Smart Planet CDM-1 Corn Dog Maker

This may sound like an odd review, but we have been looking for something like this device for a long time.Hot dogs are a great kid-friendly dinner, and surprisingly low in calories and fat if you get chicken dogs.Corn dogs are tons of fun, but frying them is not only not good for you, it makes dinner heavy and greasy.We tried many times to make oven-corn-dogs, but the batter always fell off.It looked very unappetizing.This corn dog device is perfect.We mixed the batter according to the recipe, put the corn dogs (along with the batter), and a few minutes later, perfect corn dogs on a stick.The outside is crisp (with a nice texture), and the inside fluffy.As close as you can get to frying without actually frying.

It could be improved.First, while hot dogs do come in various sizes, these molds are too short for almost any hot dog.We ended up cutting off the ends of all of them, and then making a corn dog composed of 3 end pieces.It did such a nice job with cooking the bread that you couldn't tell which one wasn't a single dog.Second, it would be nice if the plates were removeable for easier cleaning.I'm still giving this 5 stars because I had an awesome dinner with it.

Overall, glad I bought it, and I would buy it again.Single use appliances are generally not my favorite, but corn dogs need this type of device, and everybody needs home-made corn dogs.

***Update 5 months later***

Wow.... still loving this corn dog maker.Same comments as above--it's not perfect, but everybody in the family looks forward to corn dog night.We use it about once every 2 weeks.We're still buying standard hot dogs, cutting off the ends, and then making a corn dog of cut-off pieces.Another reviewer suggested buying really long hot dogs and cutting them in half.I like that idea,but not sure if they make long chicken hot-dogs.Go ahead and buy this great device, get some spicy honey mustard, and enjoy!

We just got this and within minutes had to test it out.It worked perfectly and is so quick and easy to use!I personally didn't care for the first batter recipe (haven't tried the second one yet).It was good so long as there was hot dog in with every bite, but at the end where I had just dough left, it's not tasty on it's own, but that's no big deal, it's easy enough to change the recipe or use a different recipe all together.I made the first batch without even using the sticks.This will thrill my daughter who loves corn dogs, but isn't a fan of the stick getting in her way of eating it.I'm so excited to try other things with it too.I have so many ideas of what can be made with this fun gadget.I had some crescent dough in the fridge and wrapped a piece around a cheese stick and cooked that upit turned out perfectly cooked, a bit bland it needed some seasoning or a different type of dough, but you can see the possibilities.You can take any dough or batter and add something to it.Pancake/Sausage dogs, stuffed pizza sticks, put sliced apples in a sweet batter and make a kind of apple fritter on a stick.I have a beer bread recipe, and I think that would be great coating for cheese stuffed jalapenos.You could even just use cake, muffin or pancake batter and make some interesting shaped breakfast or dessert items.I have not tried this yet, but I have an idea for S'mores on a stick, use a sweet batter (like pancake, or maybe someone has an idea how to make batter that tastes like graham crackers) place several mini marshmallows on the stick, place it on the batter in the corn dog maker, sprinkle with chocolate chips, and top off with batter close and let cook. Yum.

I plan to use this for the coming school year to make homemade grab and go breakfast items (like sausage on a stick).I make a bunch up, freeze em, and my husband and daughter can just pop them in the microwave and head off to school. I can make them cheaper and healthier than the store bought ones.

update on the S'more dogs.First attempt at these FAIL.They tasted great, but made a mess.The marshmallow and chocolate melted before the dough could even cook.I'm going to change a few things and try it again.First do not use regular marshmallows cut in half, they are still too big.I was excited to make these, and this is what I had on hand.Next time I will use the mini marshmallows and freeze them on the stick before cooking This should give the batter enough time to set before the marshmallow melts.While I had chocolate chips, I also had a Hersey bar.This works perfect.Break the bar into individual pieces, and two get laid down end to end.One bar has enough pieces to fill all 6 molds.Also be careful that you do not overfill the bottom with batter.Put enough in lay down the chocolate(which would also be ideal to freeze before cooking) lay a marshmallow skewer on top of that and cover with enough batter that does not leave any chocolate or marshmallow exposed.I was a little sloppy in my process, and made a big mess.The machine cleaned up fairly easily, but I think freezing the marshmallow and chocolate before cooking is the key to having the batter set before everything starts melting.For the batter I used the included batter recipe in the book but made some changes.I used 3/4 cup white flour in pace of (instead of) of the 1/4 cup corn meal and 1/2 cup wheat flour.I upped the sugar and used two TBS Brown sugar instead of plain and 1 TBS honey.When they are done cooking use a spatula to remove from machine. Do not attempt to pick them up by the stick until they have cooled for a few minutes, otherwise they just fall apart.

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Now that Morningstar has ceased making their veggie corndogs, I was desperate to find something to substitute.My daughters school serves corn dogs a lot and I try to match her menu with similar veggie items.This is perfect.I use veggie dogs instead of hotdogs and then follow the recipe for the batter. She loves them and actually I think they are better than the morningstar ones. plus, I like controlling the ingrediants to reduce sodium and other bad things.I don't feel bad about serving her these between the healthy veggie dog and the baked not fried batter.It took me a few turns to get the batter and dog placement exactly right. And as another review said, you have to cut any dog because they don't fit in the wells, but I did what he did and just used the ends of the veggie dogs to make my last corn dog.

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This waffle/corn dog iron is smaller than expected.I am not sure what kind of corn dogs that they are talking about, but it surely is not the ones I grew up on.In order to use this device properly, the hot dogs have to be cut in half.Otherwise they will not fit in molds correctly.It would work better as waffle/corn vienna sausage maker.

Another negative issue that I encountered was that steam and condensation collected behind the upper plate.This area contains the monitoring lights and some wiring, which also eventually filled with condensation.

And lastly, the temperature of the iron plates seem to fluctuate and maintaining a proper cooking temp proves difficult for this unit.

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This machine makes it so easy to make corn dogs.Mine were veggie dogs and YUM!I didn't use the recipe included to make the batter made my own (Trader Joe's cornbread mix works well too although it is a bit on the sweeter side).

The reviews on Amazon were so helpful.One guy said 7 minutes of cook time seemed to be the charm boy was he correct 7 minutes is perfect.He also said do not be afraid to make a mess and really slop and cover your dogs again right mine turned out shaped well and browned all around and it was not TOO messy to clean up either.( I like to add some extra batter to in between the hotdogs just before I close the machine that way nothing gushes out the back of the machine just into the wells and my dogs are always well shaped and cooked.)

Also you will have to cut 1/3 off of each dog.Works out well because you use 2 of the pieces left over to make another corndog.4 hotdogs made 6 corndogs.That is the main con of this item it is not full sized...

Another tip I let my machine heat up a full 10 minutes prior to cooking.There ARE heating elements in the top of the machine you just have to use enough batter to plump to reach the top.Plus letting them cool slightly for about one minute (with the machine open and unplugged) before removing them helps keep them whole too.

I also learned a trick to get the corndogs out in one piece.I didn't use sticks, by the way just hot dogs and batter.Anyway after 7 minutes open it up, let them cool slightly, then start at the front using your fingers and carefully wiggle each corndog a bit to help free it then just rock and roll the front one off of the cook surface right onto your plate.For the others roll them forward into each empty well until you can roll them out on your plate.They all turned out perfectly that way.Just make sure you spray your wells with Pam or other cooking spray so they do not stick and come out easy.

I would definitely recommend this item although there could be some improvements (mainly the size) another would be real recipes and better instructions and even easier clean-up.

The only recipe included is 1 for the cornbatter.The description says you can also make "cheese on a stick, pizza on a stick, snickers on a stick and more" that may be but you are on your own.There were no recipes included other than for the corbatter on a teeny tiny safety phamplet.

It is not terribly hard to clean up either but it could be a lot better.If the cooking plates were removable that would be nice especially since there is a small gap between the plates and the machine itself.If you get any of the batter into this space you will have to use a toothpick like I did to get the batter out.Not too, too terrible but could be easier if made a little better.

Even brought it over to my parents house and my dad said "Why in the world did you buy that?" and "Who cares that much about corn-dogs?" that is until I made him some. : )

Enjoy!

To recap BIG Prosa few cons...

Con not full sized corn dogs BUT Pro easier to store small machine

Con instructions and 'recipes' a joke there are virtually none

Con small gap between plates and machine and plates not removable

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