In the Kitchen with Waffle Pantry

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• We are trying to figure out the proper temperature to set our waffle iron at. Do you have any suggestions?

  • Hi Maureen, the ideal temperature to bake your Liege waffles at is 365°F (185°C) for about 3.5 minutes using a commercial grade cast iron waffle maker. We also recommend that you look at one our more recent posts, which is an update to this post and a more in depth discussion.

    ADDING LIEGE WAFFLES TO YOUR MENU: HOW TO PREPARE AND STORE LIEGE WAFFLE DOUGH

    Your Waffle Pantry team

• Hello,
  I am looking at starting a leige waffle truck and your information here has been very helpful!. My question is my recipe calls for a 90 minute rise then I add the remaining ingredients and rise again for 4 hours. At that point I deflate it wrap it tight in Saran weigh it down and put in the fridge overnight, I then incorporate the sugar and make the balls. I’ve had great reviews on them but I m not sure it’s practical process for a food truck. Do you recommend the tight wrapping and weighted overnight rest time? Any suggestions?

  • Hi Kim, congratulations on the business venture! We do have some suggestions for you that we think will help make the process easier.

    1. Please take a look at our authentic Liege Waffle Recipe. Our recipe does only call for one rising time instead of two. This recipe is from Belgium and has proven to work very well. If you decide to stick to your own recipe that is of course completely fine, too. We do also have a Liege waffle mix that eases the process further while retaining the quality. It is available in smaller retail size bags to try.

    2. You do not need to form dough balls. Instead, think of the dough like ice cream — keep the dough as one big batch and scoop out the the dough straight into the iron when the waffle is ordered. We have springless Liege waffle dough scooper that works very well for Liege waffles. It scoops out 3.5 to 4 ounces of dough and save you immensely on labor and time. This method also helps you to retain a more consistent dough temperature, which is a crucial factor in a truck.

    3. You really only need to make dough once a week and can store it for later use. The batch you prepare for the next day can be stored in the fridge, the remaining batches that will be stored for a period of over 24 hours go into the freezer. The next morning, you take the first batch out of the fridge, add the sugar, and start baking. At the end of the day one, you move the next batch from the freezer to the fridge to thaw overnight and repeat the process.

    4. You can always choose to par bake waffles ahead of time and reheat them with the waffle iron later. The quality comes out to be surprisingly good. Bake the waffles for 2 1/2 minutes and reheat it with your commercial waffle iron for a minute at the time of serving. This cuts your serving time almost in half, which can be very helpful on busier days.

    We hope all of these steps will help you in the process. Please let us know if you have any further questions. Should you need wholesale pricing for the Belgian pearl sugar or Liege waffle mix, please fill out our wholesale inquiry form and we will contact you.

    Your Waffle Pantry team

• Hi there again when using a commercial mixer (40 liter), what method can i use for the yeast step? Usually with homemade waffles because its a small amount i just mix the yeast and warm milk together then mix it with the rest. But how do i manage this step with a big commercial mixer what exactly should i do to make this step process easier and because i will be using alot of milk for the commercial mixer does it still have to be warm?. And also i have seen some videos where people add ice blocks in the commercial mixer why is that? I would appreciate some help thank you!

• Hi, when taking out the frozen waffle dough can i place it straight away into the proofing cabinet to help thaw and rise quicker? Also if using the freezing and then putting the dough in the fridge the night before method, can i still do the same and put it straight in the proofing cabinet after i take it out of the fridge? Would appreciate your help..

  • Max, proofing and thawing are two different processes. Assuming that your frozen dough already went through the proofing process before freezing it, we'd recommend that you place the dough in the fridge overnight to allow it thaw. Out of the fridge, it will take just 20-30 minutes for the dough to come to room temperature and ready to bake. This happens to be also the same time it takes for your commercial iron to heat up. Your Waffle Pantry team

• Good evening,

  Im in the process of starting my own waffle business and I need a few things cleared up. After the dough rises and I deflate it can I put on a dough tray and have it out for 6 hours. Or should I have the dough tray and keep one or two trays on the rack, and the rest in a cooler. And then when I need more take out leave on rack until it come to room temp.

  • Hi Shantay,

    You preferably don't want to keep the dough out at room temperature for more than 2-3 hours. The butter will otherwise eventually start to melt, and your dough will start to become very greasy and fall apart (like lava). The other issue is that the yeast will start to feed off of the pearl sugar and make it dissolve before you get to bake it and caramelize it.

    Instead, keep one working batch with the pearl sugar integrated on the countertop for up to 2-3 hours. The remainder stays in the fridge without the pearl sugar integrated. We also don't recommend sub-dividing your dough into dough balls. Just keep your dough as a whole batch and scoop the dough straight onto the iron as needed. This will help you to maintain a more constant temperature of the dough. Once you start to see that you are running low on dough, take the second batch out of the fridge, add the pearl sugar, and continue the process.

    In the case that 2-3 hours have passed and you start to notice that your dough is loosing it's texture and the sugar is dissolving, we recommend that you par-bake all the remaining dough. Bake the dough to 50% and place the par-baked waffles aside. When the customer comes, you can simply reheat the waffles for the second half in the iron and serve them. I hope this helps answer your questions. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions.

    Your Waffle Pantry team

• Hi, I'm planning to freeze the dough. I've seen that you recommended to use high quality yeast and probably even double the amount needed. I also read that the dough should be completely proofed before stacked in the freezer.
  My question is, why would I double the amount of yeast if I'm still proofing the dough completely before freezing it? Are there two good options to freeze the dough, one proofing it before (no need of extra yeats) and one proofing it after the freezing process (add yeast)?
  And the last question, have you tried with fresh yeast? What do you think about it?

  Thanks a lot for all the info and tips you are sharing. Extremely helpful.
  Matt

  • Hi Matt,

    While adjustments to the amount of yeast used are not common, there are times when you may consider it. For example, at higher altitudes or in cold climate areas you may need to use a bit of extra yeast. We see this often with customers that are located in ski resorts.

    You're also often going to see frozen dough naturally rise for a second time when you allow it to thaw. You may want to compensate your recipe with a little bit of extra yeast as freezing dough kills about 30% to 50% of your yeast. It just helps to the keep the yeast active.

    We recommend that you allow the dough to rise first before freezing it. It's only when you plan on freezing the dough for an extended period of time (+2 weeks) that you allow the dough to rise after freezing. This is really not ideal, as you should expect to see an overall deterioration in quality and taste. Once you have taken the dough out of the freezer, the natural second rise during thawing is more than sufficient for you to start baking.

    I hope all of this helps answer your questions. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

    Your Waffle Pantry team

    • Thanks for your help TEAM!! another question, I have seen recipes using milk, water or a bit of both, do you consider replacing part of the milk for cream a good option to make the waffles richer?
      Also, melted, cold or room temp butter? Will this create any difference on the final product?
      Thanks again

• Hello,
  I have found that the dough we remove from the refrigerator in the mornings takes far longer than 20 minutes to come to room temperature to be ready to bake. It usually takes about 2 hours before it has fully warmed up. What volume of dough do you recommend storing in bowls in the fridge? We also have a proofing oven, do you know what temperature/humidity we should set it at for efficient use?
  Thanks

• Hello,
  I have found that the dough we remove from the refrigerator in the mornings takes far longer than 20 minutes to come to room temperature to be ready to bake. It usually takes about 2 hours before it has fully warmed up. What volume of dough do you recommend storing in bowls in the fridge? We also have a proofing oven, do you know what temperature/humidity we should set it at for efficient use?

  • Hi Alysa,

    Try storing your dough in batch sizes of 3-5 lbs. This will help reduce the time it takes for the dough to come to room temperature. Make sure to only take out one batch at a time and incorporate the pearl sugar once the dough has been taken out of the fridge.

    Please also check your fridge temperate and ensure it's not set too low. It should at most take 40 minutes for the dough to come to room temperature.

    As for the proofing oven, the proper fermentation of yeast typically requires temperatures in the range of 35–37°C (95–100°F) and relative humidity of 75–95%.

    Your Waffle Pantry team

• I want to freeze the waffle dough, my question after I make the dough with all its ingredients, should I leave it until it ferments and swells after that I divide it into balls and put it in the freezer -20 degrees?
  What is the validity period, I need your response, thank you

  • Hi Nabil,

    If you intend to freeze the dough, we recommend that you allow the dough to rise first. Once it has risen, punch the dough down and freeze the dough as one big batch. The night before you want to bake, take the dough out of the freezer and place it into the fridge. The next morning take the dough out of the fridge and add the pearl sugar as the last step. The pearl sugar stays out of the dough until the very end, else the yeast will cause it to dissolve. You can at this point subdivide your dough into dough balls or alternatively leave it in the bowl and use an ice scream scooper or a dough scooper to scoop out the dough as needed and place it directly into your iron. This method saves you the extra labor and time of subdividing your dough balls. We have not completed any shelf life studies on frozen dough to be able to advise you on it.

    Your Waffle Pantry team

• DOES THIS METHOD WORK ON THE WAFFLE MIX YOU GUYS SELL AS WELL? CAN I PREPARE THE WAFFLE PANTRY WAFFLE MIX WITHOUT THE SUGAR AND FREEZE IT?

  • Hi Rachel,

    Yes, the described method works exactly the same way for our Liege waffle mix. Prepare the mix as suggested on the packaging and freeze it after the dough has risen. The pearl sugar is added on the day of baking.

    You may also choose to subdivide your batch of dough for the day into 2 or 3 portions and only leave one portion out on the countertop at a time. This will help to avoid the dough to start becoming loose and greasy from staying out for too long. As you start to run out of the first half of the batch, you are going to take the second batch out of the fridge and add the pearl sugar to proceed for the remainder of the day. This also guarantees that your pearl sugar isn't going to dissolve from staying in touch with the yeast for too long.

    I hope this helps answer your question.

    Your Liege Waffle team