKake attempt, my creations were turning out quite presentably. I also quickly destroyed the evidence of my first mishaps, by eating them before anyone saw. I'm putting the recipes presented (shortened instructions) below, and I have a picture of my first batch for the Lacy KrumKake. I made cones w the provided cone shape, rolls with a Wilton Fondant mini rolling pin, and the bowls by pressing the hot KrumKake very lightly between two small Corelle (glass) bowls. A Favorite German Recipe 2/3 c water 1 c all purpose flour 1/2 stick butter 1 egg 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 c granulated sugar (or more) boil water, take off heat and melt butter in it. add sugar and stir to dissolve and let cool. add flour and egg, mix and add vanilla. will make a thin crispy krumkake. A Norwegian Favorite 2/3 stick butter (5 Tbsp) 2/3 c milk 2/3 c sugar 1 c all purpose flour 2 eggs melt butter w/o overheating. mix in sugar, then use power mixer to add 2 eggs till light yellow in color. add milk and flour, blend till smooth. A Norwegian Recipe for a Lacy KrumKake 1 stick butter 1 c all purpose flour 2 Tbsp whipping cream 1 c sugar 1/2 t vanilla 3 large eggs melt butter w/o overheating, mix in sugar. use power mixer to beat in 3 eggs. Add flour slowly to make smooth. whip the cream fully in separate bowl and fold into batter. add vanilla to taste.

I had to switch from a stove-top krumkake maker to an electric because we installed an induction stove top. I was nervous, because I’ve only been making krumkake for 2-3 years and I was worried a change would just set me back. The electric iron was so easy compared to the stove-top one. You don’t have to flip anything, and it also cooks more slowly, which means it’s not nearly as intense of a process. It was almost relaxing! It was my first holiday with the electric one, but so far, I’ve made 3 batches and it works really well.

After living in Norway for almost a year, this wa a must have addition to our repertoire of household appliances. The apt we rented had one of these and after my wife came home from work after the first week saying how good the friday ritual of pankaker was with a bit of jam and creme fraishe - it was off to the grocery to get the batter mix. We enjoyed making them ourselves for a weekend breakfast of snack. So upon return to home, this was the first thing I went out to find. Not too many to chose from - some manual ones but only saw one other by this brand and it cost more for all I could determine was a little design on the exterior. The guts are the same. Since it sit inside a cabinet most of the time I chose the lesser expensive model and it has proven to be perfect. Vaffeler or pancaker in Norway are more crepe like - maybe in Sweden they are more krumkake like or sort of cookie like. So this thing does both depending on the batter I guess. My wife travels to norway for meetings so she brings us the norwegian type batter and we make crepe like pancakes with this machine - it works perfectly and the non-stick surfaces are a joy to use and cleanup well. The price is reasonable compared to specialty shops I looked at for it. The jam we can find at Ikea and the creme fraishe is sold at whole foods - hopefully the trips to norway continue periodically. After retirement, we'll have to import the stuff or learn to make our own. I guess if you make the right batter, you can use the included form to make waffle cones - have not tried yet - I suppose it is a batter that firms up when it cools. The norwegian batter stays felxible so it can be rolled like a crepe.

Took a little while to adjust for color/heat...just normal trial and error. Made very nice, thin krumkake, but they were a little uneven and you have to press down on the corner of the handle to get even thickness across the entire cookie. So much easier than the stovetop models.

I've made krumkake with the traditional iron in the past, but recently moved to a house with a glass stop stove and the old iron just couldn't work right without the right kind of heat... I just finished making TWO batches of krumkake, using two different recipes (one recipe is butter based, the other is cream based). The first batch didn't last long enough -- I was having so much fun, I ran out of batter and made some more! This iron is so incredibly easy to use... Krumkake is perfect, both recipes worked wonderfully. How it works: Heat iron for about five minutes until light is green. Wipe small amount of oil on iron. Put tablespoon of batter on iron, close lid. Close latch (latch puts slight pressure on lid for uniform cakes). The light turns to red, then green when it is done in about a minute (depending on how "golden" you like it). There is a small dial with numbers that act as a timer; remember your setting (I started at 3 1/2). When the light is green, open iron, peel off cake, and roll with cone (included with iron). Easy. Recommend putting iron on cookie sheet, as batter may spill out at times. PROS: Incredibly easy to use - the lights, latch, and dial make it almost automatic. Batter doesn't stick to iron. Compact in size Easy to clean CONS: Only one krumkake at a time (which isn't a con if you are baking alone) All in all, an awesome product. I can make these cookies often, easier than a regular sugar cookie, and the settings on the iron make it fool proof. Strongly recommended.

I really wanted this to work. I have an old cast iron krumkake iron and now have a glass stove top and the sales rep said it is not recommeded for cast iron use. After unboxing, I read the manual, prepared the batter, and heated the iron. The photos show the inconsistent heating--one crisp outer edge only and the center and other edges are not cooked so the krumkake was limp. I tried pressing down slightly on the center a bit with a folded towel so the steam would not burn me. I pressed down for about 8 seconds. The edges were brown but again, the center was not crispy. I started with the lowest recommended setting in the manual, and kept increasing it to 6 which was used in the photos. I did like the no-stick surface and size of the plate; however, the very inconsistent heat doesn't allow for the pretty, lightly browned krumkakes I can make with my old cast iron krumkake maker. Overall, I would never recommend this appliance which is disappointing.

Requirements: I have a recipe handed down from my grandmother in Germany that requires an iron that can produce a very thin ‘cookie’, which is then rolled around a dowel to form a cylinder. The Cucina Pro Krumkake iron and the Chef’s Choice 839 Krumkake Express seemed to be the only two electric options (Note: the Bethany Housewares iron is made by, and identical to, the Cucina Pro). This review is intended to express the suitability of these two machines for my needs, and while it will hopefully shed light on suitability to make Krumkake or other things, is not intended to be a judgment of such. Initial Choice: I initially chose the Cucina Pro, because based on all the reviews, I thought it would produce the thinnest ‘cookie’. Also, the fact that I could make 2 cookies at a time seemed like it would speed things up. The specifications indicated that each circle was 5” in diameter, which was slightly smaller than I wanted, but still acceptable. When I received the unit I was surprised by how small it was, and dismayed that each circle was actually only 4 & ¾ inches. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is a 10% difference in area. Unfortunately, the two circles are separated by only a few millimeters, so if I tried to use up all of the available area without being ultra-careful, the cookies would invariably end up joined together. By the time I got them separated, they had cooled down and hardened too much to be able to be rolled. I finished up the batch of batter by doing one at a time. Let’s try the other. Given how much work was involved, I figured I should at least try the Chef’s Choice Krumkake Express. From a visual inspection, I thought it would produce a thicker cookie, but to my surprise, the actual result was a slightly thinner cookie. Although I could only do one at a time, the whole experience was much more relaxing. The Krumkake Express has a heat control which allows you to specify the heat setting you need for your recipe. I ended up using a setting of 4.5 (out of 6) which I am sure is a good bit higher than the single setting for the Cucina Pro. This allowed the cookie to be baked in a shorter amount of time, while also allowing it to get darker and crisper - as required by my recipe. The Krumkake Express also does a better job of maintaining the heat, and seems to provide more even heating than the Cucina Pro, as evidenced by the more uniform color of the cookie. Summary I don’t want to knock the Cucina Pro. It had good build quality & looked nice. With the right tricks, I could achieve an acceptable result. I suspect it might do better with other recipes. But for me, the Chef’s Choice unit was the hands down-winner. The pros and cons below are specific to my recipe, and as compared to the other unit: Cucina Pro Pros: None Cons: circles too close together for my recipe. Chef’s Choice Pros: Heat control, heat retention (higher wattage & probably better thermostat), more even heating, bigger surface, slightly thinner cookie. Cons: None

I've been searching in the US for years for the right sort of griddle to make a traditional Swiss weinbretzeli cookie. A traditional pizzelle iron worked but was just too messy and yielded too many burnt fingers. This baker worked fabulously! My favorite feature is the color control knob and the baking/ready lights. After the first few cookies it was easy to get the right adjustment and I was able to use the lights cycling as described in the manual to gauge when my cookie was finished baking. The finger latch works really well and I was able to open the baker without any steam burns. The non-stick surface made it simple to lift the griddled cookie off quickly with a spatula. A bit of my thin batter squeezed out the front of the machine as I latched it if I didn't have the amount exact, but the overflow groove prevented most of the mess and any drips cleaned off easily. The machine takes up only a small amount of space for storage. I am pleased and will use this more often than I expected!

This arrived 10 days before Christmas, well packaged. It's the second one I've ordered. The first was a Cecina Pro, which could bake 2 krumkakes at once. It baked unevenly, and worse than that, the cookies came out thick and heavy. It was did not bake an authentic, thin, crisp krumkake cookie. I sent it back and hoped this one would deliver better results, similar to what my mother-in-law used to bake on her old iron. Well, it totally exceeded my hopes! The cookies are perfectly thin, and evenly cooked. The iron is easy to use, easy to clean, and compact to store away in the box. I LOVE this iron, and hope to use it for decades to come, and pass it on to my children.

Excelente producto y llegó rapidisimo

I love this baker! I have several bakers by Chef's Choice, 3-plate (small size) and 2-plate for Pizzelle and Krumkake (medium size), I was missing the single plate so that I could roll them, this helps to distinguish between Pizzelle and Krumkake + patterns are different for each. I tried another brand that did not have a lock, which is crucial in distributing the dough evenly, this machine did just that. I played with baking numbers, I like mine crisp, so I used 3.5. The pattern is beautiful. I did not use the cone that comes with it, I used my fingers to roll them off the press. I recommend all products by Chef's Choice, well worth paying a little more.

Me encantó. Es pequeño y eficiente.

Worked great! so much easier than when I made with cast iron which was very heavy and very time consuming with lifting & turning over. First one cooked perfect no need trial and error ,went by directions set at temp they suggested- all came out lovely light golden colour. My grandmothers recipe worked great! All friends and family gave positive comments. .