San Francisco Chronicle

Getting the pancake batter into the whipped cream canister actually was the easy part. Batter Blaster creator Sean O'Connor says he managed to come up with something edible on the first try.

The real challenge was when the longtime San Francisco resident started telling other people about his plan to revolutionize breakfast, one aerosol can at a time. Even the companies that let O'Connor and his spray-can pancake batter in the door sent him away almost as quickly.

"The biggest challenge of the whole thing was going to raise money," O'Connor says, splurting out a Mickey Mouse-shaped flapjack during a pancake-making demonstration in his office near Potrero Hill. "Try telling someone, 'I have this idea. We're going to put pancakes in a can,' and not have them laugh you out of the room."

If you shop at one of the higher-end Bay Area grocery stores, the chances are good you've seen O'Connor's pancakes in a can. And beginning this week, it's being carried by Costco. Backed by "friends and family" financing, O'Connor found a food packer who could mass-produce the batter, bought some equipment and is hoping his stab at making an easy process even easier becomes the next Lunchables.

O'Connor, a jovial man with the build of a Raiders defensive tackle, recognizes the kitschy value of his product. Its closest food industry relative is arguably Easy Cheese, the processed-fromage-in-a-can from Kraft Foods that has sold millions but also has become something of a punch line - for proof, go to YouTube and search that product's name. The Batter Blaster Web site features a campy homemade commercial complete with a jingle that seems written specifically to become embedded in a consumer's skull for the rest of the month. ("Make a bet-ter breakfast faster ... Batter Blaster!")

But O'Connor also is very serious about his pancakes and waffles. Batter Blaster is USDA-certified organic, and he insists the product isn't inferior to the other store-bought options on the shelf. (Amateur drug users might be disappointed to learn that Batter Blaster is powered by the more ozone layer-friendly CO2, not the nitrous oxide propellant that can be found in whipped cream canisters.)

O'Connor, 36, came up with the idea during his years, from 2000 to 2004, as co-owner of Thee Parkside Cafe in San Francisco. After creating flavored cream by mixing Grand Marnier, vanilla and other fluids into whipped-cream chargers, O'Connor wondered if he could do the same thing with funnel cake or waffle batter. But the idea didn't get tested until a few years ago, when he started dating the woman he'd later marry, Mistine.

"She loves waffles," O'Connor said. "And when we started dating, it was like 'Oh yeah, baby, I'll make you waffles.' That's what got me back into mixing the batter."

O'Connor brought the idea to his friend Nate Steck, who had been in the food development and manufacturing business for more than a decade - producing, among other things, the Nate's line of meatless meatballs, chicken-style nuggets and rolled tacos. Steck said he would hear from people pitching food ideas three or four times per month, but O'Connor's idea was different.

"He told me, 'I have an idea. Don't steal it,' " Steck remembers. "I thought it was genius. I was wondering why no one had done it already."

Steck and O'Connor co-founded the company and looked for a food processing facility - but were turned down by everyone in the whipped cream sector. In the end, they built their own plant in Southern California.

The product launched in October, and Steck says Batter Blaster has already moved 400,000 units - well above expectations. Batter Blaster is distributed mostly in high-end grocery stores throughout California (including Whole Foods and Andronico's in the Bay Area) and a few markets in Arizona and the Pacific Northwest.

Batter Blaster is one of those products, like pre-shredded cheese, that invites ridicule for its contribution to laziness in American kitchens. But the biggest obstacle for worldwide success is probably the price. An 18-ounce can of the product, good for about 28 four-inch pancakes, retails for $4.99 to $5.99. (Costco will price packs of three for $10.) Thirty-two ounces of powdered pancake batter can be found for less than half that cost.

O'Connor has already thought this one out.

"Imagine if this was 15 years ago, and I said, 'I have a great idea. Give me 20 million bucks and I'm going to take heads of lettuce, wash them and put it in a bag and charge twice as much for them,' " O'Connor said. "Most investors would say, 'What -hole will buy heads of lettuce in a bag?' "

Whatever the cost of Batter Blaster, the product has already become a darling in the blogosphere. And O'Connor says the feedback has been fascinating.

Some of the e-mailers couldn't figure out why their pancakes were burning (Batter Blaster pancakes require no-stick spray), suggesting that a McDonald's/doughnut shop demographic that knows nothing about cooking is picking up the product. O'Connor said another unexpected market is empty nesters, who like pancakes but no longer need to make an entire batch. If the product continues to sell, O'Connor already has tested other recipes, including strawberry batter, blueberry batter and an aerosol-can brownie mix.

So how long until Wesley Snipes shows up on the hinterland cable channels selling Batter Blaster at 4 a.m.?

"I would love to do an infomercial, but we can't ship this stuff overnight," O'Connor said. "If we could, it would have made this a whole lot easier. We've had Internet requests from all over the world. But I think it costs us $45 to FedEx one can, so the value isn't really there."

ABC 15

Do you like pancakes or waffles for breakfast, but hate the hassle of making the batter?

The Organic Batter Blaster has that batter already mad in a can and it only has organic products in it. It's sounds pretty good but is it really that easy and do they taste good?

We tested it out and just like the can says, "Just point, blast and cook" and the pancakes and waffles tasted pretty good too.

So if you were looking for a quick, healthy and easy fix for those pancake or waffles, I would try this product out.

You can purchase it at Costco, AJ's Fine Foods, Sunflower Markets and Smart and Final.

Brand Strategy

2. Organic Batter Blaster Pancake & Waffle Batter
Making pancakes and waffles from scratch can be a messy process. Batter Blaster offers a helping hand with pancake and waffle batter that is sprayable and is packaged in an aerosol can. The refrigerated product apparently makes organic, light and fluffy pancakes as well as light and crisp waffles in minutes. The aerosol can packaging greatly reduces cleanup and the product is fast and fun. The product is new in the US.

KitchenNut

So, though I’d rather you make your own (most definitely!), given the competition, it’s the best one out there.

She Unlimited

A lot of talk has been going around about this new product that promises cooking novices an easier time with pancake making — the Organic Batter Blaster. With the birth of this instant pancake and waffle mix squirter, the hassle of having to whip up a flour and egg batter is no longer an issue. The instructions tell you to just point the can blaster into a heated pan or waffle maker and out comes the batter — no effort, no sweat.

People who are always on the go and in a hurry will see a goldmine in the Batter Blaster, especially as it reduces breakfast cooking time by more than half! Even kids can probably have an easy time with this little baby — just don’t let them overdo the squirting. Since the release of the batter into the pan or waffle maker is controlled by the blasting effect, getting the right amount of mix into your cookware still requires some art and technique at first. But it should be a breeze once you start getting used to it.

However, not everybody is pleased with the Batter Blaster, as some health conscious folks have questioned whether it is safe to rely on preserved pancake batter. But the product claims to be made of “organic” ingredients, so it has to be healthy at some level. The debate continues, though. And it’s really up to you to see its merits or demerits. Love it or hate it? You’ll never know unless you try, right?

YumSugar

The flavor is like your standard fluffy pancake, only a tad sweeter. I've definitely had much, much worse at diners across America. Would I buy this product again? Probably not, however I could see where it would come in handy. In just a few short minutes, we were eating our fill of pancakes. If I were a hungover college student or a busy mom, and just wanted to have decent tasting pancakes for myself or my brood, then it would definitely make sense. The ingredient list didn't look too weird — the first two ingredients are filtered water and organic wheat flour — they were super simple to make, and as the checkout guy at Whole Foods said, "Hey, sometimes you just want one pancake." Have you seen Batter Blaster at your store? If so, will you end up trying it.

Associated Content
Link

A Breakfast on the Go –
Batter Blaster: Pancakes in a Can
Why Make Your Own If it Comes in a Can?
By Aktiv8 F8
November 6, 2007

We all have those dreaded mornings when nothing seems to be running smoothly; the day that breakfast has to be down-graded to something frozen or pre-packaged. The other day as I was searching through the refrigerator aisles in the grocery store, I came across a wacky new product called "Batter Blaster". It is the fast and easy breakfast solution for those days that time is curbed and your appetite is not.

Batter Blaster is an organic product that basically can be described as batter in a can. It is a product that resembles the 1960-70's cooking products that were nothing but a gimmick. The company states on the can that the small can of batter manages to create perfect pancakes and waffles each time. It was compelling, so it was a must try.

Ingredients:
Filtered water; organic wheat flour (unbleached); organic cane sugar; organic whole soybean powder; organic whole egg solids; cultured dextrose (stabilizer); sea salt; sodium bicarbonate (baking soda); dicalcium carbonates (leavening agents); xantham gum. Allergens: Contains wheat, soy and eggs

This weird product comes in a yellow, red and white can that resembles the pressured spray whipping cream that has become popular in most stores around America. If looking for the can, be sure to look in the refrigerated section since it is perishable and must be chilled but not frozen. Not only is this an organic product but the container is also 100% recyclable. The lid and cap are made from recyclable plastic and the can is 100% recyclable steel. That means it is an organic and green product.

Following the instructions on the can, I placed my griddle at 375 degrees (medium-high for stove burners); the can suggested waiting five minutes for the griddle to warm however I took one minute since I was impatient. Next, I sprayed the griddle with olive oil spray from a can. Then, I took the can and flipped it upside down and pushed the tip slightly forward (similar to a whipping cream can). The batter came out smoothly without any clogging of the tip. After a few minutes the pancakes had created tiny bubbles on the top layer so I flipped them over. Another few minutes and the pancakes were completely finished. The pancakes tasted like homemade pancakes - kids will not notice the difference in texture or taste.

My review of this product is superb. It is easily stored in the refrigerator and takes less than ten minutes to make an entire plate of pancakes for the family. Each can contain at least 8 servings, so for a family of four - each batter blaster can will feed everyone twice. It is a product that makes one think - "why hasn't this been thought of before?"

Oh Gizmo!

While it may not seem like Batter Blaster has any gadget appeal, I still feel it’s one of the more important innovations of the 21st century so far. It’s basically a pre-mixed, 100% organic pancake batter that’s been packaged into an aerosol can. So not only can you skip the usual ingredients list, you don’t even need to mess a bowl or spoon. You just shake the can and then ‘blast’ the contents directly onto your hot skillet or waffle iron.

Based on a handful of online reviews I’ve read, the pancakes produced by the Batter Blaster are actually quite good. Of course anyone who’s ever tried cheese-in-a-can will be a bit skeptical, and personally I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy pancakes-in-a-can without a side of bacon-in-a-can as well.

At the moment it looks like Batter Blaster is slowly being rolled across the west coast, and while I couldn’t find any online stores selling it, I’d love to know if any of our readers have tried it out.

Crunch Gear

Pancake batter dispensed using a patent-pending process similar to how Cheez Whiz is dispensed from an aerosol can? Patent pending?! It’s gotta be good!

Batter Blaster is all organic and requires refrigeration, which I think is a good thing because it may have come off as a little weird to some people to have canned pancakes sitting in the cupboard. Nothing about refrigerated canned pancakes is weird at all, though.

This product is currently available around the San Francisco area and I’ll just DIE if it’s not available here in Boston soon. Has anybody tried this?

Club Grub Blog

Experience has taught me that foods served via spray can are generally inferior versions of the real thing. Reddi-wip saves you some time and mess, and while tasty, doesn’t reallycompare to actual whipped cream. Easy Cheese only bears a slight resemblance to its namesake, mainly in it’s color.

So what was it that compelled me to reach for a three-pack of a new aerosol-propelled food product at my neighborhood Costco? The attractive packaging? The promise of quick and easy waffles and pancakes? Maybe I simply needed more stuff in the door of my refrigerator. In any case, I came home with over three pounds of Batter Blaster.

Let me tell you: This stuff is great. It’s real pancake batter–in a can. It’s not a simulation or an approximation. The resulting pancakes and waffles are light and tasty, and the only cleanup (besides the cooking implement) is rinsing off the tip of the can.

Daily Candy

The days of catching a buzz from a can are long gone. You can’t get away with making midnight runs to the 7-Eleven for whipped cream anymore.

Here’s a more mature way to get blasted: Batter Blaster, organic pancake mix in a pressurized can.

The fluffy, light-as-air pancakes give you an (almost) instant breakfast high. All you need to do is fire up the skillet or the waffle iron and use a little nonstick spray. The handy nozzle gives you total mastery over your flapjacks: Just point and shoot. Since the batter won’t splash, it’s kid proof, too. Go ahead, make those Mickey Mouse shapes.

Also genius: no sink of messy dishes to clean up.

Stash a can in the fridge for emergency johnnycake cravings. Just be sure to check the expiration date and make a big batch. They’ll go like hotcakes.

Chow

Does it bode badly or well for a product when you can’t tell if the thing is a parody or not? The Batter Blaster, introduced to this writer via San Francisco DailyCandy, does indeed appear to be a real product. And if it isn’t, it needs to be: The concept is genius. Put simply, it’s pancake batter in a pressurized whipping-cream-style can. “Just point, blast and cook!” No measuring, no mixing, no splatters. To top it off, the batter is organic, and the packaging is recyclable (including the can’s plastic cap). I imagine the control you could get from the can’s nozzle might even allow for peace-symbol-shaped pancakes.

The Batter Blaster is obviously aimed toward noncooks, as the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website demonstrates. It seems like it would be great fun for kids. Aside from the crass consumer weirdness of batter-in-a-can, the Batter Blaster appears to be a handy, unobjectionable product. Why, then, does the commercial on the site (lower left-hand side) make me feel like I’m being conned?