Spend It Or Save It? Flippin' Fantastic
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Flippin Fantastic promises perfect pancakes "as good as Grandma" in minutes.
But is it flipping fantastic or a flipping fail?
CBS11 Consumer reporter Cristin Severance put it to the "Spend It or Save It" test with help from celebrity chef John Bonnell.
Bonnell, a Fort Worth-based chef and restaurant owner, is known for five star cuisine at Bonnell's and Waters.
But on Saturday mornings, breakfast comes from a box.
"Bisquick works just fine. It's a good short cut," said Bonnell.
Bonnell said the key to a perfect pancake is a trusty spatula (his is shaped like Star Wars character R2-D2) and to commit before you flip.
"When R2 goes in there you can't go halfway or push it around. You gotta get it right under there," he said.
A new product, the Flippin Fantastic, promises to make breakfast a breeze.
"The fast, easy and fun way to make perfect pancakes as good as Grandmas," claimed host Jeremy Rabe in the Flippin' Fantastic infomercial.
The infomercial shows Rabe pouring batter into the non-stick silicone ring, letting the pancakes cook and then flipping them over all at once creating seven perfectly shaped pancakes.
Bonnell agreed to put it to the "Spend It or Save It" test. But noticed a possible problem as soon as he opened it.
"It came kind of rolled up, taco shell-style," said Bonnell.
Bonnell tried to bend it the other way to make it flat, placed it in a pre-heated pan, poured in the batter and let the pancakes cook.
When it was time to flip, it was kind of a flop.
Some of the pancakes got stuck in the ring and others came apart once they hit the pan.
"Instead of this sitting totally flat, the sides were up a little bit so a lot of the batter went around the edges and stuck to the bottom here which kept them from being able to flip out when we dumped it," said Bonnell.
Bonnell agreed to try eggs, also shown in the infomercial, but first he had to wash it... although that wasn't so fantastic either.
The informercial claims, "to clean simply rinse or rack in the dishwasher," but the batter got stuck in the product's tiny holes.
After finally getting it clean, it was time to try eggs.
He cracked eggs in all seven holes.
"It's already coming out on the sides, it doesn't sit flat in the pan. It's cooking unevenly as well," said Bonnell.
Another flip and another flop.
"It's a flipping mess. The eggs ran out of the side. It doesn't have a good enough seal with the pan for the eggs to go anywhere," said Bonnell.
When Cristin asked John, "For $14.95, would you Spend It or Save It?"
His reply, "Save it, definitely not worth it."
CBS 11 reached out to the makers of Flippin' Fantastic but they did not return a request for a comment.
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