Frying Question

[lea_hazel]

I am a decent semi-cook. I can make a few things reliably, including a few steady mistakes. Recently I realized that my kitchen always gets slightly smoky when I fry pancakes or French toast. Not like billowing smoke, but enough for me to notice once I've gone into the other room and back.

I get the feeling that I am doing something basic wrong. That is, my basic frying-things-in-a-teflon-pan technique is flawed. Part of it is that I tend to have lousy timing, and flip the pancakes either too soon or too late. I think. Anyway, it strikes me as a beginner's question, so I'm posting here for tips or advice. Please save my tearing eyes from breakfast-for-supper. ;_;

Comments

[amadi]

Your pan is waaaay too hot. Turn down the heat. Heat the pan, then add the oil/butter and heat the oil. (Hot pan + cold oil = food won't stick.) You also really don't need that much oil/butter for pancakes if you're cooking in a non-stick pan, if you need any at all. Pancakes aren't really a fried food as much as cooktop-baked. Too much fat in the pan will cause the smoky situation as well as making sure that the pancakes cook too quickly and end up either dense and chewy or overly browned while still kind of raw in the middle.