Cook Your Hash Browns in a Waffle Iron?
This pin has been making quite the rounds on Pinterest lately. 
Laura Gill
I've had a hankering for a waffle iron for quite some time and just never got around to buying one, but the deal was sealed after seeing this.
I love potatoes, but crispy hash brown potatoes I love even more. I like to make my hash browns from "scratch," as in, I don't buy them frozen, but I'm not quite as fond of cooking them. If I could just set them in a waffle iron for five minutes, walk away and come back to crispy potatoes I'm in! But does it work as well as cooking them in a trusty cast-iron skillet?
This idea originally comes from a blog called Get Off Your Butt and Bake! I found it interesting that much of the post focused on the author's new waffle iron because I too, was using a new waffle iron. Unfortunately, my waffle iron isn't as nice as hers. I bought mine for $20 at Target, which means I bought the least expensive one I could find. (Hey, I don't want to invest in a lot of money on something I may not use very often.) But now I wish I'd done a little more waffle iron research - or forked over some extra dollars.
Either I didn't follow the instructions correctly, or my Oster waffle iron just doesn't get as hot as the Cuisinart. I think it's the latter. My fries weren't nearly as crispy as those in the blog, no matter how long I left them to fry. Or maybe I'm just impatient? I was obsessed with the notion that they should cook up faster in the iron.
Regardless, I think I'll stick to making my hash browns in a hot cast iron skillet - the good ol fashioned way.
Fortunately the cheaper waffle iron works perfectly for it's intended use.
Laura Gill
Maybe you'll have better luck?
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