# Waffles vs. Pancakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859 "2010-10-12T04:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/81 "2010-10-13T02:45:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > > I understand what he’s saying. As you can see, the syrup is on top of the waffle, and if you break one of the little squares, the syrup will all pour out. In a pancake, the syrup goes into the pancake. > > Making it gloppy gunk. Waffles stay crisp and delicious. Ah, I see what you’re doing wrong. You’re used to waffles where most of the syrup runs off as cut them and lift them from the plate. You have to absolutely drench them to get any meaningful amount of syrup into your mouth. Your mistake is assuming that this translates to pancakes. Pancakes don’t require as much syrup because it doesn’t just slide off of them. You essentially get more syrup for the amount of syrup you use. A waffle-appropriate amount of syrup would be excessive for pancakes. It would be excessive for waffles, too, if it weren’t for their syrup-repelling crust. Pancakes with a suitable amount of syrup hold together perfectly well, and boast more syrupy goodness than their waffle counterparts. Not only do pancakes taste better, they do so more efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/82 "2010-10-13T02:53:33Z")
I like waffles with very little syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/83 "2010-10-13T03:08:51Z")
The waffles that are great are better than the pancakes that are great. But it’s really rare to get waffles or pancakes that good. So overall, pancakes are better than waffles on the grounds that you’re more likely to get an good pancake than an good waffle. I voted pancakes 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/84 "2010-10-13T03:20:43Z")
Well, to be honest… I’m all pancaked out. The last really delicious Pancake that sort of renewed my esprit de Pancakes was The Original Pancake House’s Dutch Garden Pancake… Imagine an apple pancake eggy batter with Broccoli, Onions, Tomatoes, other veg and smoked Gouda Cheese…started on the stovetop and finished in the oven for around 25 minutes. Give me a waffle… a real malt waffle. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/85 "2010-10-13T03:28:55Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Making it gloppy gunk. Waffles stay crisp and delicious. > > Ah, I see what you’re doing wrong. You’re used to waffles where most of the syrup runs off as cut them and lift them from the plate. You have to absolutely drench them to get any meaningful amount of syrup into your mouth. Your mistake is assuming that this translates to pancakes. > > Pancakes don’t require as much syrup because it doesn’t just slide off of them. You essentially get more syrup for the amount of syrup you use. A waffle-appropriate amount of syrup would be excessive for pancakes. It would be excessive for waffles, too, if it weren’t for their syrup-repelling crust. Pancakes with a suitable amount of syrup hold together perfectly well, and boast more syrupy goodness than their waffle counterparts. Not only do pancakes taste better, they do so more efficiently. I always poke my pancakes quite violently with my fork for proper butter and syrup penetration. That’s food engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/86 "2010-10-13T04:07:32Z")
Ugh, I can’t stand soggy pancakes. I drizzle my syrup on the side and dip the bite right before it goes into my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/87 "2010-10-13T04:22:49Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Hmm. I own one waffle iron, and I _thought_ I’d used it to make both Belgian (yeast) and American (baking powder) waffles. What am I missing? I use the same recipe for both ([this one](http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Waffles-I/Detail.aspx)). A “real” waffle is somewhat shallow with oodles of divots for holding butter and maple syrup. A Belgian waffle has fewer but deeper divots so you end up with mini-lakes of syrup. You don’t get a good waffle to butter/syrup ratio with Belgian waffles. [This](http://chefmom.sheknows.com/featured/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/waffle-iron.jpg) is what my old school waffle iron looks like. [This](http://i.acdn.us/image/A1289/128942/300_128942.jpg) is what my Belgian waffle iron looks like. Well, under the dust since I very rarely use it. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/88 "2010-10-13T04:32:16Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > Hmm. I own one waffle iron, and I _thought_ I’d used it to make both Belgian (yeast) and American (baking powder) waffles. What am I missing? > > I use the same recipe for both ([this one](http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Waffles-I/Detail.aspx)). A “real” waffle is somewhat shallow with oodles of divots for holding butter and maple syrup. A Belgian waffle has fewer but deeper divots so you end up with mini-lakes of syrup. You don’t get a good waffle to butter/syrup ratio with Belgian waffles. > > [This](http://chefmom.sheknows.com/featured/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/waffle-iron.jpg) is what my old school waffle iron looks like. [This](http://i.acdn.us/image/A1289/128942/300_128942.jpg) is what my Belgian waffle iron looks like. Well, under the dust since I very rarely use it. Well, a proper American Standard Waffle Malt Batter is nothing like a Crispy Belgian Waffle Batter. They are two different beasts. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/89 "2010-10-13T04:40:46Z")
When I was little, my dad would make waffles almost every weekend. “helping” him was where I learned how to separate eggs and sift flour and fold batter. Waffles are much better than pancakes. I need a waffle iron. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/90 "2010-10-13T04:46:43Z")
I also make Lumberjack sized 10 inch pancakes at least an inch thick… then rake them violently with my stick fork and spread with real Butter and Aunt Jemima. Sometimes I enjoy Silver dollar sourdough, though too… a little more delicate in application. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/91 "2010-10-13T04:59:01Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > > > I’m going to throw a wrench in the works and say French Toast. > > As the OP, I intentionally did not include French Toast as that would obviously get all the votes. I wanted to keep \*some \*semblance of a competition. You’d pick _soggy egg bread_ over glorious pancakes or waffles? Blasphemy! Speak no more of this to me! > [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Soggy boggy pancakes or crisp waffles with squares for capturing the syrup? I think I know my answer. > > The squares _do not_ capture syrup. They keep the syrup out, so it just runs off. Pancakes absorb and hold all sorts of toppings; if you think they’re “soggy boggy” you must be making them wrong. > > Waffles keep their toppings separate, with each forkful strangely segregated: waffle as well as some butter (most of which hasn’t even melted because the waffle got cold too fast) as well as what little syrup didn’t just run off onto the plate. Pancakes are about synthesis; each forkful is warm, buttery, syrupy goodness that is more than the sum of its parts. Topping variation (such as blueberry or chokecherry syrup instead of maple syrup) produces a new and exciting synthesis. This gastronomical alchemy is impossible with waffles, so pancakes are the clear winner. You are eating the wrong kind of waffles… ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/92 "2010-10-13T05:31:14Z")
Currently, my preference in order- French Toast, Waffles, and Pancakes… But I’d probably take a real Perkin’s Pancake House, Blueberry Pancake with their special warm “Berry SyruP”. Circa '80; over all. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/93 "2010-10-13T05:45:29Z")
I have also eaten at Jersey’s, “[Country Pancake House](http://countrypancakehouse.net/)” Nature’s Way, Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch, Florida Location… they are run by Eastern Europeans I think they are either Rumanian or Bulgarian. I was not disappointed, they were incredibly substantial, and I ate almost all. ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/94 "2010-10-13T05:52:25Z")
Waffles! \*Waffles! \ ***Waffles!** 😃 😃 😃 with lightly fried egg and crispy bacon and butter! The waffle catches all the bacon bitses so they can be eaten ~ Om Nom Nom… \>^.^\< /me goes off to warm her waffle iron for a late snack ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/95 "2010-10-13T10:46:12Z")
The odd thing is, I can remember when I last had pancakes, but I can’t remember when I last had waffles. And yet, I picked waffles. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/96 "2010-10-13T11:34:44Z")
They can both be good (or nasty, depending on how they’re made). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/97 "2010-10-13T11:42:52Z")
Can French Toast be on the list? This is what we ate at home. Waffles and pancakes were foreign things to me, only seen at breakfast buffets in restaurants. I never ate an Eggo. We never, ever ate that at my home growing up. If I had to choose between waffles and pancakes, I would choose waffles with those square that trap the butter/syrup combination. Pancakes are Ok, but they are like eating a sponge. Not that they are bad, but I don’t want to eat a whole stack of them. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/98 "2010-10-13T12:19:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Midnight](#): > > Can French Toast be on the list? This is what we ate at home. Waffles and pancakes were foreign things to me, only seen at breakfast buffets in restaurants. > > I never ate an Eggo. We never, ever ate that at my home growing up. If I had to choose between waffles and pancakes, I would choose waffles with those square that trap the butter/syrup combination. Pancakes are Ok, but they are like eating a sponge. Not that they are bad, but I don’t want to eat a whole stack of them. Really good french toast is wonderful. The last two times I ordered it, it was dry and nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/99 "2010-10-13T14:03:39Z")
If you’re syrup is running off your waffles you’re cutting them wrong. You need to cut down the tops of the ridges. With a properly crisp waffle the ridges will have enough integrity to hold back the lake of syrup and butter. French toast is an abomination down the list behind dry rye toast. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859/100 "2010-10-13T17:44:34Z")
Pancakes are like eating powder. Waffles are much better and hold butter and syrup in the pits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waffles-vs-pancakes/556859.md?page=6)