Works great for waffles, pancakes and grilled sandwiches like grilled bacon & cheese, grilled ham & cheese and regular grilled cheese.Super easy to use. Works great. Wish it cooled a little faster but nothing to complain aboutThis waffle iron performs acceptably when cooking multiple waffles but the reversible cooking surfaces fir very loosely into the clips that are designed to secure them in place. The construction is low quality and sloppy, and care must be taken to insure the upper cooking surface doesn’t fall out of place. The nonstick surface performs well, and the temperature indicator lamp works well but the heat recovery time is slow.I like this waffle maker just fine.Things I don't like:The plate retention clips do the job but feel like they're going to wear out quickly. They feel so flimsy.The heating element is round in a square appliance so the corners don't get the correct heat.There's too much gap between the plates so the top doesn't get the same browning as the bottom.There's no dedicated overflow area to catch if you put too much batter.Not designed to be able to flip over and get better browning from the top plate.Those negatives don't make this waffle maker bad. They're just listed as items to know before you buy. I would buy this waffle maker again. You get a large 4 waffle maker for the lowest price I've ever seen with removable plates. Removable plates are the best feature on this kind of waffle maker and outweigh the negatives I listed.I've tried many waffle irons in the past and all the ones without removable plates are so difficult to clean I have used them a few times and then threw them away due to cleaning issues.03/03/13 - We've been using the new waffle maker for two months now and we've finally got the waffles to come out more evenly browned. Perhaps it just took a while to find the correct setting and get it broke in. I now would recommend this square waffle maker. Although it still costs too much!We bought this waffle maker on December 27, 2012, online from Amazon.com. I compared many waffle makers online and in store. Although the online ad said this waffle maker could be bought at Lowes and somewhere else for only $56.99, I called and they didn't have it and could not even order it. This one cost me $129.99 - that's twice as much! I'm still using the one we got when we were married in 1971. It's orange, (yes, I said orange!) large, square, and has the griddle as well. I want to be able to turn out more than just enough waffles for two people to set down and eat at the same time. I did not want Belgian style and I did not want a round or smaller waffle maker. This Black & Decker model was one of probably only two I found that are square. The description read Square Extra-Large Waffle Maker. Well, yes, it is larger than any other waffle makers I found. But, it's still not as large as the one we got in 1971. And, it doesn't brown the waffles evenly, where as my old one does. I now hook them both up and use them at the same time so we can get eight (8 squares) to start eating while the next batch is cooking.I tried using the recipe in the pamphlet that came with it but we reverted back to using our old standby made with Bisquick. We like the flavor better and we love to add some sugar and vanilla to the batter for even better flavor. Note: Pour approximately 3/4 cup of batter in the center of the grill. A full cup is too much and will overflow. I use a full cup on in our old waffle maker.For those of you who have had difficulty with your waffles sticking to the grill, this is what works great for us: BEFORE you plug in the grill and heat it, use a pastry brush and lightly brush both the top and bottom grills with liquid cooking oil. Close the lid and heat. Your waffles may cling to the top of the grill when you open it but will pop off really easy. You DO NOT need to oil the grills again before pouring the next batch. Do not overcook your waffles, unless you actually like them that way. You can always close the lid and continue to cook them longer if they aren't done to your liking.ALSO, these grills DO NOT need to be scrubbed before you put them away. It's like seasoning a good skillet. Just clean it up with a couple paper towels to absorb any oil left on the grills then wipe it down with a warm damp dish cloth. Try this, it really works! If you scrub it, your waffles will stick the next time even if you oil the grills.I hope this review helps anyone else that is as picky as we are when it come to finding a waffle maker. I know this review is a bit long, but I really wish I had found a review with all this information in it when we was searching for one. It would have made our decision easier.We love our waffles! LOLWhen I first got this waffle baker, I really was disappointed. I washed the plates with soapy water and then oiled them up as described in the instructions - but my waffles were sticking worse than I've ever seen before. Basically, the first (and sometimes the second) waffle of every batch was tearing in half and I had to scrape the pieces off of the top and bottom plates using a wooden spoon. Nothing usable was left after this process and it was a huge, messy pain. Because of the big mess, I would rewash the plates in soapy water after each use and then I tried to keep the waffles from sticking by using heavy coats of cooking spray; which left subsequent waffles soggy and oily, but still didn't prevent the first ones from tearing in half.After a few weeks of that, I got online to see what I could do to help resolve this problem - or if I should just throw this new waffle baker away. (My old ones never had these problems, so I thought it was just a problem with the model.)Fortunately, I was able to come up with a few steps that completely eliminated my issues; so, here they are:1) Never wash those plates with soap (after the initial cleaning of course), since it takes the oil coating off - it's fine to soak them in water or to wipe them off; just don't use soapy water or you'll have to re-season them.2) Before pouring the first waffle, I heat the baker up to the maximum temperature and then turn it down to my desired waffle heat once the first waffle is poured. This isn't important once the plates are fully seasoned, but it helps with the first few batches.3) Be sure to put enough oil in the waffle recipe. In my case, the recipe calls for 2 tbsp but I've found that 1/4 tbsp extra makes a huge difference and probably just offsets the oil that didn't pour out of the measuring spoon anyway.4) In my case, I don't pull the waffle out the instant the light goes out. I wait about 30 seconds until the steam starts to lighten up - this also prevents you from needing a hotpad when opening the baker. (Something you'll learn fast with this particular model is that the steam coming out the front can be very hot:).)5) I don't use cooking spray at all anymore (which is more than I can say for my old waffle irons). It isn't needed at all for the waffles to come out perfectly.With these easy tweaks, I'm now able to get perfect waffle off of this every time - from the first waffle to the last. They taste great and the extras go into the freezer so the kids can warm them up in the toaster on weekends.I honestly will probably never use the grill plates since I have another electric griddle that is larger - but the waffle baker works really well. I would highly recommend it.Sold my perfectly fine griddle to buy this as I thought it would be an upgrade. Huge mistake.Since the griddle plates don't have edges on them, flipping pancakes is a huge pain, frequently just being pushed off the side of the griddle. When used as a waffle iron the plates actually fall off even when installed properly and have narrowly missed burning my whole hand. Every attempt to make waffles has resulted in me scraping every groove to try and unstick the baked-on batter. I can barely get a proper waffle off this thing, and I'm not a novice cook. I've oiled and oiled and re-oiled and still everything sticks to these plates, ruining meals. The exterior gets stupidly hot and the little plastic handles at the front don't provide enough distance from the steam released to prevent your hand from getting burned. I got this so that meals for our family of 6 would be easier, and now we hardly ever eat pancakes because of the hassle this thing presents.So, to recap:- sucky pancakes- ruined food- sticky plates- burned hands- total remorse.This was supposed to be our anniversary present to each other - a splurge item during a tight financial time - which makes the poor performance of this product that much more frustrating.Expected MUCH MUCH better quality from Black & Decker."Flimsy" construction and extremely difficult to clean.Message that item was "NOT ELIGIBLE FOR RETURN" was a shock as no mention of this restriction was indicated when placing the order nor was the restriction noted on the invoice. The "NOT ELIGIBLE FOR RETURN" should be CLEARLY indicated before the order is placed so that the consumer can decide whether to go ahead with the purchase or not.Good product.The drain for the fat is useful, easy to clean. Opens to use both sides is useful to make eggs and other stuff at the same time.Handle is small, I burned my finger a couple times.For a quick sandwich I would still prefer a smaller sandwich maker, as this takes longer to heat and it doesn't fully close. But this is definitely more versatile.The main issue is that the metal clamp that keeps the plates in place are flimsy and with time they don't hold anymore the weight of the plate, so every time you open a hot metal plate falls way too close to your hand...Really disappointed. Spent a bit of time researching and reading reviews and thought this one was going to be suitable. Feels cheap, plates are held in by a flimsy clip and don’t line up well. Most of all, doesn’t cook evenly. The side closest to the hinges either doesn’t get as hot or there is uneven pressure.I bought this putting complete faith in the Black and Decker name. The clips do not hold the plates in place. I have burnt myself many times trying to use this.