Jaffle Iron

[RealRoyce]

Hi I am an Australian in Australia and have travelled by hitching or camping in a tent or in a teardrop that i built and later sold.  I am a retired 67 year old federal public servant in NSW.
So why join this forum from another nation because cqrrying a backpack ot travelling light your food and water have to be compact.
That brings me to jaffle irons.  I looked on Amazon and it does sell them, though they are not as good as Australian made which come in double or single while on Amazon i only found single.
A jaffle iron has to halves which you oil or butter the outside of bread.  You then fill the centre of the bread slice, here we use savory such as tinned meat or meal left overs or a favourite is cheese and onion.  
You close the two halves with the bread and filling in the middle and then place the iron over heat (a camp fire coals or camp butane stove) turning regularly until the iron opens and the 2 slices are fused together into a jaffle - a toasted sandwich basically.  Any filling sweet or sour including jam (jelly).
A jaffle iron never breaks down, has few working parts and will last for life making a quick and easy cheese sandwich no electricity needed.  In face doesn't work with electricity.
I have seen many of your members on YouTube struggling to get by in difficult times.  I admire your courage and determination and attitude.
I am not poor or in desperate straits but i have been there in the past so i know most of it is a state of mind.  Possibly you know about jaffle irons but i saw no mention of them as a cheap and easy toasted sandwich maker.  All the best.  Royce in Australia.

 

[WanderingRose]

We call them pie irons here, but googling jaffle iron they are the same thing.

Cookbooks full of pie iron recipes are very popular.

You can buy them double or single, and the best are made of cast iron in my opinion.

I have one that is a waffle iron, also a panini press that will do a large sandwich or a couple of chicken breasts, pork chops, etc.

You can cook in these over a fire, or ready 12 charcoal briquettes and cook with 6 underneath and 6 on top.

 

[RealRoyce]

Hi and thanks for that.  Yes ours are made out of cast iron.  And square.  Older ones are round and aluminium but not preferred.
Cook exactly as you describe.  They are very popular here as jaffles.  I looked on Amazon and there were some doubles called jaffle iron, possibly for our market.  I recommend people think of using them.  I didn't think that you had them because a Canadian friend never knew what they were.  He took 2 back to Canada with him.
A linguistic thing then as for example what you call a French Press we call a coffee plunger.  I had a lot of fun in Hawaii once trying to get a coffee plunger.  Also what we called a coffee percolator the salesperson called a coffee guy, threw me right off     
I'm glad that you have them as we find them very useful over here.  Even at home now we make jaffles out of left overs.  Our pastries are savory by the way (meat pies for example).
Thanks again for educating me.  All the best.

 

[highdesertranger]

I use my cast iron skillet and I have a cast iron weight. for best results preheat both. Highdesertranger

 

[RealRoyce]

Forgot to add I am definitely going to check out a panini press, whatever the heck we call it here.

 

[abnorm]

Here's Spherical version of the pie iron......A Pocket Puff



Filled with the Pillsbury Dough Boy and Roasted in the Campfire

 

[GntlStone]

For maximum crispyness and flavor spread mayonnaise on the exterior of the bread slices. Growing up we called the "mountain pie" makers.

Fill with thinly sliced/diced apples and pears tossed with a touch fo cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and sugar. Yummy in my tummy!

 

[vanbrat]

We have used some 'pie Irons' here and have some good stuff come out. I like berries and cream cheese also peaches and cream cheese. I want to try some pizza 'pies' sauce cheese and what ever else works for who ever. but the pie 'iron' I had was not iron but aluminum and I left it on a hot fire to long and it melted away... Now we have some real Iron ones and I hope it works better.
I am bringing these with me just because they are fun to play with.

 

[maki2]

We do have sandwich bread sized electric toasting irons here for doing what you describe. Both electric and ones for t he cam,pfire. The electric ones are easy to find in thrift/secondhand stores and at boot sales or as they are known in the US, garage sales.

 

[XERTYX]

I had never heard of a jaffle iron. I've seen plenty of them in the camping section but never used one. I've used the electric ones before. I like the electric ones as most of them make 2 triangles out of the bread by cutting them nearly in two. It makes for a nice crispy spot down the middle as the cheese seeps out.

I have a few friends living in Oz, and I'm jealous of the prices Kmart and Bunning's have on butane stove canisters. They're a great deal more expensive here most of the time.

Most of my friends are in Victoria, but I do have a few in NSW that I haven't talked to in years.

 

[RealRoyce]

HI, I checked out panini and in Queensland they call it that, here it is an electric toaster as described with the two triangles.  I see from the replies that you guys are more than familiar with these as pie irons,  Live and learn I guess.  We never make them sweet though we could.  It is always savory by choice.  Though semi sweet as we use left over pork roast with apple in them.
On the butane stove, I have one here and at Bunnings about $20 Australian, $15 on special at times or can be found at BCF (Boating,camping, fishing) cheaply as well.
Don't be jealous all of your electrical gear is so much cheaper than here, including micro wave ovens.  Well thanks for that it was very interesting.  Good luck on your journeys wherever life takes you.  I know an old 88 year old here who regards every day a good day, because he opened his eyes.  It's all how you look at it.  Ciao.    :exclamation: :thumbsup:

 

[XERTYX]

The same to you brother, safiri salama and all that.

Every day above ground is a good day.