Pancake pan

[Hotwired]

New frying pan is bothering me.

Aluminium with a non-stick coating which looks like white enamel. Good at the non stick bit, can literally wipe the pan clean if I felt like it. It's about 3.5mm thick sides and base.

But it's the absolute pits for cooking pancakes, it feels like it repels 90% of the pancake surface from the pan surface and then is incapable of cooking with radiant heat if something is not in contact with the pan. No matter how high the heat it doesn't happen or takes an astonishing amount of time.


On the other hand I have a steel pan with much thinner sides and ~7mm thick base plus an unknown coating, its a dull black but not teflon. Not especially or at all non-stick.

That one, if I let it heat up then put it on lowest heat (on the largest ring) is absolutely perfect and has the next pancake ready before I'm done eating the previous one.


Is it simply the case that a heavy non-non-stick pan is better at this or what.

 

[Invertigo]

Sounds like its good at the non-stick part! To me, the steel pan sounds just that, steel with a seasoning built up over time to create a non-stick property, which would also account for the black colour. If it is sticking, perhaps its time to reseason (This is assuming I am on the right track at all!)

Basically, the side thickness of the pans is no big issue really; the heat comes from the bottom so a thick bottomed pan will retain heat much better, as you have noticed!

The only thing I ever use my non-stick skillet for these days is eggs, and I'm tempted to buy a small pan or rings to make them in my cast iron ones anyway.

 

[D3K]

Sounds like you have a ceramic pan. Mine are all ceramic and had no issues, but I don't cook pancakes.

I can cook anything on them without oil. Afterwards the gunk just wipes off with a bit of kitchen roll and they're spotless again.