The Ideal Griddle Temp for Pancakes

Pancakes are one of our favorite breakfasts! We love cooking up a feast in the morning, topping our pancakes with maple syrup, crispy bacon, or blueberries for the ultimate start to the day.

But pancakes are a labor of love. They take time, preparation, and lots of care. You need to cook at the optimum pancake griddle temperature for the best breakfast. With that in mind, we decided to investigate the best temperature for cooking pancakes on a griddle.

With this handy article, all you need is a trusty griddle, your favorite pancake recipe, and plenty of delicious toppings to cook up the perfect breakfast in your home kitchen!

How to cook pancakes on a griddle

With the perfect pancake recipe or some premixed pancake batter to hand, cooking up pancakes on a griddle doesn't seem like that difficult a task. The reality can be quite different, though.

It's early in the morning, you're struggling to get the kids ready for school, and you're trying to cook up pancakes for the whole family at the same time. You've got your pancake batter ready, but you let your griddle get too hot. You're left with burnt pancakes and a hungry family!

Learning to cook perfect griddle pancakes every time, can take a bit of patience and practice, but with a few tips and tricks, you can make your life and your morning routine a lot easier. Here's how to make perfect pancakes on the griddle.

Griddles are the perfect way to cook pancakes

Having a dedicated griddle, be it a griddle pan or any other flat-top griddle surface is the first step towards cooking the best breakfast pancakes.

While you can cook pancakes in skillets or frying pans, there's really no substitute for a good griddle. Griddles help to distribute the heat evenly across the cooking surface, and if it's well cared for and seasoned, your pancake batter won't stick while it's cooking.

The most important thing to get right during the cooking process is the griddle temperature for pancakes.

Before we get to that, let's have a quick rundown of the simple steps needed to cook pancakes on a flat top griddle:

1. Prepare your pancake mix or have your premixed pancake batter at the ready.
2. Heat your griddle up to a low temperature.
3. Allow the griddle to heat slowly. Switch the temperature to medium heat after around 15 minutes.
4. The griddle is ready when a splash of water runs (or dances!) across the surface of the griddle.
5. Add a drizzle of oil the griddle and let it heat momentarily.
6. Pour your pancake mix onto the surface of the griddle.
7. Flip your pancakes once before serving!

Do you cook pancakes on high or low heat?

Regardless of whether you're cooking on a griddle pan or a dedicated electric griddle, you need to cook at the optimum temperature, or your pancakes aren't going to be perfect.

Pancakes really need to be cooked at medium heat. For griddles with a temperature setting, the optimum temperature is 375°F.

If you cook the pancakes at too low a heat, then they will turn out too tough. On the flip side, if you cook your pancakes higher than 375°F, they are going to start to burn and stick at the edges. As you can see, it's a fine line getting the temperature right!

You also need to heat your griddle properly. This takes a little patience and a little practice to get just right, especially if you're using a cast iron griddle pan.

Griddles work best when they spread the heat evenly over the entire surface of the hot plate. This is why pancakes cook so well on them. But to get that even temperature, you need to heat the griddle slowly from cold, through to medium heat.

Don't just go in all guns blazing and turn the heat up to full, then let it cool. This will leave the griddle far too hot, and could leave you with some scorched pancakes and a messy griddle to clean afterward!

Instead, slowly crank the heat up in increments. Start by heating the griddle at a low temperature, then move it towards a medium heat. This gives time for the entire griddle surface to heat evenly. You should spend as much as 25 minutes heating the griddle to perfection if you want the best regular or banana pancakes.

When your griddle is at the perfect temperature, pour on your pancake mix, and start cooking!

So remember, when you're cooking pancakes on a griddle:

• Always use a medium heat
• The optimum griddle temperature for pancakes is 375°F
• Heat the griddle slowly, first using a slow temperature, then moving to a medium temperature.

How to cook pancakes in a griddle pan

You can cook pancakes on any kind of griddle surface, but we always prefer to cook our breakfast pancakes in a griddle pan. A cast iron griddle for pancakes can be a great way to hold in the flavor, while they can also be used on a stovetop. The downside of using a griddle pan is that there are no dedicated temperature settings.

Many chefs prefer using an electric griddle. While these have built-in temperature settings to help you achieve the best temperature to cook pancakes, they often take up lots of space in your kitchen and aren't easy to bring out every once in a while. Griddle pans, on the other hand, are quick and easy to set up, and you can store them away quickly with the rest of your pots and skillets.

When you're cooking pancakes on a griddle pan, you need to judge the temperature to get the best pancakes. It takes a little practice, of course. Simply follow the instructions above, but remember to always carry out the 'water test' before pouring on your pancake mix. If the water slides across the surface of the griddle pan, then you're good to go. If it sizzles, then it's too hot.

Do you grease the griddle for pancakes?

You always need a little oil for griddle cooking - you can use any grease, or butter to cook up the best pancakes at home. A little bit of grease really adds to the flavor and gives the pancakes that authentic diner taste. Importantly, it can also help the griddle pancakes not stick to the surface of the griddle.

If you are using a non-stick griddle, then you could get away without any grease. If you are using a cast iron griddle pan, make sure that your pan has a good layer of seasoning before you start cooking your pancakes.

After you've heated the pan slowly to medium heat (as we already described above!), you need to add a light layer of oil. You can use butter too, but be careful not to burn the butter, or this will affect the taste of your pancakes.

Once the oil heated a little, then you can add your pancake mix and start cooking!

For those delicious breakfast pancakes, all you need is a dependable griddle, medium heat, and plenty of juicy accompaniments. Whether you're using a griddle or a conventional pan on a stove top, pancakes are up there with the best breakfast foods. So, why not bookmark this article for when you need cooking tips to cook those tasty pancakes on griddle!