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Belgians may have been the first to wedge batters and dough between two gridded hot irons, but waffles, much like <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/cheesecake-parametric">cheesecakes</a>, have gone global. You can find chewy mochi waffles in Japan, custardy bubble waffles in Hong Kong, fragrant pandan waffles in Vietnam, crispy pizzelle in Italy, and, closer to home, your trusty American diner-style buttermilk waffles. And that just scratches the surface of the waffle world. So, we made a whole lot of waffles to answer a seemingly simple question: What makes a waffle work? Welcome to our parametric analysis of waffles. Like our previous parametric analyses for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/parametric-pie-dough">pie crusts</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies-when-average-equals-amazing">chocolate chip cookies,</a> <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ice-cream-parametric">ice creams</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/guides-tools/pizza-dough-parametric">pizza doughs</a>, and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-best-brownies-parametric-recipe">brownies</a>, we selected some recipes from trusted sources and developed a bunch of our own, and we plotted out their formulae and methods against one another to highlight a wide range of waffle styles. Let’s get wafflin’.