The true waste of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday revealed
Whether from burning, flipping onto the floor, or being undercooked a study has shown cooking mishaps mean hundreds of pancakes are sent to waste every Pancake Day
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Your support makes all the difference.A study of 2,000 adults revealed the top mishaps people have experienced with their batter – and expect to suffer from again this year.
Among the top flops were lumps of flour or eggshell being in the mix, pancakes sticking to the pan, and running out of ingredients.
It also emerged that February 21st will see an average of five pancakes made per household, but 19 per cent of them won’t be a success.
Based on the number of homes in the UK, this will result in 25,133,195 pancakes being classed as inedible.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) claim the first pancake they make is always the worst and 23 per cent consider it the practice run.
The research, commissioned by Utilita Energy as part of its Bill Busters series, also revealed 19 per cent make too much batter.
To combat waste, the supplier has worked with chef Jamie Oliver to create a pancake calculator.
Archie Lasseter, Utilita Energy’s sustainability lead, said: “It’s ironic that a day that was traditionally created to use up leftover ingredients, has now resulted in a lot of waste, and all the while, the cooking costs will be adding up.
“It’s always a fun event, testing out our flipping skills and getting creative with toppings, but this year more than ever, people will be wary of the cost.
“To help households budget after answering a few basic questions, our smart calculator reveals the exact ingredients required, and how much each pancake will cost to make and cook.”
The research also found when people experience a mishap with their pancake, it’ll likely end up in the bin (38 per cent), while 29 per cent eat it no matter what and 11 per cent will feed it to their pet.
Brits only rate their flipping skills a five out of 10 on average and typically make two lots of batter before it’s “right”.
But 46 per cent think mishaps are part of the experience of pancake day.
And while 71 per cent would prefer them to be overcooked, 16 per cent opt for undercooked.
Despite 76 per cent feeling confident when making their own batter from scratch, only 62 per cent do so on pancake day.
While 32 per cent buy a ready-made mix to save time (54 per cent), avoid wasted ingredients (42 per cent) and because they believe it’s cheaper than buying separate food items (31 per cent).
Nearly six in 10 (59 per cent) use what they already have in the home – like the traditional meaning of Shrove Tuesday - but 31 per cent buy new especially for the occasion.
Those polled, via OnePoll, estimated the cost of ingredients at 30 pence, while they think the energy used to make a single pancake amounts to 10 pence.
However, Utilita’s stats revealed it’s much less – just 18 pence for the ingredients and only a penny to cook a pancake, on average.
Top 15 mishaps when making pancakes:
- Pancake sticking to the pan
- Burnt pancake
- Pancake ripped while cooking
- Broken eggshell in the batter
- Flipped and landed on the floor
- Lumps of flour in the batter
- Undercooked pancake
- Flipped and landed on the hob
- Cooked batter looked or tasted like scrambled egg rather than pancake
- Ran out of ingredients
- Used self-raising flour instead of plain flour
- Flipped and dropped the pan in the process
- Flipped and it fell down the back of the cooker
- Batter spat out the pan and caused a burn
- Flipped and it landed on someone
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