Quick Answer
The Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 ($56.99) is the best overall waffle cone maker — in a chef-reviewed test by mybest, its instant heat recovery meant the 7-inch plates stayed hot enough to bake cone after cone with identical results. For a budget pick that also shapes sundae bowls, the Proctor Silex 26410 (~$41.45, 800W) cooks a cone in 2-3 minutes. The cheapest option, the CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker ($39.99), makes cones, bowls, and stroopwafels from one machine, but the same test flagged a wobbly lid that needs manual pressing for even results — wattage alone doesn't predict which machine actually produces a consistent cone.
This is the forty-second stop in our countertop-appliance series, after the countertop convection oven, the countertop microwave, the deep fryer, the bread maker, the waffle maker, the electric griddle, the electric skillet, the espresso machine, the pressure cooker, the coffee maker, the rice cooker, the toaster, the stand mixer, the slow cooker, the panini press, the sandwich maker, the food processor, the blender, the juicer, the hand mixer, the popcorn maker, the milk frother, the egg cooker, the yogurt maker, the vacuum sealer, the knife sharpener, the immersion blender, the meat thermometer, the electric kettle, the gooseneck kettle, the electric wok, the hot dog roller, the cotton candy machine, the quesadilla maker, the meat grinder, the bread slicer, the donut maker, the bread box, the meat slicer, the snow cone machine, the chocolate fountain, and the electric knife. This one is a different animal from our regular waffle maker pick — a dedicated small-plate iron built for a thin wafer you roll into a cone shape in seconds, not a flat breakfast waffle.
Quick Comparison: Best Waffle Cone Makers of 2026
| Model | Best For | Power | Plate | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 | Best overall | 1050W | 7" nonstick, instant heat recovery | $56.99 |
| Proctor Silex 26410 | Best budget with bowl press | 800W | Nonstick, adjustable browning | ~$41.45 |
| CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker | Most versatile (cone + bowl + stroopwafel) | Not published | Nonstick, manual-pressure lid | $39.99 |
| Chef'sChoice KrumKake Express 839 | Best for traditional krumkake | 1050W | 6" nonstick, color-select dial | $78.50 |
The 4 Best Waffle Cone Makers
1. Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 — Best Overall
In mybest's chef-reviewed test, the WaffleCone Express 838 stood out for a specific engineering detail: instant heat recovery. Every time you open a waffle cone maker to pull out a finished cone, the plates lose heat — and on a slower-recovering machine, the next cone in the batch cooks unevenly. The 838's 7-inch nonstick plates reheat fast enough that testers found consecutive cones came out looking identical, which matters if you're making a dozen cones for a party rather than one at a time. It runs on a 1050-watt element, includes a built-in cone-rolling form so you shape the hot wafer the moment it comes off the iron, an overflow channel to catch excess batter before it makes a mess of your counter, and baking/ready indicator lights so you're not guessing when to open the lid. At $56.99 it's the second-most-expensive machine here, but it's the one built specifically and only for cones — no bowl press, no stroopwafel plate, just a cone maker doing one job well.
Power: 1050W · Plate: 7" nonstick, instant heat recovery · Includes: Cone-rolling form, overflow channel
Best For: Batch-baking multiple identical cones without waiting for the plates to catch up
Check Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 Price on Amazon →
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2. Proctor Silex 26410 — Best Budget With Bowl Press
The Proctor Silex splits the difference between a dedicated cone maker and a more affordable all-rounder: it cooks a cone in about 2-3 minutes on an 800-watt element, includes an adjustable browning control so you can dial the wafer lighter or darker to taste, and comes with both a cone roller and a bowl press — so the same iron can shape a sundae bowl for scoops you're not planning to hold in a cone. At $41.45 it undercuts the Chef'sChoice 838 by about $15 while adding a feature (the bowl press) that model doesn't have at all. It doesn't have the 838's instant-heat-recovery engineering, so back-to-back batches may run slightly slower, but for a household making cones occasionally rather than dozens at once, that's a minor tradeoff for the lower price and extra bowl-shaping option.
Power: 800W · Cook Time: 2-3 minutes · Includes: Cone roller, bowl press, adjustable browning dial
Best For: Buyers who want both cone and bowl shapes without paying Chef'sChoice prices
Check Proctor Silex 26410 Price on Amazon →
3. CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker — Most Versatile
The CucinaPro is the cheapest machine here at $39.99, and it's the only one of the four that shapes three different things from one nonstick plate: waffle cones, sundae bowls, and stroopwafels, using an included cone roller and bowl press. That versatility comes with a real caveat mybest's chef-reviewed test called out directly: the lid design is wobbly, and getting even pressure across the cooking surface requires manually pressing down through the whole bake rather than letting the hinge do the work — testers noted it becomes tedious during a large batch. If you're making a handful of cones or bowls for an occasional dessert night, the lower price and extra stroopwafel option are a good trade. If you're running it through a full party's worth of cones back-to-back, the hands-on pressing is a real downside compared to the Chef'sChoice 838.
Power: Not published by CucinaPro · Plate: Nonstick, manual-pressure lid · Includes: Cone roller, bowl press (also makes stroopwafels)
Best For: Buyers who want the most shapes for the lowest price and don't mind pressing the lid by hand
Check CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker Price on Amazon →
4. Chef'sChoice KrumKake Express 839 — Best for Traditional Krumkake
The KrumKake Express is a different tool for a related job: rather than a general American-style waffle cone, it's built for authentic Norwegian krumkake — a thinner, more delicate wafer traditionally rolled tighter and lighter than a standard ice cream cone. Its 6-inch plates are smaller than the WaffleCone Express 838's 7-inch plates, and it's the only machine in this lineup with a color-select control dial, letting you adjust the bake to a lighter or darker finish the way you'd dial in toast — the 838 and CucinaPro both run at a fixed heat. It bakes a krumkake in about 2 minutes on the same 1050-watt element as its sibling, and comes with its own cone-rolling form sized for the thinner wafer. At $78.50 it's the most expensive machine here, and it's a poor substitute for a general-purpose cone maker if a thicker American-style cone is what you actually want — buy it specifically for krumkake.
Power: 1050W · Plate: 6" nonstick · Includes: Color-select dial, cone-rolling form
Best For: Making traditional Norwegian krumkake, not standard American waffle cones
Check Chef'sChoice KrumKake Express 839 Price on Amazon →
Why the Lid Matters More Than the Wattage
It's tempting to shop a waffle cone maker the way you might shop a waffle maker or a griddle: more watts, more heat, better results. But a waffle cone's batter sets and starts to firm up within seconds of the iron opening, and the machine's real job during that window isn't generating heat — it's applying even, consistent pressure across the whole plate so the wafer bakes uniformly thin enough to roll. mybest's chef-reviewed test found exactly this gap in practice: the CucinaPro, whose wattage isn't even published, produced a real product at the lowest price, but its wobbly lid meant the tester had to manually press down to get even results — a problem no amount of wattage would fix. Meanwhile the Chef'sChoice 838's advantage over its competitors wasn't raw power, it was how quickly the plates recovered heat between cones, which is a different engineering question than watts altogether. Read a listed wattage as one data point, not the deciding one.
Has Any Lab Tested Waffle Cone Makers?
mybest ran a hands-on, chef-reviewed comparison across multiple waffle cone and bowl makers, testing cone quality, ease of shaping, and how consistently each machine performed across a batch. Neither America's Test Kitchen, Consumer Reports, nor Wirecutter currently publish an independent lab-tested buying guide specific to waffle cone makers as of 2026, so mybest's hands-on comparison is the most rigorous public test we found for this category.
Has a Waffle Cone Maker Been Recalled?
We found no CPSC recall specific to a waffle cone maker. Two unrelated waffle-appliance recalls turn up when searching this category, worth naming so you don't confuse them: Empower Brands recalled roughly 456,000 PowerXL Stuffed Wafflizer waffle makers in 2023 after hot pieces of waffle or filling were expelled during use or upon opening, causing 34 reported burn injuries — that's a stuffed-sandwich-style waffle maker, a different product with no cone-rolling function. Separately, All-Clad recalled 4-square Belgian waffle makers in 2009 for a shock hazard — a standard flat-plate Belgian waffle iron, also unrelated to the small dedicated cone irons covered in this guide.
How to Choose (4 Steps)
1. Decide if you need a bowl press too. The Proctor Silex and CucinaPro both shape sundae bowls in addition to cones; the Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 makes cones only.
2. Check whether the lid applies pressure on its own. In the same chef-reviewed test, the CucinaPro's wobbly lid meant manually pressing down through an entire batch, while the pricier machines didn't need that extra step.
3. For real Norwegian krumkake, get the dedicated iron. The KrumKake Express 839's smaller plates and adjustable color-select dial get you closer to the traditional thin, tightly-rolled shape than a general-purpose cone maker will.
4. Weigh "instant heat recovery" against a plain wattage number. A published wattage doesn't tell you how fast the plates reheat between cones — that's a separate engineering detail worth checking in reviews before you buy for a big batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best waffle cone maker overall?
The Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 ($56.99) is the best overall pick. In a chef-reviewed test by mybest, its instant heat recovery meant the 7-inch nonstick plates reheated fast enough that consecutive cones came out identical, with baking and ready indicator lights and a built-in overflow channel to catch excess batter.
Do waffle cone makers also make bowls?
Some do. The Proctor Silex 26410 ($41.45) and CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker ($39.99) both include a bowl press alongside the cone roller, so the same machine can shape sundae bowls as well as cones. The Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 makes cones only, and the KrumKake Express 839 is built specifically for the traditional Norwegian krumkake shape.
Is the CucinaPro waffle cone maker worth it?
It's the cheapest and most versatile option here — the only one of the four that shapes cones, bowls, and stroopwafels from one machine — but a chef-reviewed test by mybest found its lid design is wobbly and doesn't apply even pressure on its own, so you'll be pressing down by hand through an entire batch. Worth it for the price and shape options if you don't mind the hands-on cooking.
What's the difference between a waffle cone maker and a krumkake iron?
A standard waffle cone maker like the Chef'sChoice 838 bakes a fixed-temperature, roughly 7-inch wafer meant for a thicker American-style cone. A krumkake iron, like the Chef'sChoice KrumKake Express 839, bakes a smaller 6-inch, thinner, more delicate wafer with an adjustable color-select temperature dial, matching the traditional Norwegian cookie's tighter roll and lighter texture.
Has a waffle cone maker ever been recalled?
We found no CPSC recall specific to a waffle cone maker. Two easy-to-confuse recalls involve different products: Empower Brands recalled about 456,000 PowerXL Stuffed Wafflizer waffle makers in 2023 after hot filling was expelled during use — a stuffed-waffle sandwich maker, not a cone maker. All-Clad separately recalled Belgian waffle makers in 2009 for a shock hazard — a standard square waffle iron, also unrelated to cone-shaping appliances.
The Bottom Line
Buy the Chef'sChoice WaffleCone Express 838 ($56.99) if you want the machine built to bake consistent, identical cones batch after batch. Buy the Proctor Silex 26410 (~$41.45) if you want cone and bowl shapes without paying Chef'sChoice prices. Buy the CucinaPro Waffle Cone & Bowl Maker ($39.99) if you want the most shape options for the least money and don't mind pressing the lid by hand. And buy the Chef'sChoice KrumKake Express 839 ($78.50) only if traditional Norwegian krumkake, not a standard cone, is what you're actually after. Whichever you pick, don't judge it by wattage alone — check how it handles heat recovery and pressure across a real batch.
