Method for pancake cooking

A method for applying a cooking mix to the cylindrical cooking surface of the rotating cooking drum of an automatic machine for making pancakes, whereby a coating of the mix is selectively applied to the cooking surface, comprising the steps of:

• providing a rotating drum;
• entraining a film of mix by adhesion on the surface of a continuously rotating mix-entraining roller partly immersed to a substantially constant depth in a tank containing the mix, said roller rotating oppositely from the direction of rotation of said drum and being located generally below said drum in confronting relationship, the mutually opposite surfaces of said roller and said drum being spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of the layer of mix entrained by adhesion on said roller;
• tangentially contacting the surface of said roller with a retaining member immediately after the zone wherein the surfaces of said oppositely rotating roller and drum are closest to one another for partly retaining the entrained film of mix on said roller so as to thereby produce a bead of mix which extends across the distance between said roller and said cooking drum to touch and coat said cooking surface of said drum, to start the cooking of a pancake;
• and subsequently
• disengaging said retaining member from said roller so as to thereby terminate the formation of said bead of mix, thereby terminating the application of mix to said cooking surface.