Happy SalesCast Iron Takoyaki Pan, 8" L x 7-3/8 D x 1-1/8 H, Black

To say that my family loves takoyaki is an understatement. My 7 year old daughter has been obsessed with it since she was about 2 years old, my 9 year old wants to order it anytime she sees it on a menu and I've always wanted to make it at home, because with all these takoyaki-freaks in my house, eating it at a restaurant can get pretty expensive.After watching 5 takoyaki videos on YouTube, I felt confident enough to order a pan. My first batch was a disaster! I followed the instructions on the youtube videos, overfilling the cavities and I ended up with a really big mess on my cooktop. I struggled with flipping my takoyaki into spheres and ended up with messy, mushy blobs. But I'm not a quitter.My next attempt, I made my takoyaki batter a bit runnier and put it in a squeeze bottle. I kept it cold in a tall bowl with ice water in it. I made sure the pan was perfectly centered over the burner and preheated it until just smoking, I added a generous amount of oil with my oil brush (so that there were little puddles of oil). After adding the oil I squeezed some batter into each cavity- to about the half-way point of the cavity, then adding my filings, tako, beni shoga, scallions, tenkasu and bonito or sakura ebi (whichever I happen to have). Then I added more batter to cover the toppings, after about a minute the bottom of the takoyaki are getting crispy and ready to turn (I just use barbecue skewers for this), I only turned them so they were sideways in the cavities and added more batter with my squeeze bottle, turning as needed then adding batter as needed. Honestly, I think the squeeze bottle is necessary for this particular pan- DO NOT OVERFILL the cavities unless you want a massive mess to clean up.Some quick takeaways:- This is a wonderfully heavy cast iron pan (which is why I chose it- I didn't want aluminum), it distributes heat very well and is very easy to clean- The size of the cavities yields perfectly sized takoyaki- Don't be timid with the temperature, medium-high worked very well for us- while lower temperatures resulted in mushy takoyaki- The bottom of the pan is not flat, so it's pretty wobbly on gas burners- The only drawbacks with this pan that I've found are: the number of cavities (it only makes 12 at a time, so if you want to make larger batches you may want to keep this in mind), and the layout isn't in linear rows/columns, so if you do overfill it- good luck trying to find where your takoyaki holes are!My older daughter helps me make each batch and wants to make takoyaki every weekend now- so I'd say this pan is a winner.

I don't like to use the handle because I don't think that it's strong enough to support this pan so I just cook without it. It doesn't fit nicely on my gas stove because it wobbles around and will tip over a little bit which is so frustrating. Remember guys, because it's a cast iron pan, you must season it before you use it or everything will stick! Just rub vegetable oil on the outside and inside of the pan with a paper towel, making sure to get all the holes in the takoyaki pan. Next, throw it in your oven upside down at 325 degrees for one hour. Let it cool down and you are ready to use! You have to season your pan regularly so that it builds a smooth, non-stick surface. I think this is why a lot of people are having problems with this pan. Do not wash it with soap and water or put it in the dishwasher! If you absolutely must do this, then make sure that you re-season it! This is a great and inexpensive takoyaki maker. You can use many different fillings to make it to your liking!

Pros:1. Pan is well built and heavy2. It does what it should do bestCons:1. Handle is a bit flimsy but if you can secure it tightly, it's not much of a bother2. Only 12 moldsWe kind of miss eating Takoyaki occasionally when we were still in Singapore. The freshly made ones are a treat. So moving to the US, there's not much stores selling them except in supermarkets where they are frozen and, well, kind of expensive. There are cheap ones too - but made in a country having a shady reputation in the food world. So the frozen ones are good except it doesn't come with Bonito flakes and sauce. And that tiny piece of "Tako" in the middle isn't very satisfying.So had a thought on why not make our own "almost" from scratch? Why "almost"? Well, some supermarkets sells "Takoyaki" flour which is cheap - just add beaten egg and water and mix 'em all up into a batter. And of course - all the fillings you would like to put in there.You can really go crazy with the fillings - Tako (octopus of course), Ebi (shrimp), Ise-ebi (lobster), sake (salmon), maguro (tuna) or whatever your fancy and add some chopped "negi" (green onions) and tiny bits of mushroom (kinoko) and you got a very delicious and freshly prepared takoyaki right on your table. It takes a bit of practice to turn them to cook the other side (first trials looked like dilapidated balls of horrors).When we are not using it as a takoyaki pan, it came to cook Aebleskivers and wife even invented a "waffle" ball using a pancake batter instead with chopped up hotdogs, cheese, peanutbutter, or hazelnutbutter for fillings.Use your imagination - it can be delicious with this pan!

After seasoning the pan a total of 4 times, I ended up throwing this pan away as everything I put in it stuck to the pan.