I tested and the temperature of the pan had nothing to do with it
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You want a consistent pancake, you need a consistent process.
1. Heat cast iron pan until is begins to smoke slightly.
2. Rub with wet cloth to drop temp. Since water always boils at 100C, the pan is lowered in temp a consistent amount.
3. Spray with oil.
4. Drop in batter.
5. Cook, remove pancake.
6. Wait until pan starts to smoke again as before, then goto 2.
If you are certain that the temperature of the pan is not higher, then a possible explanation (if you are cooking with butter) is that the butter has water added to it, and that this water boils out during the cooking of the first batch, allowing the remaining de-watered oil to reach a higher temperature not necessarily detectable by the method you are using to measure the temperature of the pan.
How do you measure the temperature?
Has the batter warmed up to room temperature while you were cooking the first batch?
Is anyone else here wondering who cooks pancakes in batches? When I make them, only one fits in the pan at a time.
I notice this with any food that browns– such as searing meat. The first batch takes longer to brown.
Someone else said “not the same amount of butter each time”, but my take is this: the first batch leaves browned bits on the pan– you might not see these. The next batch picks these up while making its own as well. Also, the oil/butter that you use will also cook further and make an addition to browning that doesn’t happen when it’s fresh.
If you clean the pan between batches, you won’t see the extra browning, so it has to do with the cleanness of the pan.
in addition but to a lesser degree. usually when you make your batter you are using “cold” ingredients (egg,milk/water) while your batter sits on the counter it is warming to room temp. by the time you start your second batch the batter is warm thus takes less time to brown.
Because you probably didn’t give the pan long enough to heat up for the first one.
The best thing you can apply to a pan to stop things sticking is heat. Get it to the right temperature and you don’t need oil or butter.
Best tell is to use an older pan and wait until it’s smoking.
I suppose you use up the oil during the first batch, and don’t add enough, that makes it easier to burn whatever you’re frying, as the lack of oil makes the transfer of the heat uneven (some parts get burnt, while other are not cooked enough).
Generally it’s because when you pour the first batch, you also had just applied some type of oil/butter to “prevent them from sticking to the pan”.
Not only does this change the entire temperature, it also cooks along with the pancakes.
Unless you are applying oil/butter before you pour each batch of pancakes, you aren’t going to get the oil/butter cooking directly under the pancakes.
Source: former short order cook that has cooked thousands of pancakes.
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