Crepe Makers Can Make You Look Like a Pro

Crepe makers are one of the oft-forgotten weapons in the arsenal of the home kitchen chef.

The idea of preparing dishes using crepes seems somehow, more elegant and sophisticated than referring to pancakes, flapjacks or griddle cakes. Owning a crepe maker, whether just a pan designed specifically for this dish, or one of a number of inexpensive electric crepe makers, which are available in several styles, or perhaps a higher end commercial quality machine, all enable you to create a vast number of easy and quick to prepare dishes.

I grew up thinking of crepes as thin, French style pancakes, rolled around sweetened fruit, whipped cream, sugar and perhaps syrup or fruit sauce.

Thinking that crepes are just breakfast food is like thinking that bread is only for sandwiches.

Crepes, and their equivalents, are found in just about every international cuisine. It’s a thin, quickly cooked, unleavened, fried or baked flat bread, cooked from batter, not a dough.

Around the world there are scores of names for crepes and their equivalents and hundreds, if not thousands of dishes prepared with them. Whole cookbooks are devoted to crepe dishes and virtually any international cuisine cookbook with a section on fried or batter based breads will spark your imagination about what you can create with a new crepe maker.

What’s available? Where do you start? The most basic crepe maker is a simple round, flat pan, about eight to ten inches in diameter, with a slightly upturned rim. The most basic ones are cast or carbon iron, without a coating, for about ten dollars. The next step up adds non-stick coating, which improves cooking and aids in cleanup. A good, aged crepe pan is a cook’s best friend.

More high tech pans are made from various layered metals, to disperse heat. Look for tough non-stick surfaces and heat proof handles. These are well worth the forty dollars on up, price tag. They’ll last forever and are extremely versatile. If you don’t own a pan like this, get one. You’ll wonder how you ever did without it.

Starting in the same price range as a high tech crepe pan are electric crepe makers, designed for home use.

There are a couple of traditional techniques for making crepes. The first is to simply pour the batter onto a flat hot pan or griddle and distribute it evenly. The other is to invert and heat a flat or slightly rounded pan, like an omelet pan and then dip it into the crepe batter. The Pan’s hot bottom surface will grab and hold the batter.

There are a few simple electric crepe makers designed for this method. They have a slightly domed surface, non-stick, about seven and a half to nine inches in diameter, with some variable heat settings.

The other style of crepe maker is simply a round, rimmed electric griddle. These start at less than fifty dollars. Surfaces are almost always non-stick. The cooking plate is usually cast aluminum, having a variable heat control.

Optional features like wider range heat controls, digital temperature displays and ready to cook / preheating lights are available as price increases.

Commercial grade crepe maker skillets can be had at premium prices, several hundred to well over a thousand dollars. Generally these machines are designed for daily, frequent to constant use. Their heating elements are gigantic, up to 3600 watts. They’re heavy and stable and designed for long term heavy use. Similarly, their warranties are very good.

Unless you’re running a bistro or creperie, a model designed for home use will fit all your ‘must do list” items.

When it comes to fillings, options abound.

If you are into a lighter treat, consider:

- blueberries,

- fuji pples,

- fresh hawaiian rambutan,

- raspberries,

- strawberries,

- rasberries,

- canned or fresh pineapple,

- peaches in season (yum!!).

For something more dessert-like, great fillings for crepes include:

- ice cream,

- whippen cream,

- marzipan,

- walnuts,

- sliced almonds.

If you favor a more bruch or main dish crepe, fillings include:

- eggs (of course),

- tender pieces of asparagus,

- high quality sliced tuna,

- thinly sliced steak.

Almost as important as your new crepe pan or machine is a great crepe cookbook. Don’t forget the Internet as a resource for exotic crepe recipes from the near and far east and Africa. Practice with all kinds of batters and bon appetite. When it comes to cooking accessories, everyone concludes that crepe makers are a winner.