Avoid This Mistake When Making Pancakes, According To Antoni Porowski

Because pancakes are simultaneously easy to make and delicious to eat, they are easily one of the absolute best breakfast meals for those with a sweet tooth. However, while everyone loves enjoying a large stack of fresh pancakes at home for themselves and others, there's one mistake that you're likely making as far as keeping your flapjacks tasting fresh and delicious for longer once they're done cooking on the stove. By stacking your pancakes and leaving them on the counter, you're doing yourself and your guests a massive disservice by not preserving the classic breakfast food's quality.

This mistake is one that widely respected culinary expert Antoni Porowski elaborated on in an interview with Tasting Table, explaining the texture-related issues that come about when leaving pancakes stacked on top of each other after you cook them up. "If I stack, they get too ... pardon the word, moist," Porowski admitted. "You don't want the pancakes to soften up." The steam that is produced when pancakes are stacked up or covered will make them soggy, completely decimating their fluffy yet crisp texture in the process.

So, regardless of whether you're making your pancakes with fruit (which should always be added in the pan) or are making them plain, not stacking them is key to keeping them tasting good as they await being eaten. However, there is one incredibly useful strategy for how to avoid stacking your pancakes that also keeps them warm as you continue to cook more on the stove or griddle. "That's why the grill rack in the oven is key. It allows them to stay warm and lets them breathe without clustering them," Porowski explained. "Lay them out on one of those mesh grill racks with the little feet so the air can circulate all around [...] Don't keep them covered either; you want them to breathe."

More specifically, preheating your oven to anywhere from 200 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit — enough to keep them hot but not enough to continue to cook them — will leave you with a much better plate of pancakes when you do finally get the chance to enjoy them. This strategy is far from a new one. Martha Stewart has touted her preference for placing pancakes in the oven to keep them warm in the past. However, it goes hand in hand with keeping the hotcakes firm and delicious. Plus, if your flapjacks do get cold and need to be reheated after the fact, Porowski says the oven is also the ideal place to warm them up.

The Daily Meal & Tasting Table are both owned by Static Media.