Frozen Pancake Batter vs. Scratch Batter for Multi-Unit Breakfast Operators

The scratch batter routine

In most breakfast kitchens, pancake batter still starts in a bowl. Someone combines the wet mix and the dry mix, stirs until the consistency is right, and portions it onto the griddle with a ladle or spoon, pancake by pancake. Then the bowls and utensils have to be cleaned.

It works, and many operators are rightly proud of their pancakes. But in a chain, every one of those steps is labor, and every one is a place where consistency can drift between locations and shifts.

What premixed frozen batter changes

Frogmore produces premixed, ready-to-use pancake and waffle batter. Buttermilk, plain and custom recipes are all possible, and a custom batter is matched to your recipe in our test kitchen before production.

There are two formats:

• A form-filled frozen bag, 4 to 5 lb. A bulk format for kitchens that portion their own.
• A pre-portioned Cryovac Flex Prep pouch, roughly 15 oz. It loads into a dispensing system that puts the approved portion directly onto the griddle. When a pouch runs out, the cook loads the next one and keeps working.

With the pouch, about 98% of the batter is used, which is more than a bowl-and-whisk routine typically gets out of a batch. There is no mixing station and far less to clean.

Why the batter ships frozen

Once a pancake batter is mixed, its leavening agent starts to work. Left unfrozen, it gasses off and the pancakes lose their rise. That is why Frogmore's pancake and waffle batter comes frozen only.

Frozen, it keeps for nearly a year. We do not recommend using it beyond a year, again because of the leavening.

The honest trade-offs

• Freezer space. Frozen batter needs room in the walk-in freezer, and your distributor has to carry it frozen.
• Recipe ownership. If your scratch recipe is part of your identity, the test kitchen step is where we match it. You approve the result before anything is produced.
• Allergens. Pancake batter typically contains wheat, egg and milk. Our food safety team, led by Nicole Tindol, runs an extensive daily clean-in-place process, and every allergen handled in the facility is declared.
• Gluten-free. We have not produced a gluten-free batter yet, though we can evaluate one.

Where it fits

The operators most interested in premixed batter usually still prefer their own pancakes. What they want is the same pancake without the prep labor, so those hours can go elsewhere in the kitchen.

See specifications and FAQs for frozen pancake batter manufacturing, or start a discovery form.