Perfecting pancakes - perhaps pan problems?

April 29, 2009 1:53 AM

Why is the first pancake I make the BEST of the batch?

Over a few pancake breakfasts, I've found that the first pancake I make is the best of the batch; evenly light brown on both sides, a cut through the center shows the perfect core: fluffy but not too airy. Every pancake after the magical first comes out worse: unevenly colored (brown in the center, at the outer edge, and otherwise pale white) and thinner and denser - more like a crepe or a tortilla. Why is this happening? How do I improve my second, third, fourth, and fifth (on a hungry morning) pancakes?

Details about my preparation:
- I use a 10 inch steel pan (my largest) and cook one pancake at a time (~1/4 cup batter per pancake)
- I start heating then pan ~ 10-15 minutes before I put the first pancake on.
- I try to set the stove's temperature such that butter rubbed on the pan just barely starts to burn instead of melt
- My recipe is pretty basic - 2 cups milk w/ 1 tbsp lemon juice (buttermilk substitute), 2 cups unbleached flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 egg (separated), and 3 tbsp melted butter.
- I mix the dry and wet ingredients only barely - plenty of lumps in the batter


Do I need a cooking surface with a more consistent temperature? Should I let my pan rest & re-heat after removing the first pancake? Do I need more baking soda to puff up the batter that waits while the first pancake cooks?

Researching pancakes on the web, I read about the "dog's pancake," the first pancake of the batch, slandered as misshapen, simultaneously over and undercooked, ugly, and generally something only the dog would enjoy. My first is my best, and I want to bring that to the whole batch.

posted by bargex to food & drink (24 comments total)

My own explanation for this is that the butter remaining in the pan after each round gets progressively more burned and darker... Try less heat, perhaps? Butter is pretty sensitive and not meant for frying at high temperatures.
posted by uncle harold at 2:05 AM on April 29

I too have the first is worst problem. Perhaps your mixture is better stirred or aerated for the first and giving it a good whipping before pouring each successive will help.
posted by polyglot at 2:25 AM on April 29

My first is usually the worst too and I blame it on heat. The first one is done when I'm too eager and the pan is still getting to a constant temperature. Then the pan eventually gets to a steady state heat mode and the rest come out better. I also give the pan an occasional wipe with paper towel before adding fresh butter as it does burn like uncle harold mentions.

I also think the pan has a lot to do with it. I use a smaller pan but it's specifically for making crepes so it's thick and was made with even heat distribution in mind.
posted by like_neon at 3:10 AM on April 29

If uncle harold's theory about burned butter is correct, you could try making/using ghee.
posted by arianell at 3:24 AM on April 29

I can only offer related advice with a similar problem cooking French Toast (I'm just not a pancake person).

Different ingredients but similar cooking method. So, what are the common vectors here? Frying pan and butter.

I can usually achieve even quality by taking the pan off the heat and WIPING OUT the spent butter with paper kitchen towel and then 're-setting', as it were. That is, back on the heat, after a little hiatus, with fresh butter. It more time consuming but it beats the hit-and-miss approach.

Re-whisking the egg-mixture before second, third and subsequent bread-immersions is also a good way to ensure consistent aeration.

"10 to 15 minutes" seems like a long warm up time. Are you cooking with gas or electric?
posted by evil_esto at 3:27 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

Use sunflower seed oil. The first pancake might stick, afterwards they're perfect.
posted by Namlit at 3:48 AM on April 29

If you're starting the second pancake immediately after removing the first one, it's almost certainly a problem with heat. Cooking that pancake cools the pan significantly and, maybe just as important, leads to uneven distribution of heat across the cooking surface. You should definitely allow the pan to rest and reheat and see if that makes a difference -- I'm guessing it will.
posted by dseaton at 3:50 AM on April 29

Bunch of thoughts:

"unevenly colored (brown in the center, at the outer edge, and otherwise pale white" suggests that the pale parts of the pancake aren't even touching the pan. I'm thinking it's too hot, causing parts of the pancake to lift away from the pan on a cushion of steam. Excess butter can also do something similar.

One 1/4C pancake at a time sounds like a slow process. How long do you expect each cake to take? My pancakes spend several minutes each on the griddle.

Why does it take 10-15 minutes to heat the pan? Is it an exceptionally heavy-bottomed pan, heated on fairly low heat?

You might try periodically throwing a spatter of water on the pan to test the temperature while it's heating. The pan is hot enough when the droplets dance around on the surface rather than just sitting there. You might try the same test before adding the batter for the second pancake; if the water just sits there then the pan may have cooled too much. If it still dances around on the surface, or does so more vigorously than before, then the pan may have gotten too hot.

It might be worth trying a different recipe to see whether it behaves the same way. Could it be that the cooking process is so slow that the lemon juice has time to activate the leavening while the batter waits? I'm also wondering whether the Why is the egg separated; if this is one of those recipes where you beat the white into a foam before folding it into the batter, it could be that the foam is collapsing and thinning the batter while the first pancake cooks.
posted by jon1270 at 4:05 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

serious pancakes require serious cooking surfaces. Get yourself a nice electric griddle and cook all 5 pancakes at once. also nice for french toast, or cooking an entire pack of bacon in one go. Eggs are a bit trickier, but also work on a griddle if you use a cookie cutter to keep them from running down the grease trap.
posted by jrishel at 5:39 AM on April 29

You want a cast-iron pan (or griddle). They heat up slowly, but keep a very even heat. Sounds like you're getting your steel pan very hot before the first pancake, but the thinner steel is losing that heat to the pancake. The dog's pancake happens on cast iron because impatient cooks put it on too soon before the cast iron's come up to the proper temperature. (And bring that cast iron pan up to heat on low-medium heat, not high. It's ready when the handle's too hot to grab.)
posted by rikschell at 5:41 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

I always have the first one turns out bad but I don't use butter in the recipe.
posted by JJ86 at 5:45 AM on April 29

yep, you want cast iron. It'll keep your heat better once it comes to temp; it sounds like you have a temperature problem.
posted by craven_morhead at 5:57 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

It seems like you have a heat problem. The pan is probably too hot, since your second pancake is done in the center before the outside is finished. Is your pan heavy and made with a copper core? This will distribute heat evenly, and will smooth out the changes in temperature as you add the batter. Also, you should consider a non-stick pan so that you can avoid the butter -- I find that my pancakes are better when cooked without butter.
posted by Simon Barclay at 6:08 AM on April 29

Every pancake after the magical first comes out worse: unevenly colored (brown in the center, at the outer edge, and otherwise pale white) and thinner and denser - more like a crepe or a tortilla

Oh, as someone mentioned upthread, your batter may also be thinning out while you're cooking.
posted by Simon Barclay at 6:10 AM on April 29

I use oil rather than butter to cook pancakes, and it works really well. I use a cast-iron griddle, and use a brush to apply a new thin layer of oil between batches of pancakes. If I get the pan hot enough (but not too hot) before I start all of my pancakes are perfect, from beginning to end.
posted by not that girl at 6:44 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

I use vegetable oil and a non-stick pan. I drizzle only a little bit on, and then use a wad of paper towel to evenly coat the pan. My first pancake is usually the worst, but the rest are consistent.
posted by pmbuko at 7:06 AM on April 29

I'll try all of the suggestions and report.

I start heating the pan 10-15 minutes before using it to ensure that it reaches an even temperature.
posted by bargex at 7:15 AM on April 29

FYI, if you use a well-seasoned cast iron pan, you don't need to butter or oil the pan at all.
posted by rikschell at 8:33 AM on April 29

I never use oil or butter when cooking pancakes - I either use a seasoned cast iron or non-stick pan. Oil will generally fry your pancakes, rather than bake them on each side. I also think your pan may be too hot.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 9:22 AM on April 29

The pan (especially the cheap nonstick ones I use most) will lose heat faster when it's cooking a pancake than when it's preheating, and if you don't control for that then you either overheat the first pancake or underheat the rest. I generally either preheat incompletely or I preheat on a lower setting and turn the temperature up (very slightly!) after adding the first pancake.

The coloration is a temperature problem, but thinness and denseness sounds like a batter problem. Even at room temperature, the batter will react and bubble a little and lose a little potency before it ever hits the grill. My first pancake is always the fluffiest for this reason. ... But it's never a *big* effect, and I certainly never end up with crepes after only 5 pancakes. I'm not sure what you can do to fix that. I do (quickly!) stir most of the lumps out of my batter; perhaps your baking powder isn't getting evenly distributed?
posted by roystgnr at 9:42 AM on April 29

Cast iron does _not_ heat evenly unless the heat source is also even (i.e.: in the oven). When heated over a gas stove, you'll get a big fat hot spot in the middle that may be more than 100 degrees hotter than the edges. Plain steel is even worse. Does your steel pan have an aluminum core or disc?

I've tried a LOT of different pan types for pancakes - well-seasoned thin cast iron, well-seasoned thick cast iron, enameled cast iron, teflon, excalibur, silverstone, all-clad stainless, cybernox, anodized aluminum - and none of them give results that are even close to the new Cuisinart Green Gourmet ceramic pans (they're also great for eggs, french toast, and fried fish). They're like all of the best parts of a standard aluminum pan plus outstanding non-stick properties plus they'll brown your pancakes perfectly plus they're not toxic plus they're fairly inexpensive. It took a while, but they really nailed this one.
posted by Caviar at 11:54 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

If your pancakes are thinning out over time, it sounds like your leavening is pooping out before you are done. Although, that doesn't make a lot of sense as your recipe seems to be using plenty of leavening. I think your pan may be too hot. Like someone else said, it sounds like the pancake isn't touching the surface completely, suggesting there is an air pocket forming underneath.

Really, the only thing you can do about this is to go about this systematically:
1. Try a new recipe. Even better, try something like Bisquick. I know, Bisquick isn't the best BUT, if the same problems manifest themselves in the Bisquick, you know it is not the recipe but your equipment or technique.

2. Mess with your equipment. Use a non-stick skillet or one of those electric griddles or something. Borrow something from a friend if you have to. If this doesn't change the problem then you know it is your technique

3. The most obvious technique problem I would tackle is the temperature you are cooking at. Try lower temps and higher temps. Try using a cooking spray instead of butter. Try making smaller pancakes.

The key to deduction is to try one thing at a time so you can eliminate things that aren't the problem.
posted by Foam Pants at 2:15 PM on April 29

Use a high quality non-stick pan and no grease at all and lower the heat. Wipe the pan out with a damp cloth between cakes. This is how I got very consistent pancakes across a batch of batter.
posted by nanojath at 5:26 PM on April 29

I'll try the following experiment:

1) Heat two pans to the same temperature (as close as I can get)
2) Use one pan for the first pancake (my good pancake)
3) When that's finished, transfer the second pan to the first burner (to ensure consistent temperature), and make another pancake

If the second pancake is perfect, then the batter should be OK. If the second pancake is an unevenly cooked crepe, then I'll adjust the batter. After this experiment, I'll also start testing vegetable oil and other kinds of pans/griddles. It sounds like I might have more than one problem.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, my job just sent me to a country far away from my kitchen, so I'll be out of pancake breakfasts for a while, drooling over the thought until I get back.
posted by bargex at 1:43 AM on April 30