I've read over some of the negative reviews before making my final decisions on this item because I mostly saw a lot of potential and promise into what I could do with this product (saving money by whipping my own personal batter and possibly spiking the recipe with protein powder or some other supplements. This review will not cover this attempt as it's purpose was to simply make waffles without taking up too much space and to be incredibly easy to clean and maintain). What I didn't like about the electric waffle makers is the idea over how bulky and prone to being broken they are if they are either bumped or dropped from the counter. The folks that designed this product clearly had this in mind, they made their item from superior materials and it's what you're paying for here.It calls for vegetable oil to be painted as an optional choice; but I usually use whatever cooking oil that I have in the kitchen like canola oil that I would use for eggs or pancakes, and it turned out just fine for me (I initially thought my first batter was oily, and it didn't require the oil since the two pans are coated with a nonstick material and so easy to separate, and reassemble during cooking without oven mitts or gloves. I left a lot of room on the stovetop to work). With my first batter, I was able to whip up 16 waffles (some of them were not complete, while others overflowed when I put too much in; but these things come with practice); no problem and no fuss, and at a fraction of the price of buying commercial waffles buying the ingredients individually and mixing them into a thick batter. For a normal batter from the time that you start with the ingredients from scratch to the time you are done, you're looking at somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes (and if you're really efficient, you could also add the clean-up period to that timing also). Clean-up is virtually fuss free as the item is already coated with a non-stick material; but since it's aluminum, you wouldn't dare stick it in the dishwasher or the detergent will oxidize the Aluminum.The price seems a little high compared to the electric waffle makers; but you're paying for something that is very well made and efficient when it takes only 3-4 minutes per waffle, it's easy to stack your waffles on a nearby plate (does feel old fashioned), and repeat the process that is only limited by how much waffle batter you have. You can make some crazy good waffles with this item, and still be incredibly sanitary that nobody's going to get sick with the next batter when it's easy to disassemble (there's only two pieces) and thoroughly scrub & rinse out as necessary as you need too. This items is well worth the price compared to electric waffle makers. Now my folks want one after seeing this item in action and the results.