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I unfortunately ended up in situation where I tried to make crepes in a regular pan - needless to say, I was unprepared and it didn't end up well (they would get stuck to the pan and burn)

I tried using both butter and (canola) oil in the pan to avoid sticking, and in varying quantities, cleaning the pan after each failed attempt (so there isn't any burnt stuff from the previous attempt to cause issues), and varying the amount of milk/flour in the batter

Was there something else I should have tried, or was it a hopeless endeavor to being with?

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    I make crepes in both seasoned iron (not cast, too heavy) and aluminum pans. Just adding half spoon of butter (better pre-melted) after each 4-5 batch. The first crepe usually doesn't come out good, but after that it doesn't fail. Some people add a spoon of melted butter to the mix, but I never found it necessary.
    – Dr. belisarius
    Apr 5, 2015 at 4:17
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    @belisarius : I find that the first one or two are always 'tests' for any kind of pancake-like product. Maybe if you have an IR thermometer to make sure it's at the perfect temp before the first one goes on you'll be okay, but I just assume that the first one is to gauge temp & adjust for the rest of the batch.
    – Joe
    Apr 5, 2015 at 12:42

5 Answers 5

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Crepes were made long before teflon was invented.

I use a quality steel pan and non stick spray. I reapply the spray every 3rd or 4th crepe to avoid sticking.

Everything else is temperature control. If your temps are too high then the crepes will toast and burn before they set on top. If the temp is too low then they are more prone to sticking. It takes some trial and error and the first few are usually wrong- I eat those.

The temperature is always very low though- between low and medium-low on my stove.

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  • Ah, I didn't have a non-stick spray either - what does it mean if when you put a ladle of batter in, it sticks in the spot that you poured it in at? (moving the butter/oil away from that spot)? for the pre-teflon crepes, was the batter recipe the same? (mine was 6 eggs / 1 liter milk / add flour until "yogurt" consistency, + some orange peel/vanilla for flavor)
    – user2813274
    Apr 3, 2015 at 16:56
  • I am by no means an expert on historical or authentic crepe recipes but that recipe sounds similar to the one I use. Non-stick spray is just oil with some emulsifiers to make it even more slick.
    – Sobachatina
    Apr 3, 2015 at 17:16
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    @user2813274: The crepe recipes I've seen call for the batter to be as thick as cream. (Cream cream, not whipped cream.) So fairly runny. I think yogurt consistency would be too much. Batter does stick when first put in. Laddle in then swirl the pan to the bottom. If it didn't stick a bit swirling would just move a puddle of batter around.
    – Shannon Severance
    Apr 6, 2017 at 19:16
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Please try the South Indian method of making Dosai/Dosa. You can use any type of Griddle such as non-stick, cast iron, stainless steel or even Hard Anodised. The trick lies in treating the griddle with oil and regulating the heat underneath. Take half Tsp of oil on a paper tissue/napkin, apply a thin layer of oil by rubbing/applying the oily tissue on the warm griddle. Now adjust the heat to medium high, sprinkle some water on the hot griddle, if the water evaporates instantly, it means that the griddle is hot. Now reduce the heat of the stove/ heater and pour the batter for the Crepe ( of any type/mix), it will never stick.

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  • During the method given above, please make sure that the Griddle is not too hot at any stage while making Crepes, Dosai or any such Yummy Thin Crepes or Dosai. Happy Cooking
    – Capt Pandit
    Jul 25, 2015 at 17:23
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Most professional crepe makers are cast iron and NOT coated with a non-stick material. You have to 'season' them before use. You might have to season them again in the future, depending on how frequently you use it and how you use it.

If your pan is an cast iron (I'd never to this to different material), you could try seasoning it. Seasoning means something like "burning mutiple thin layers of oil on your pan".

Note though that Krampouz crepe pans have fine ridges in them which probably help keep the seasoning layer in place.

Here's how Krampouz recommends seasoning their cast iron crepe pans: (from here, page 11):

Caution: this operation (lasting 1 to 1 ½ hour) is necessary when griddles are new Use frying oil without other ingredient. For successful seasoning:

  • Plug the power supply cable
  • Switch on the appliance
  • Heat the appliance in heated to 270°C. Your appliance reaches the required temperature when the orange indicator light goes out. Keep the appliance at this temperature for the duration of seasoning.
  • Pour the equivalent of a tablespoon of cooking of frying oil into the centre of the griddle. Using a wiper pads ATG1 or ATG8 Krampouz spread this oil evenly, and then let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes so that the griddle becomes burnished and completely dry.
  • Repeat previous operation eight times, decreasing the amount of oil used each time, but carefully respecting the 5 to 10 minutes cooking time for each layer of oil. A well-seasoned griddle is chestnut coloured (dark brown) and has a shine.

The wiper pad mentioned is just a pad with something resembling a siff filt on the end for spreading oil.

Even though the pan is seasoned, you still a thin coat of oil for your first crepe, and then less or none for your next ones, depending on your batter.

Do it in a very well ventilated area or outside, it smokes like hell.

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the only little "trick" beside temperature control is in my experience to keep the batter a little more liquid, after all you can fry an egg in an oiled pan what sticks is the flour, so i used less of it and it worked. And i did have a good thick cast iron pan which makes it easier with the temperature i think, if you use a thin alluminium pan on gas fire i guess it'd be a real challenge.

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I use a properly cleaned and seasoned cast-iron skillet, with just a little butter. Use a high heat and a thin crepe batter; a pastry spatula works well to loosen for the flip.

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