Stop Eating Cold Rubber Pancakes
Weekend pancakes are more than a sumptuous treat for breakfast. They are a symbol. Relaxation Declaration. Nobody plans pancakes when they have 20 minutes to get dressed and run out the door to catch the bus. Pancakes take time to cook because on most 8-10 inch pans you can only cook one or two pancakes at a time. For a batch of 16, you can sit at the stove for a good 30 minutes. While this is the best holiday cooking, this kind of downtime isn’t ideal for your cakes. Prevent them from getting damp and cold with a cooling rack.
It is natural to put a plate next to the pan. Transfer each finished pie from the hot pan to a non-porous plate at room temperature. The next cake is laid right on top, again and again, forcing steam, for half an hour. This is a great technique to use if you want cold, moist pancakes. If you don’t like that kind of thing, get a wire cooling rack , set it on top of a large sheet tray, and stick the unit in the oven. Set your oven to a low temperature of 200°F or as close to it as you can and start doing your pancake magic.
When each cake is ready, transfer it to the oven and onto the wire rack. Align the pancakes on the rack so that each has its own place. You can stack them up a bit if you have a smaller cooling rack, but stacking them up will result in moisture retention (and not in a good way). If you arrange your pancakes wisely, a 15-inch cooling rack will hold about 16 medium-sized pancakes. When the last pancake leaves the pan, turn off the oven and remove the baking sheet. Each of these fluffy pieces will feel like they just finished roasting at the same time and without the wet, slippery bottom.
The grate allows air to flow freely around the cakes and prevents moisture from building up on the plate. This makes the edges nice and crispy if you happen to fry the pancakes in oil (which I highly recommend you do), and the low oven keeps them warm without overdrying or overcooking them. Take pancakes at your leisure seriously. You deserve fluffy, crispy-rimmed, warm pancakes that you can dive into even 30 minutes after they’re out of the pan.