Item #: SCP-1208

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-1208 is to be kept in secure item storage at Site-19. Researchers wishing to perform experiments with SCP-1208 using human or animal subjects must present a detailed test plan to the Lead Researcher for approval.

Description: SCP-1208 is a "Belgian" waffle iron, identical in every outward respect to a unit produced by the Conair Corporation in 2003, except that its power cable is fitted with a NEMA 14-30 connector rather the grounded NEMA 5-20 connector provided with that model. When connected to a compatible 240V receptacle, the PTFE-coated cast-iron cooking surface rapidly warms to a surface temperature of 215 C, at which point the green indicator light on the front of the device illuminates. At this point, SCP-1208 may be used to prepare waffles using any standard batter without anomalous effect.

The anomalous behavior of SCP-1208 occurs when it has reached operating temperature and any solid material other than a batter or dough is placed between the two heating plates and the lid is closed. Regardless of the material so placed, applying torque of approximately 1.3 N·m to the handle of the device will successfully close the lid, displacing any material in excess of the volume of the cooking area (approximately 1400 cc) to the outer edge of the device. At this point, the red indicator lamp on the front of the device will illuminate, and the device will not open until three minutes have elapsed. (Forces of up to 106 N have proven insufficient to open the lid during this phase.) Copious amounts of steam are emitted from between the two plates during this process.

After three minutes, the red indicator lamp will darken, and the lid may be opened with minimal effort. Both cooking plates will be cool to the touch (approximately 15 C), and a "waffle" composed of the matter placed between the plates will be present. Deformation caused by this process is entirely topological: any substructures present in the source material remain intact but deformed. Incomplete sections of plant or animal tissue will remain alive for a short period of time, normally succumbing to necrosis due to lack of fluid circulation within 60 minutes. Animals small enough to fit completely within the volume of the cooking area may survive slightly longer, though feeding and respiratory difficulties due to their new body plan typically prove fatal in 1-3 days.