JLM American Pancake Maker

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Makes perfect, whole pancakes and fried eggs .
Disadvantages:	You can only make one pancake at a time .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

When it comes to amusing the kids I am pretty resourceful. I will sit with them for hours making up stories and teaching my 10 year old son how to word letters he sends to his favourite football clubs. I am also a bit of an artist - not painting but pencil drawing. Many a fine hour or two has been spent drawing favourite cartoon characters, photocopying them and then giving them to my 3 year old daughter to colour in. We also have great fun with board and computer games.

The one thing however, I have never mastered is the art of baking. When the kids say, "Can we bake a cake, mum?" what they really mean is can we take the cake mix packet out of the cupboard, mix it up, put it in the oven and wait for the cake to be ready. I feel a bit of a fraud but there we go - we can't be good at everything!!

I was, however, intrigued one day when I dropped my daughter off at playgroup. The other mothers were huddled round a table in the canteen and I could hear one in particular stating "Oh, I must have one of these - they are brilliant. I've seen them advertised." Being a nosy creature, I had to investigate to see what was causing all the excitement. As I approached the table I could see various books, puzzles and miscellaneous items there which had obviously been left by the travelling salesman (who comes round once a month). There in the centre was the cause of all the excitement - a JML American Pancake Maker.

"Does it really work?" I asked. The excited mother answered that it did in the advert and she was having one. She also stated that it was a bargain at £6 since they normally sell at £9.99.

So, that is how I became the proud owner of this little gizmo.

It was in quite a large box with pictures of sumptuous pancakes on the front, dripping with butter. There were also several pictures of the product showing it's different uses. It also stated "makes mouth watering, tasty and fluffy pancakes in 5 minutes". When I took it out of the box it resembled a small frying pan. It is black, non-stick with a hinged lid. Also included is a batter dispenser, a heart shaped ring and a recipe book. Not bad for £6, eh?

The kids got quite excited when they saw it - obviously thinking "Gee, mum is going to bake for real". It was barely in the house before I was being harassed to try it. I checked what I would need and added these items to my shopping list. The only things I didn't have were flour and baking powder since the rest of the ingredients are normal everyday items that we always have in the house anyway e.g. milk, eggs, salt, sugar and vegetable oil.

The recipes in the little book that accompanies the product are easy to follow (even for me) and we soon had our pancake batter mixed and ready to use. I preheated the pan on both sides and poured in 1/2 a cup of the mix. This product will work with gas or electric cookers. After a few minutes I thought I would try to turn it over. This is a very simple process, you just turn the pan upside down and hey presto, the pancake falls down on to the other side. This sure beats trying to toss pancakes and you finish up with a nice fluffy, golden brown pancake within 5 minutes. It's not often that items like these do exactly what they say they will.

The problem I found here is that the recipe makes sufficient batter for 4 reasonably large pancakes but you can only cook one at a time. With the result by the time my second pancake is ready the first one has been scoffed. I have tried making these several times and have had very little to show at the end of it. I suppose I can't blame the kids as there is nothing better than freshly cooked warm pancakes. Now and again, though I tend to fool them by making one with raisins through it. As neither of them like raisins this one is mine!!

This definitely received a thumbs up all round and is used frequently for this purpose - especially this morning being Shrove Tuesday. Being non-stick it is also very easy to clean with a wet cloth and comes up looking a treat.

This device also has other uses - making omelettes, french toast, toasted sandwiches and fried eggs. The only other thing I have tried it for is fried eggs. In the past my fried eggs always finished up with burst yolks because I would inevitably burst them while trying to turn the eggs. No more!! Cook the egg, flip it over by turning the pan upside down and hey presto, a perfect fried egg with a nice soft runny yolk.

As I mentioned this item retails at £9.99 and can be purchased from one of the many JML stockists which include Woolworths, Poundstretcher and Focus. I have also seen them in my local Makro warehouse. You can also purchase it direct from the JML website on www.jmldirect.co.uk but you will have to add an extra £2.95 for postage and packing.

It is well worth the money and is worth it just for doing eggs even if you have no intention of making pancakes. There is no need for a fish slice or spatula as the food does not stick to either side of the pan. I do, however, use a very small amount of oil when I am cooking eggs (not too much, though or it will finish up all over your cooker when you turn it over).

And, who knows I may experiment even further with my baking skills now I have had a taste for it and become a master baker one day - ha, ha!!