how to keep pancakes hot?

[seashanty]

i served brunch this morning for 10 (helping someone out) and was told to expect all to the table at 10 am ... so i had a quiche, bacon, and blueberry pancakes ready ... but only 1/2 were here at 10 (some had gone for a drive or a walk) and all wanted to eat TOGETHER. the owner said just hold all the food til they are all at the table.
there was no big griddle i could find, so i cooked up the pancakes in a frying pan a couple at a time. i had all warming in the oven, but thought a little late of putting a pan of hot water in with the pancakes. i had the quiche and the bacon in another oven, just on warm. by the time they all arrived to eat, it was after 11. the edges of the top pancakes were crisp-ish ... should i have put a damp paper towel on the top or is there another technique? no one complained but i was wishing i could have 'held' the food better.

 

[gillumhouse]

I put a cookie sheet in the oven after I take out the muffins to get it warm. Then I put the pancakes on the cookie sheet as I fry them and turn the oven off. I have never had to "hold" pancakes for an hour. If they said breakfast is at 10 and do not show until 11 there isn't much you could do. Perhaps wrapping them all in foil and then put in a hot oven that you turned off

 

[Don Draper]

Put plate in oven to prewarm at 200 degrees. After skillet frying the pancakes I put them on the warmed plate/plates (I try not to do more than 6 pancakes on a plate) and cover loosely with aluminum foil. The trick that works for me is to crimp the foil all the way around the plate except for about 1/4 of it which I keep loose. This keeps them from getting either soggy or crispy in our oven.

 

[Alibi Ike]

I know you wanted advice on how to keep pancakes warm, but anyone who is rude enough to keep the food waiting for an hour deserves what they get!
That said, we generally keep the pancakes warm on the lowest settting the oven will go to. Covering them as DD said, with a little vent hole, should do the trick.

 

[seashanty]

thanks! i'm going to make a copy of these suggestions and save it for 'next time'
it was the innkeeper/owner who set the tone ... she was very casual about the timing of the meal. told me, in front of them, 'just wait until everyone's here' .... so they didn't feel any need to be there. they drank tea and coffee and mimosa (a few nibbled on toast) ... so i was able to get all the pans and mixing bowls and things washed up and put away by the time they gathered to eat. they were nice, didn't complain at all about the meal that i felt a little bad about serving. well, not bad, but it's just not the same as a quiche served bubbling hot from the oven and freshly made everything.
now ... if i had been up since early o'clock the way innkeepers are, and then would be flipping rooms after, it would be different. as it was, i just went in to take care of their meal so it felt a lot different.

 

[One Day]

I've used a wet dish towel.........the towel holds moisture longer than a paper towel......over the plate covering completely in a warm oven.
Used aluminum foil as well......with that, i'll throw a wet paper towel over the pancakes before wrapping.........a slit or two in the foil

 

[EmptyNest]

Let them get cold...then just nuke them in the microwave. That is what they deserve for being so late!
You know...this is what literally millions of people do...when they buy AJ.Frozen pancakes or waffles....NUKE EM!

 

[Proud Texan]

Depending on the size of your pancakes, try keeping them in a crockpot set to low. This also works for biscuits and rolls and doesn't dry them out like an oven would.

 

[JBloggs]

If you do oven them, put some butter below and ON TOP of them so they won't dry out. I oven my pancakes when I have a full house, hot off the griddle and onto a cookie sheet. If they are super thick they will dry out. I make them smaller and thinner if I know they will be held/warmed for any amount of time. But I would nuke them as well if needed, to get them hot through.

 

[JBloggs]

I just read the time, if it were for an hour or near there I would leave them out to get cold and THEN NUKE THEM (Of course you never know this will be an hour in advance or you wouldn't have made them ON TIME to begin with).

 

[Tom]

Best not to hold at all. "Down in 5-minutes" can be a half hour or more. Best is to keep in a layer 1 or 2 deep on a sheet pan covered with a dish towel, won't dry, won't steam either. Warm for 5 minutes in 220 degree oven when they actually show up and start on fruit, etc. We do this for waffles which I like to serve crisp, but which get flabby when they sit even a little while.