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Pancake machine


A pancake machine is an electrically-powered machine that automatically produces cooked pancakes. It is believed that the earliest known pancake machine was invented in the United States in 1928. Several types of pancake machines exist that perform in various manners, for both commercial and home use. Some are fully automatic in operation, while others are semi-automatic. Some companies mass-produce pancake machines, and some have been homemade. The Happy Egg Company constructed a novelty pancake machine in 2013 in commemoration of Pancake Day in the United Kingdom.

In 1928, a man in Portland, Oregon, invented an electric pancake machine that operated by the process of batter being dropped onto a revolving heated flattop grill from a storage cylinder atop the grill. The grill was heated using electricity. The amount of batter dropped was controlled by using controlled amounts of compressed air, which pushed batter out of the storage cylinder. As the batter revolved on the hot grill, the pancake was flipped halfway through the cooking process by a shelf atop the grill. After being flipped, the completed pancake was ejected from the machine upon contact with a gate.

In 1955 in the United States, an automatic pancake machine was developed by Vendo, which used a specially formulated pancake batter mix that was manufactured by the Quaker Oats Company's Aunt Jemima branch. The Vendo machine could produce pancakes "in less than three minutes." It was a semi-automatic machine that performed all of the cooking functions except for the pouring of the pancake batter.

In 1956, four Racine, Wisconsin Engineers developed and fabricated two, 5' diameter gas burning pancake machines for the annual Pancake Day sponsored by the Kiwanis Club there in Racine.

Various types of pancake machines exist, such as those that run pancake batter through a heated conveyor inside of a box unit, and those that automatically drop pancake batter onto a flattop grill. Some pancake machines, such as one developed by Crepe-Coer, cook both sides of a pancake simultaneously. Semi-automatic pancake machines also exist, which require some human interaction to function, such as the pouring of batter. Commercial pancake machines may be used in the foodservice industry, in cafeterias and by restaurants, and can serve to reduce the waste of stale pancake batter. Some hotels have pancake machines that guests are allowed to operate. They are also used in other environments in a self-service manner, such as in upscale airport lounges and hotels.


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