TikTok Is Seriously Skeptical About These Flawless Air-Fryer Pancakes
The first air fryer made its debut into the kitchen appliance scene in 2010, though, according to the New York Times, sales didn't really start to pick up steam until 2017. A second buying boom occurred during the pandemic in 2020, which, coincidentally, happened to coincide with the rise of TikTok. If you've perused the app for any amount of time over the last few years, you probably know that the air fryer has been behind some of the platform's biggest trends. Corn ribs, fried Oreos, and pasta chips are just a few of the viral dishes that come to mind.
Recently, a recipe for air fryer pancakes has also been making the rounds on #foodtok thanks to a post shared by the U.K.-based retailer Currys. In a TikTok video shared on February 18, the chain demonstrates how to whip up a big batch of the breakfast fave by placing a piece of parchment paper into the chamber of the kitchen gadget, which someone then pours a serving of batter onto.
They continue to repeat the process until they have a sizeable stack of raw pancakes piled up that, after a few minutes in the air fryer, appear to come out looking completely cooked and flawless. The hack has earned a good bit of recognition, racking up over 9.1 million views since being shared – though probably not for the reason you may think.
TikTokers are having a hard time believing these pancakes were made in an air fryer
Currys probably thought it was doing people a favor when it shared how to make air fryer pancakes on TikTok last month. However, instead of getting thanks, the brand's viral recipe is being questioned by thousands on the platform. A number of people have taken to the comments section to express their disbelief that the seemingly flawless pancakes were actually made using the air fryer since, as TikToker user @krisj68 said, they looked "too perfect to be real." Some people even accused Currys of trying to pass off store-bought pancakes for their air-fried meals.
@currys Why wait for pancake day? 😅 #pancakes #crepes #americanpancakes #pancakeday #nutella #chocolate #dessert #saltedcaramel #pancakestacks #airfryer #airfryerdessert #dessert
One of the biggest issues that TikTokers took with the recipe was the fact that the pancakes came out with browning on them, which @leadadamsbilkoski pointed out "would take direct contact with a hot surface" to achieve. Cooks Illustrated also confirms this. "The spots directly in contact with uncoated metal will cook faster than those touching the oil," the outlet explains, causing a browning pattern similar to what is on the pancakes in the video.
Still, not all hope is lost on air fryer pancakes, as Redditor u/Duckyy15 shared a photo of a pancake they cooked successfully in the air fryer to the platform last year. However, while this air-fried breakfast is very much a possibility, you probably shouldn't expect your flapjacks to come out looking as picture-perfect as the ones in Currys' TikTok post.