Aunt Jemima, Downy Flake, etc… Frozen waffles were almost always square with the exception of Eggo.
I was in a large grocery store today and noticed there was not 1 single brand of frozen waffles that were square. Every brand was round.
I liked the square ones better. It was easier to cut them up into equal sized small pieces.
We eat waffles for breakfast maybe once a month, usually on a Sunday. I mix up my from-scratch batter, adding seasonal or frozen fruit, and pump out eight or ten beautiful, thick waffles with crisp exteriors and fluffy insides. We each eat two and I freeze the rest using paper towel interleaves, which get eaten over time.
I once picked up a box of frozen waffles and they couldn’t even remotely compare. When the remainder of the box were freezer-burned the chickens ate them.
/anti-frozen waffle rant
Round waffles use less batter than square. More profit.
What, no triangular, toroidal or trapezoid waffles? Here’s a marketing miss that needs to be corrected!
I like both. The frozen ones are convenient to make(especially for one person). I agree freshly made waffles taste better but it’s a pain making them for just one person.
(I also like Totino’s Party Pizzas but I would never in a million years say they are better than a a pizza made fresh in a pizza oven.)
This. Less waffle for the same or money = PROFIT! It is the same story as pretty much everything else you buy in the grocery store. Everything has gotten smaller portions for the same/more cost.
WAG: square ones sit too low in the toaster and there were some accidents. Burns, shocks, broken toasters, etc.
I would think it would be easier to manufacture square though. You can make a big sheet and cut it to size. With round you have to dispense equal amounts into a bunch of round cookers.
The frozen square ones were around for over 50 years. If there were problems they’d have changed them quicker. The profit motive is the only reasonable explanation I can so far except.
My guess is, everyone started expecting them to look like Eggo waffles. Eggo was successful; ergo, they all switched over.
It seems to me that waffle makers are more prevalent now than they were when I was growing up in the 1970s and '80s. They’re not that hard to use, and you can buy the batter pre-mixed. I wonder if the motel breakfast counters with waffle makers revived their popularity.
I was never a successful pancake maker. So I got a waffle maker and did that for my kids.
I wish I knew someone who would make me pancakes. I would run away from home for that.
Huh? 35g is 35g, regardless of its shape!
But a round one can look bigger
We’re talking about toaster waffles, right? A waffle has to be a certain minimum size to be able to be cooked in a toaster, or you wouldn’t be able to reach it after it is cooked. The smallest circular waffle that will work in a toaster is smaller (less batter) than a square one. I assumed that was running coach’s point in #3.
But that explanation implies that waffle makers were not interested in increasing their profits for over 50 years. I find that even harder to believe.
Some development in technology, commercial processes, or materials availability that affected profitability might have taken 50 years to manifest.
WAG: Round foods look “classier” than square. Same reason why square pizza is only suitable for school cafeterias. AFAIK, Eggo was the first frozen waffle, so it maybe that competitors got away with squares just because they were already considered cheap knockoffs. Eventually consumer tastes caught up.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I suppose if you don’t like pan styles, sure, but Sicilian, Detroit Style, “Italian Grandma” style, pizza al taglio, Old Forge pizza, etc… All those can be fantastic.
Thumbs up to square pizza.
The last square frozen waffles I was able to buy were Pillsbury, but they’ve been gone for maybe ten years.
There’s something called Aunt Jemima Jumbo Square Whole Grain Waffles. They’re sold to food services in 12½ pound quantities.
I agree, square frozen waffles from the supermarket are sorely missed.