This being the boilingwater community, I'd like to add this about pancakes because it was such a surprise when I finally learned it, and so there must be other people who don't know it yet. The key to having pancakes that are cooked through and not still soggy in the middle is this: don't turn them over to do the second side until after there are air bubbles coming up in the middle of the pancake leaving little tunnels up from the bottom.