Air fryers seem to be able to cook almost everything, but can they make pancakes? It may not be time to ditch the frying pan yet.
With Shrove Tuesday approaching on 4 March, thoughts in my household naturally shift to pancakes. Whether you indulge in them only on this special day each year or, like my family, are regular pancake enthusiasts, the great thing about pancakes is that they are relatively easy to make.
However, I always strive to simplify cooking processes, so this year I turned my attention to the current kitchen gadget trend – the air fryer.
Not only can they save you money, the best air fryers are also a great way to make your favourite comfort foods healthier. Plus, they’re more versatile than you might first think – with some of the surprising things you can cook in an air fryer including cakes, pizza and even a full Christmas dinner.
What could go wrong?
First up, I decided to try the traditional pancake, or crepe. I am known around this way (well within my house) for being a ninja when it comes to making this style of pancake. I even have a special pan and a carefully guarded secret recipe.
To make these air fryer pancakes, I whipped up a batch of my mixture. If you need a good recipe, this one is pretty failsafe. I always let my batter sit for around 30 minutes before frying.
Just before I was ready to cook, I pre-heated the air fryer for a couple of minutes. I then put a silicon mould in the basket (one of my essential air fryer accessories) and squirted in some sunflower oil to prevent any sticking.
I then carefully poured a thin layer of the pancake mixture into the mould, making sure I put the drawer in carefully. I set the time for one minute at 200°C (400°F).
It actually took another two minutes before the pancake was cooked enough to easily remove from the mould.
So, this specimen turned out to be unlike any other pancake I’ve eaten before, and that’s not a compliment.
Part crispy, part soggy, it had risen a little in some places, and was just wrong.
Not only did it not look good or taste good, I also missed flipping it. I mean why have a secret talent if you can’t use it?
Plus, each pancake took much longer to make in the air fryer than it did in a frying pan. And I had more washing up.
It’s a definite no-no for me.
I should have consulted air fryer expert Sam Milner before this experiment. As co-author of the Sunday Times bestseller, The Complete Air Fryer: 140 Super-Easy, Everyday Recipes and Techniques, there’s nothing she doesn’t know about air fryers. And one of those things is that pancakes don’t work!
“I have tried pancakes a few times in the air fryer,” she tells me.
“Personally, I don’t think pancakes in the air fryer come out very nice and the frying pan does a much better job. The pancake ends up too heavy in the air fryer and feels like an air fryer trend I wouldn’t repeat.”
After my huge pancake fail with the more traditional recipe, I decided to try American pancakes. As they are fluffier and more cake-like, I thought I might fare better with them – and I was kind of right.
I whipped up the batter and then chose one of my smaller silicon moulds. These are ones I use for cooking eggs in the air fryer, but I figured, they’d also work for pancakes.
As with the crepes, I sprayed a little bit of oil in the mould first. I then put the pancake on at 200°C (400°F) to cook for five minutes. I checked on it at the halfway mark, but the mixture was still very liquid-like in the middle, so it definitely needed the full cooking time.
Undoubtedly, the main bonus of cooking American pancakes in the air fryer is that they come out perfectly round. I can never get them perfectly circular when I do them in the frying pan.
While they looked good, I tested them against some I made in the frying pan, and they didn’t taste quite as nice. I would say the air fryer pancake was slightly heavier. However, once smothered in maple syrup, it was delicious enough.
What I like with this style of pancake is you can put more than one mould in the air fryer at a time and so batch cook, which you can’t do with the standard pancake.
It’s still quite a faff though so not sure I’ll be recreating these any time soon.
Before you push your air fryer to one side on Shrove Tuesday, Milner says they can actually serve a great purpose – for reheating multiple pancakes.
“For those who love eating pancakes but don’t like making them, shop bought cooked pancakes are delicious for reheating in the air fryer,” she says.
“Equally, if you have lots of pancakes left over, you can also reheat frozen pancakes in the air fryer.”
My son loves a pancake in the morning but they’re too time consuming to sort on a work day, so I followed Milner’s tip and froze some leftover pancakes.
The air fryer heats them up a treat and they went down a storm – so much so, I think I’m going to have keep a batch of them in my freezer forever now.
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