Whether they’re doused in maple syrup or simply dusted with sugar, pancakes will be on the menu for millions of Britons today to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.
With just a few ingredients, you might think that pancakes are a doddle to whip up.
But as many home cooks will know, mastering the perfect stack isn’t always straightforward.
Thankfully, help is at hand, as scientists have revealed the ultimate method, just in time for Pancake Day.
According to the experts, the perfect batter requires just three key ingredients – flour, milk, and eggs.
And while you might be tempted to reach for the butter, Professor Ian Eames, a fluid mechanics expert from UCL, explains why this is a no-go.
So, have you been making pancakes wrong or have you got the ultimate method down?
Here’s what the scientists have to say.
Scientists have revealed the ultimate pancake cooking method, just in time for Pancake Day (stock image)
How to make the perfect pancake batter
Every good pancake starts with a great batter.
The basic ingredients are simple: flour, milk, eggs, and anything else you want to use as a flavouring agent.
But it is the ratio and method you use to combine these ingredients that decides whether your pancakes flop.
Professor Eames has put more time than most into thinking about the physics of pancake batter.
‘The characteristics of your pancake are determined by the baker’s ratio, which is an indication of how much liquid is in your mixture, and the thickness of your pancake,’ he explained.
To work out the baker’s ratio of your batter, divide the amount of milk in millilitres by the weight of flour in grams and multiply by 100.
A lower baker’s ratio will lead to a thicker batter, while a higher ratio will give a thinner, more crepe-like batter.
This chart shows the relationship between baker’s ratio, which is determined by the amount of milk, and the thickness and size of the pancake. The ideal UK-style thin pancake (yellow star) has a bakers ratio of about 200 while American-style pancakes (red star) come in a little over 100
Professor Eames’ research has found that the consistency of the batter determines how the pancake will cook. For the ideal UK pancake (yellow star) you are aiming to get the top showing islands and a ring of browning while the bottom is smooth with dark spots
Professor Eames measured the baker’s ratio and thickness of pancakes from all across the world to determine the exact relationship between batter and pancake.
According to his calculations, the ideal baker’s ratio for a UK-style thin pancake is 100.
He explained: ‘Use 200ml of milk, 100g of flour, one or two eggs, and a pinch of salt. The salt is a good contrast with the sweetness if you are going traditional with lemon and sugar.’
If you want a more American-style pancake, Professor Eames suggests 200ml of milk, 200g of flour, and two eggs.
How to mix your batter
When flour is mixed with wet ingredients, two proteins called glutenin and gliadin combine to form long chains of gluten proteins.
But getting the right texture requires a tricky trade-off: too much gluten and the pancake will be tough, while not enough and it won’t have any structure.
Just like kneading dough, over-mixing to try and remove all the lumps can create too much gluten and lead to a tough, rubbery pancake.
To get the perfect pancake every time pour the batter into an steeply tilted pan and then circle the pan to allow the batter to run around the circumference. Slowly reduce the tilt and keep the circles going until the pan is evenly coated (stock image)
‘I would always advise on whisking up the batter with a fork so that you bind in as much air as you can,’ Professer Eames said.
This allows you to beat out any lumps in the batter and develop gluten which can bind trapped air to keep the pancake light and tender without losing its structure.
If you want an even more thin crepe-like pancake, let your batter rest for 10 to 15 minutes after whisking.
This will let the gluten strands relax as the protein chains untangle and the flour fully hydrates, leading to a thin delicate pancake.
How to cook the perfect pancake
Of course, making the batter is only half the battle.
Professor Eames said: ‘The science tells you the relationship between the milk content of your pancake and its typical size. The higher the milk content, the thinner you should make your pancake.’
For a British-style thin pancake, Professor Eames recommends a diameter of about 15-20cm to ensure even cooking.
For a thicker American pancake, he recommends looking for a diameter of around 10cm.
Meanwhile, to get that perfectly thin, crisp pancake, he suggests ditching the butter for vegetable oil.
Vegetable oil has a lower smoke point than butter so can get hotter without burning and spreads around the pan easier, meaning better heat transfer to the pancake for more even cooking.
That might be easier said than done as pancake batter seems to seize up the moment it hits the pan rather than spreading into a neat circle.
But, once again, science has the answer.
Professor Mathieu Sellier, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, has developed the optimal way of tilting the pan to ensure the batter is evenly spread.
He said: ‘Often, the problem is that if the batter is delivered in the centre of the pan and the pan is left flat (horizontal), the batter cooks quickly and solidifies before reaching the rim of the pan.
‘Therefore, most people tend to tilt the pan and rotate it in order to speed up the spreading – because of the steeper slope offered by a tilted pan speeds up the flow.’
Trying to spread the batter around from the centre leads to uneven thickness and holes. Instead, tilt the pan sharply in one direction as you pour in the batter, letting it run quickly to the edge of the pan
The issue is that as the hot pan transfers heat to the batter it goes from behaving more like a liquid to more like a solid.
So, trying to spread the batter around from the centre leads to uneven thickness and holes.
To get around this issue, Professor Sellier and his co-authors created an algorithm to predict the optimal way of tilting the pan to get a perfect pancake every time.
The solution is to tilt the pan sharply in one direction as you pour in the batter, letting it run quickly to the edge of the pan.
Once all the batter has reached one edge, keep the pan tilted and rotate the pan in a circular motion, letting the batter run around the full circumference.
Then, slowly decrease the tilt while keeping the circular motion going until you bring the pan back to flat.
Now, all that is left to do is let it cook until browned on one side and just starting to cook through before flipping.
Unfortunately, your flipping technique is still something you will have to work out yourself.
