The Right Time To Flip Pancakes

Pancakes are easy, right? Along with scrambled eggs and grilled cheese, pancakes may be one of the first foods you ever learned to make.

But just because this breakfast staple is simple, doesn't mean that it can't go wrong. You might accidentally make your pancakes too thick and bready, the batter too runny or you might be flipping them at the wrong time. Nobody wants to see a mess of half-cooked pancake batter smattered all over the griddle because you were overeager with the spatula.

The right time to flip is once little bubbles have formed and popped.

Here's what it looks like:

See those bubbles bursting right before the flip? You're looking for that exact moment.

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It's important, too, to flip your pancakes only once—maybe twice. Overflipping may leave you with deflated pancakes, which is just about as sad as splattered batter. If you stick to the popped bubble rule, you shouldn't need to turn them more than once.