The Special Tool IHOP Uses To Pour Pancakes
The basic pancake is truly one of the key staple foods in a good breakfast, up there alongside cereal, toast, and coffee. We all know the joys of cutting into a big fluffy flapjack that's dripping with butter and maple syrup or stuffed with blueberries or chocolate chips. It's one of those things that lets you know that today's going to be a good day. But, we also know the pain of cutting into a poorly-made creation. The uncooked batter in the middle, the blackened tops that turn the once soft treat into a rock, the misshapen ones that are too thin — it's something that no one likes to think about, but is there any way to prepare a truly picture-perfect piece?
Perhaps there is no one better to answer this question than the members of the esteemed house of pancakes: IHOP. Just as Waffle House has their waffles, IHOP is known for, well, pancakes. If you've been around for as long as IHOP has, then surely you have a few tricks up your sleeve to making sure that your namesake, whether they are plain or filled with cheesecake, are perfect every time. According to some sources, IHOP actually has a specialized piece of equipment designed to make sure your pancake comes out right every time.
IHOP uses their own kind of "batter dispenser"
On the Subreddit r/IAmA, where former or current employees of a brand come to answer questions, a former IHOP waitress named Talwyn answered questions about her former place of employment. One person wanted to know how each pancake is perfectly made and speculated that the batter was poured into special molds to help keep the trademark shape and timed to be flipped just right. Talwyn, while saying it was a good guess, explained that a specialized "tool" of sorts helps make those fantastically-shaped flapjacks.
"There's actually a little tool that they put the batter in," she explained, describing how batter is poured into the open end of the dispenser and then a lever is pressed to dispense it onto the griddle in "pumps." According to Talwyn, the lever is pushed two or three times to dispense batter large enough for a regular pancake, while one more pump is used in case a larger one is needed.
Contrary to the idea this is a specially-made tool just for IHOP alone, you can actually buy a pancake batter dispenser for yourself (via Webstaurant Store) for a relatively low cost. Although a batter dispenser helps ensure a perfectly-made pancake, there are plenty of other secrets about the IHOP pancake you probably didn't know, from griddle tricks to making pancake beer.