Dutch baby in an 8 in skillet: 220 °C against 190 °C, same batter

01Abstract

Identical batter (60 g flour, 120 ml milk, 2 eggs, 3 g salt, 10 g sugar) was poured into an 8 in skillet preheated with 15 g ghee to 220 °C and to 190 °C. The 220 °C version climbed 55 mm up the wall in the first 9 minutes and finished with a hollow centre and crisp edges; the 190 °C version climbed 18 mm and baked into a dense, flat pancake.

02Variables

Hypothesis An 8 in skillet preheated to 220 °C with ghee makes a Dutch baby climb the walls; a cooler pan makes a flat pancake with the same batter.

03Process

1. Whisk or blend the batter and let it rest 15 minutes; a rested batter climbs more evenly than one straight from the blender.
2. Preheat the empty 8 in skillet in a 220 °C oven for 10 minutes. Add the ghee, swirl, and it should immediately smell nutty but not smoke black.
3. Pour the batter in one motion into the centre of the pan and close the door at once.
4. Bake 20 minutes without opening. The climb happens between minutes 5 and 12 and any draft during that window collapses it.
5. Serve straight from the pan; the fall after it comes out is normal and is not a failure.

04Observations

• 220 °C: the batter climbed 55 mm up the wall by minute 9, the centre hollowed, and the edges were crisp and 2 mm thick.
• 190 °C: the climb stopped at 18 mm, the batter set before it could rise, and the result was a 6 mm dense pancake.
• The ghee at 220 °C smelled nutty at the moment the batter went in and did not burn; at 190 °C it merely melted with no browning smell.
• The 220 °C pancake released from the pan on its own; the 190 °C one gripped the wall where it had set against it.
• Opening the door at minute 7 (a deliberate test on a third batch) collapsed the climb to 25 mm and left a doughy band at the base.

05Conclusion

The pour temperature is the recipe. Ghee at 220 °C in an 8 in skillet produces a 55 mm climb and a crisp shell in 20 minutes; at 190 °C the same batter sets into a pancake. Two rules follow from that: preheat the pan empty rather than with the fat in it, so the fat does not burn while the pan comes up; and keep the oven door shut for the whole 20 minutes, because the climb lives entirely between minutes 5 and 12.