Salter 3-in-1 snack maker review

Once you’ve figured out your recipe, it makes impressively large, deep waffles (13x13cm). Their size means they take longer to cook (around 8-10 minutes) but the final results in our testing were soft and light with a crunchy exterior. Because of their size, it’s important not to lift the lid too early during cooking as this will further increase the cooking time and be detrimental to the rise, texture and colour of the waffles.

Be aware that as the wet batter cooks, streams of steam escape from the sides of the maker. A helpful tip in the manual asks you to wait until there is no more steam before opening the lid as this indicates that they are nearly done. Rubbing the plates with a little oil before cooking aids the non-stick and helps form the crust. The colour on the waffles was a bit uneven – more golden on the top than the bottom, so they’re best served top-side up.

For ease of use, the machine has a ‘ready to cook’ indicator light as well as a ‘power’ light. The sides and handles are cool to the touch, but the top and the escaping steam are hot, so you should use oven gloves or a dry cloth when opening the lid and removing the cooked waffles (with a non-metal spatula).

As with the waffle plates, the panini and toasted sandwich plates are generously sized. For the sandwiches we used a standard sliced loaf in testing. The squares of the sandwich plate were larger than the slices but this didn’t matter much in practice as it still toasted and sealed the edges. The panini grill plate is 28.5x15cm so can cope with a long 25cm panini if you turn it widthways.

Compared to other brands we tested, the plates are slightly tricky to remove. You need to press two buttons simultaneously to release each plate whereas other machines only have one button per plate. The correct orientation for refitting the plates was also less intuitive than on other models.

Cooked waffles were easy to remove but in our cleaning test – while the exterior of the machine is easy to wipe clean with a soft cloth – the non-stick coating on the plates was less robust than others we tested, so require gentle washing. Plates also need to be wrapped and stacked carefully in a cupboard to avoid scratches since there’s no other storage solution to protect them.

That said, given its versatility and ability to cook generous portions, the Salter is surprisingly compact with a cable tidy on the underside. Plus, the handle has a clip to keep the machine closed during cooking and for neat storage.

Salter offer a one-year guarantee with this product.

Removable plates: yes (waffle, panini, sandwich)
Size: 11x25x29cm
Weight: 3.36kg
Indicator lights: yes – power and ready to cook
Waffle size: 13x13cm
Dishwasher-safe parts: the removable plates
Wattage: 900W

Read our full review of the best waffle makers

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This review was last updated in July 2019. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.