We test the TikTok Air Fryer Pancake hack

A few days ago, UK tech retailer Currys posted a hack of air fryer pancakes on its TikTok channel.

You can see the TikTok for yourself but, essentially, spoonfuls of pancake batter are poured onto sheets of parchment paper in an air fryer, to make a stack of pancakes that all cook at once. The video then cuts to a perfect pile of pancakes.

A number of websites have jumped on the bandwagon, embedding the video, dubbing it the “Currys air fryer hack” and giving vague and questionable advice on how to replicate this perfect pancake triumph.

As you might have guessed, since its release, the original video has been widely debunked as nonsense.

But is it? In the service of culinary science, we decided to try making pancakes in an air fryer to find out the truth.

Crepe batter

We used a BBC Good Foods pancake recipe. For this you will need:

• 100g plain flour
• 2 large eggs
• 300ml milk
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Pinch of salt

To be clear, this is a pancake recipe. If you prefer American-style pancakes, you can use this recipe from Martha Stewart instead. Anyway, good luck to you. Whether or not you add a pinch of baking soda or a little more or less milk or flour, it won’t help you in the wars to come.

You will also need:

Add the ingredients to a bowl and whisk gently. Pour into a pitcher.

You now have your pancake mix. I’ve used it in four separate attempts at air fryer pancakes, detailed below.

Pancake 1

I preheated the air fryer, using a three minute preheat setting, and poured the pancake batter directly onto the nonstick surface of the baking drawer. I baked it for about four minutes at 175°C.

I think the best way to describe the resulting pancake is sad. I feel guilty for bringing him into the world. It looked pale and saggy, but I was hesitant to bake it any further because it had already taken on the texture of a gel insole.

I delivered it to the tester, who having been promised pancakes, attacked it valiantly.

Tester’s verdict: “Gubby. It’s not good. I think a lot of people just wouldn’t eat that.

Pancake 2

The difference here was that I laid a sheet of greased parchment paper and poured the pancake mix on it. I wanted to know what would happen if you cooked a crepe like they do in the TikTok video.

It turned out that my thirst for knowledge came at a high price.

It’s hard to list all the failures that led us to a crepe that looks like a block of halloumi. To start, the parchment paper folds over at the corners, creating an unappetizing square.

The pancake mix is ​​then gathered in the center. If you were to sell the finished product, it would probably be illegal to call it a pancake. You would need to label it as “pancake style food block”.

I did, however, serve this misshapen pancake to our tester.

Tester’s verdict: “Slightly worse than the previous one. It’s not great. It’s horrible. It’s liquid in the middle. Why am I eating this?

Pancake 3

This time I cut the parchment paper in a circle, to avoid a repeat of the square crepe debacle, and baked it the same way as the previous crepes.

It was then that the air fryer rebelled against being used for purposes so contrary to its nature.

An air fryer is just a mini convection oven, and convection ovens work by circulating hot air. When I opened the baking drawer, I discovered that the air fryer had thrown out the ingredients like a possessed child in a horror movie. It was ungodly.

Given the disturbing nature of this iteration, I did not give this cake to the tester. Instead, I decided to bag all the mess and bury it in the woods.

Pancake 4

I needed a whole new approach. Perhaps, I theorized, at this point the problem was this particular air fryer. I’m also testing the awesome Ninja Speedi right now. It has an amazing nonstick surface, so I preheated it then poured the pancake batter directly onto the baking base. I baked it for about four minutes at 180°C.

Ninja can be proud of the fact that he didn’t stick at all. However, no one can be proud of anything else in this experience. The best we can say about this bulbous, malformed creation is that it was the least pancake-like of all the attempts and therefore can’t really be called a bad pancake.

Tester’s verdict: “It tastes like leather. It tastes like eating fabric. For what? No do not do that.

Verdict

Not only is making pancakes in an air fryer a terrible idea, but making pancakes in a skillet is so simple it’s something that really doesn’t need to be hacked.

How to (Actually) Use an Air Fryer to Make Pancakes

Pancakes are quick and easy to make in a skillet – and that’s honestly the best way to cook them. However, what often happens is that you end up making and eating pancakes as you go, rather than sitting down and enjoying them properly.

THE best air fryer pancake hack is to use your hot air fryer to keep your cooked pancakes warm before serving them. Preheat your air fryer while you prepare your pancakes, then drop the pancakes into the air fryer as they cook, separating them with a piece of parchment paper.

Take a look at our roundup of the best air fryers we’ve tested to see all the best air fryers for not cooking pancakes.