The 4 Finest Crepe Pans of 2024, Examined & Reviewed

There are particular meals I want to purchase not make, like fried hen and ice cream. Anecdotally, the variety of current, devoted retailers and stands suggests crepes fall into this class for many individuals. Nonetheless, after my first try many moons in the past, I used to be stunned to search out how straightforward they’re to make at dwelling. As my adoration for skinny, crispy crepes raged on, an excellent crepe pan grew to become important.

Whereas a chrome steel or nonstick skillet will do in a pinch, a devoted crepe pan has a wider floor and decrease sides to ship higher outcomes with much less fuss. That stated, there are numerous choices: basic carbon metal, nonstick pans with wood spreaders, and electrical fashions that are supposed to be dipped into batter. As a web site, we’ve by no means reviewed crepe pans. It was excessive time to crack some eggs, whisk batter, and get testing. 

The Winners, at a Look

This crepe pan is skinny, mild, and conducts warmth identical to a crepe pan ought to (learn: evenly). Not like heavy forged iron, you gained’t discover any bother lifting and swirling batter. As soon as seasoned, clean-up is simple.

Many cooks will discover a nonstick crepe pan simpler to make use of, because it just about eliminates all points with flipping. The Le Creuset Toughened Nonstick Professional has an enormous floor and comes with a wood spreader, making all of it the better to get the batter to as skinny as doable.

Devoted crepe stands typically use these round electrical griddles. My favourite from Proctor Silex has an extra-large floor, eight settings, and heats rapidly and evenly.

This machine has you dip the new floor into the batter, eliminating the necessity to good your swirling and thinning abilities. I believe it’s an excellent choice for these new to crepe making.

The Assessments

• Primary Crepes Check: To see how crepe pans and machines may carry out at producing their namesake meals, I made a full recipe’s value of our primary crepe recipe with every mannequin. I evaluated the ultimate crepes, how straightforward the crepes had been to flip, the general efficiency and value, and the convenience of cleansing.
• Galettes Bretonnes (Winners Solely): For these ok to cross the primary check, I made buckwheat crepes with them (usually utilized in galettes bretonnes). This savory batter is thicker and extra viscous than wheat flour variations, so I famous how straightforward (or arduous) it was to flip and fold the sort of crepe.

The best way to Use a Crepe Pan

Earlier than diving into the nitty-gritty of what I discovered whereas testing, let’s take a beat to debate how one can use a crepe pan. You begin by heating the pan over medium to medium-high warmth (expertise will make it easier to nail the candy spot). If the pan requires it, add some clarified butter after which a ladle of crepe batter. 

Instantly start tilting and swirling the pan to unfold the batter. This motion needs to be fast and easy to cowl the underside of the pan evenly earlier than the batter units. The objective is to create a skinny layer that cooks uniformly.

Alternatively, if utilizing a bigger crepe pan, an electrical crepe machine, or aiming for impeccably spherical crepes, a batter spreader is useful. Pour the batter into the middle, then use the spreader—typically a T-shaped wood instrument—to swirl the batter outward in a fast, round movement, ranging from the middle and dealing to the sides. 

After the batter is unfold, cook dinner the crepe for about 45 to 60 seconds, or till the sides start to brown and carry from the pan. Use a spatula to examine if the underside is golden and, in that case, flip it rigorously. Prepare dinner the second facet for about 30 seconds till evenly golden. As soon as finished, slide the crepe out of the pan and onto a plate. Regulate the warmth as wanted all through the method, because the pan can change into hotter the longer it is used.

What We Discovered

Ought to You Purchase an Electrical Crepe Machine? 

There’s a motive crepe retailers cook dinner crepes with electrical machines. Like electrical griddles, these machines are easy to make use of, supply even heating crepe after crepe, and by no means offer you bother with sticking. 

So, what’s the draw back? Properly, the machines can depart a couple of issues to be desired. For one, there’s no selecting up and swirling the batter to skinny it. The machine stays placed on the desk so that you’ll need to observe spreading and might want to purchase a spreader/spatula if it doesn’t include one. You additionally gained’t have the ability to submerge the machine in water and should clear the floor by hand. Storage is one other issue to think about, particularly if in case you have restricted house.

One other disadvantage is that true, conventional French crepes have buttery, crispy edges that I wasn’t capable of replicate with any of the nonstick machines (or pans for that matter). 

Carbon Metal Was a Winner

Surprisingly (or not, since carbon steel is superior), I most popular the carbon metal crepe pans over the nonstick metal or forged iron choices. The forged iron pans had been too heavy to carry and tilt, leading to inconsistently unfold batter. Whereas straightforward to select up, the nonstick pans couldn’t ship the identical texture and taste as talked about above. Carbon metal pans strike the very best steadiness between warmth conductivity, ease of use, and efficiency. They supply a sturdy, naturally nonstick floor when correctly seasoned, are lighter than forged iron for simpler dealing with, and supply superior warmth management (a should for crepes).

Many carbon metal pans have to be seasoned, a reasonably easy course of that usually solely must be finished earlier than first use. For the De Purchaser crepe pan I examined, this concerned rubbing some oil on the pan and heating it to smoking earlier than letting it cool. Some carbon metal pans come pre-seasoned, so be certain to examine the producer’s directions.

What Dimension Crepe Pan Do You Want?

When deciding on the right crepe pan, dimension performs a task within the ease and high quality of your crepe-making. A pan with a bigger floor space provides extra room for batter spreading, which is essential for creating skinny, even crepes. The perfect diameter for a conventional stovetop crepe pan is between 9 1/2 to 10 inches. At this dimension, the pan is massive sufficient to permit for spreading, but sufficiently small to handle simply over the burner and flip the crepes gracefully.

For these eager about electrical crepe makers, choosing a mannequin that measures not less than 11 inches in diameter is right. Among the greatest ones, like our high decide, prolonged as much as 13 inches. These bigger sizes will let you use the spreader to easy batter so far as it’s worthwhile to get it ultra-thin.

The Standards: What to Search for in a Crepe Pan

When you’re available in the market for a crepe pan, you’ll first have to decide on between nonstick or conventional. I most popular the general texture and high quality of the crepes produced on carbon metal and forged iron pans, although these do have a studying curve in comparison with nonstick. Between carbon metal and forged iron, carbon metal was a lot simpler to carry, tilt, and swirl with—important for making evenly unfold crepes. 

Whichever pan you select, decide one which’s light-weight sufficient to select up and tilt. For me, that was not more than three kilos. So far as dimension, bigger floor areas left extra room for spreading, with the candy spot hitting proper round 9 1/2 to 10 inches. 

If the electrical crepe machines appear extra your pace, go for one not less than 11 inches throughout (and as much as 13 like our winner, for those who can). The very best ones include instruments for spreading and flipping and have easy-to-read and intuitive controls that allow you to alter warmth exactly. Longer cords are at all times a plus, too.

Our Favourite Crepe Pans

What we favored: We’ve been followers of carbon metal pans for a very long time. Skinny and light-weight, the sort of pan heats up rapidly and conducts warmth effectively. Those self same properties make it an amazing materials for a crepe pan. This pan has a large floor space with low, gently sloped sides. This design provides you the choice to tilt and swirl the batter to skinny it or use a spreader (each a wood spreader and flipper are included with the pan). When it got here time to cook dinner crepes, the batter simply unfold throughout the floor of the pan, leading to a skinny crepe with lacy edges.

What we didn’t like: This pan requires a spherical of seasoning earlier than you start, however we now have a helpful information for that. As soon as this half was finished, the crepe batter by no means caught. Carbon metal just isn’t dishwasher-safe and have to be dried completely after cleansing to forestall rusting. 

If the worth is a bit excessive on your funds, the pan can also be obtainable at a lower cost level with out the wood instruments.

Key Specs

• Materials: Carbon metal
• Weight: 2 kilos
• Deal with size: 8 inches
• Induction appropriate?: Sure
• Dishwasher-safe?: No

What we favored: Le Creuset makes some nice merchandise and their crepe pan is not any exception. I beloved the super-wide floor space and the small lip for corralling batter. The nonstick coating gave me no bother when it got here to flipping crepes. The coating is triple-reinforced and distributed warmth extra evenly than the opposite nonstick fashions I examined. It additionally comes with a wood batter spreader.

What we did not like: This pan is costly. Whereas we don’t usually advocate splurging on nonstick, a crepe pan’s going for use far much less incessantly than a typical nonstick skillet.

Key Specs

• Materials: Nonstick coated metallic
• Weight: 3 lbs, 8 ounces
• Deal with size: 8 inches
• Induction appropriate?: Sure
• Dishwasher-safe?: Sure (although we don’t advocate cleansing nonstick within the dishwasher)

What we favored: A lot of the electrical crepe machines operated the identical, although there have been a couple of ways in which this one stood out. The floor space is extra-wide, which helps skinny the batter as a lot as doable. You possibly can even use this machine to make dosa or massive tortillas. The warmth settings are clearly marked and easy to function, with loads of room for half settings between numbers so you may dial within the good temperature.

The completed crepes had been evenly cooked and flipped with out sticking or resisting and the machine comes with a couple of instruments, like a batter scoop, spreader, and flipper. The physique of the machine stays cool throughout cooking, so you may transfer it after use with out a lot problem. I additionally appreciated the built-in place to retailer the wire.

What we did not like: Remember that the sort of crepe maker can’t be lifted and turned, so that you’ll need to good utilizing the instrument to unfold the batter. Nonetheless, I used to be capable of get the grasp of it rapidly. Any such machine is bulkier to retailer than a slim metallic pan. 

Whereas a nonstick floor like this doesn’t require the usage of oil or butter, the draw back to that’s that the ultimate crepes is not going to have the signature buttery edges that true French crepes supply (the producer says to not use butter, as this gunk up the floor over time).

Key Specs

• Materials: Chrome steel; plastic
• Weight: 3 lbs, 14 ounces
• Deal with size: N/A
• Induction appropriate?: N/A
• Dishwasher-safe?: The instruments are

What we favored: As a substitute of the ladle-and-spread technique, you add all of your batter into the supplied bowl and dip the new floor of this crepe maker into it. Solely a skinny layer sticks to the machine, eliminating the enterprise of making an attempt to unfold the batter as skinny as doable. When the crepe is cooked a couple of moments later, the sting begins to peel again and the crepe might be simply flipped and eliminated. Whereas the general high quality didn’t examine to a lot of the different pans and makers we examined, this may very well be an amazing choice for newbies or these intimidated by the crepe cooking course of. 

What we did not like: The crepes weren’t the prettiest or probably the most evenly cooked. Crepe purists and perfectionists may not be glad with the outcomes from this machine, although I might say this decide just isn’t for them anyway. 

Key Specs

• Materials: Nonstick-coated metallic and plastic
• Weight: 1 pound, 10 ounces
• Deal with size: 8 inches
• Induction appropriate?: N/A
• Dishwasher-safe?: No

The Competitors

FAQs

Are you able to make crepes in a forged iron pan? 

You may make crepes in a forged iron pan. Remember that you might wrestle to swirl and flip the crepe in a forged iron skillet as a consequence of its weight and excessive sides.

Is forged iron or carbon metal higher for crepes?

We discovered that carbon metal is best for crepes. Whereas forged iron is nice at distributing and sustaining warmth, it is heavier than carbon metal. We most popular light-weight pans we may decide up and tilt to swirl the batter.

Why We’re the Consultants

• Taylor Murray has been working in meals and meals media for over 10 years, together with in award-winning eating places. She has written extensively for Severe Eats. 
• Taylor examined 12 crepe pans, making a full batch of ordinary crepes in every and a batch of crepes bretonnes within the winners. Throughout this, she evaluated every pan’s efficiency, usability, and design.