Love pancakes but hate the mess? Then Batter Blaster was the product for you.
Batter Blaster inventor Sean O’Connor told PBS that he enjoyed making waffles for his wife, but always made a mess of the kitchen. The whipped cream he topped them with came in a convenient spray can, so why not pancake batter?
His invention put batter in a pressurized can, meaning home cooks could squirt it right into a pan or iron for no-fuss pancakes and waffles.
Batter Blaster…
… launched in 2007, and was sold in prominent stores including Costco and Whole Foods.
Though it received some criticism for its plastic packaging — and from people who felt like preparing traditional batter wasn’t that hard — people generally liked it.
Unlike Cheez Whiz and other convenience products, Batter Blaster was certified organic, and the can’s carbon dioxide helped make the batter light and fluffy. By 2008, it had turned $15m in revenue.
So, what went wrong?
In 2009, Batter Blaster chefs served up 76.3k+ pancakes in eight hours to achieve a Guinness World Record. But cool PR stunts aside, the company struggled to educate customers about the product, given that it was the only refrigerated pancake mix on the market.
The company then ran into financial issues, lost its manufacturer, and went under in 2012.
In 2014, O’Connor’s business partner Nate Steck gave it another whirl with Nate’s Pancakes, but that’s no more either.
Fans across the internet still leave comments singing its praises and lamenting its disappearance — going to show that even products people love don’t always make it in this cruel, cruel world.