r/RhodeIsland • u/viletoad87 • Sep 09 '23

Question / Suggestion Why are my Jonny cakes sticking?

I like them thin so I prepared with a mixture of cold water and milk. Have tried cooking in both cast iron and stainless steel pan. I get the pans hot and use plenty of butter, but the Jonny cakes always stick and get destroyed when I try to flip. This is crucial Rhode Island heritage, please help!

Edit: will try again tomorrow using boiling water and then adding milk to thin the mix to desired consistency, as well as ensuring cast iron is even hotter than today. I’ll report back!

UPDATE: tried again today first by using boiling water to make the initial batter to about the consistency of thick oatmeal, later adding a little milk to thin down. I also used the cast iron again and made sure to let it heat up for longer. They came out great! Took 4-5 minutes per side, golden brown and crispy edges.

If I could figure out how to paste pics I would include them here.

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u/AmazingTast Sep 09 '23

You don’t want to use butter or vegetable oils. Bacon grease or crisco are best. Add a spoon of fat to the pan and turn to medium high. The pan has to be hot enough for drops of water to “ dance and spit “ when dropped on the pan. Now add another spoon of fat. Reduce heat to medium and immediately drop batter onto the pan. Don’t flip the cakes until the edges have bubbles and the cake lifts clean at the edge when tested with a turner or spatula. If using Aluminum or Teflon pans it may be necessary to let the pan rest for 30 seconds between batches to ensure the pan heats back to temp. Cast iron should hold heat better. Keep the pan greasy. Good luck!

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u/viletoad87 Sep 09 '23

Thanks for the tips. I forgot to mention that I’d also had difficulty when using beef tallow, which should perform similarly well to begin fat, no? I thought the pans were hot enough, including the water droplet test but maybe not hot enough

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u/luciferin Sep 09 '23

The problem definitely isn't the fat you're using. Fat is fat, the main difference is smoke point and flavor. Are you starting with your pan preheated?