Pancake Day (which this year falls on the 17th of February) is fast approaching. But rather than buying a brand new crẽpe pan for the occasion, that you might only use once a year, the smarter move might be to upgrade your cookware collection so that it serves you better year-round (and for years to come).
Our resident cookware expert, reviewer and home economist Helen McCue recently revisited our best-ever rated saucepan set for a brand new review with one special test: thin crẽpes worthy of any Pancake Day brunch spread.
Le Creuset
Essential 3 Ply Stainless Steel Cookware Set
This dishwasher safe set is pricey, but our reviewer struggled to find fault in it during her testing. It comes with a lifetime guarantee, so you should be set for a very long time if you do invest.
Switching from a non-stick pan to a stainless steel pan can come with a steep learning curve as you get used to how food cooks on the new material (that doesn’t come with a readymade sticky surface). Heat control is much more important with stainless steel, as well as using enough oil (Helen used avocado oil) and preheating the pan dry at first.
With these more complex rules in mind, our expert Helen figured that pancakes were the ultimate test of the frying pan in this Le Creuset collection (which you can buy separately for £155).
After already having success with fried eggs, which slipped right out of the frying pan when they were done, Helen said she was feeling emboldened to try an even harder foodstuff. She relied on first ‘watching a few YouTube videos to ‘get an idea of how others were tackling thin crepe style pancakes in stainless steel pans’.
For her pancake test Helen says she made her pancake batter and let it sit for a while to get close to room temperature, which is crucially important when you’re using stainless steel pans.
Then she ‘added about a teaspoon of oil and brushed it around the pan with a pastry brush’ before adding her batter and turning down the heat slightly and letting the pancake cook until it was no longer translucent.
Helen then used a palate knife to ease the edges of her pancake up before going into the big moment: a flip. Thankfully, she said this was done with ‘surprising ease’. She went on to make a batch of four pancakes in total with absolutely no sticking. All in all, she was ‘astonished’ at how easy it was with this material type after she’d learned the basics of cooking with it.
Of course, stainless steel pans have grown more popular in recent years as people make a shift toward non-toxic cooking materials, but perceived trickier usage rules can put people off.
Helen’s success with this Le Creuset pan shows that with a little time taken to get to grips with stainless steel, you can master and flip even one of the stickiest foods. Here are some other essentials that might help you with your perfect pan this Pancake Day.
This bottle (which you can also use for other dressings and sauces through the year) allows you to distribute even pressure to your batter as you dish out your pancake batter. It has great reviews.
Stellar
Premium Nylon Tools, Crepe Spatula
Helen used a tool like this to lift the edges of her thin pancake before she went in for the big flip. It’s a very handy tool for delicate cooking jobs the rest of the time, too.
Ocado
Bonne Maman Gift Set
Considering how close Valentine’s Day and Shrove Tuesday fall in this calendar this year, this heart themed jam set might be the perfect gift (or treat to yourself) for your pancake toppings this year.
Have you considered making the move away from non-stick pans? Could you see yourself investing in a stainless steel set instead?
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