As a home cook who spends at least 3 hours everyday in the kitchen and reads extensively on food, restaurants, and cuisine, you could say I've developed enough knowledge to be sceptical of anything that claims to bring you happiness for less than $15. Especially when professional chefs and reviewers recommend alternative products in the same category that are 10-30x the price, pointing to the other machines’ abilities including (a) making many waffles at once (b) getting a crispier result (notes below on how to do so with this machine!). However, I must say this product has been a spark of light to evolve my jaded ways though, I couldn't be happier with it!I first saw it on sale at Sur La Table for $15 but since I didn't want to pay the costs of S&H to Canada, I decided to look for it elsewhere and saw it here on Amazon for $15. I try not to buy appliances no matter how big or small if I don't see a use for them but I made a special exception with this one because it was so damn small, AND CUTE! Not to mention that the more expensive machines, while wonderful if you have the space for it in your kitchen, can't make teeny tiny cute waffles like this. The size reminded me of the delicious waffles we get at a famous Belgian restaurant in Vancouver that serves theirs with sides of decadent sauces (dark chocolate, orange fig marmalade, white chocolate pistachio rose water) so I thought yes, I'm going to do it.It heats up quickly (in a few minutes) and cooks the waffle in about 3-4 minutes (depending on your batter). As the professional pastry chef Stella Parks writes about in her articles about waffles, the key is to not fill the batter all the way to the edges so that you leave room for the batter to expand and get fluffy (instead of compress and get gloppy / soggy). The whipped egg whites many recipes suggests, Stella says is not necessary if you leave enough room and your batter has enough moisture from the liquids (which most basic recipes do from its milk or water) to activate the explosive reaction. While I wasn't able to get it to crisp up in the waffle maker because the tiny guy couldn't generate enough heat, I was able to assist the waffle in browning by adding a tiny pinch of baking soda (another trick of Stella's) and finishing the mini waffles off in the oven at 350°F naked on the rack for 3-5 minutes just to crisp up. You could argue it's a fuss, to make another step but the truth is if you need the machine more than once to make more than one set of waffles (no matter what machine you're using), you need to keep the waffles warm anyways, so to me it's not an extra step. That is if you even care about having crispy waffles. I know some people who like their waffles soft instead of crispy.There isn't a way to get around making one waffle at a time, except that for our meal, I make all the waffles first and put them in the oven so that they're ready to go. To be honest, if you're in such a rush when you cook and when you're in the kitchen, there's a bigger question you have to ask yourself: in the presence of an opportunity to learn and enjoy, through the path of mastery, why are you in such. a. damn. rush?! Like the Buddhist masters say, if you rush here, you probably rush there, you probably rush everywhere!