Shrove Tuesday is one of the UK’s most under-appreciated holidays. What other holiday affords you the opportunity to fling hot batter around in your kitchen like some sort of reckless glutton?

Pancakes aren’t an everyday foodstuff in the UK. Unlike the crêpe gobbling French and the stacked-pancake devouring Americans, Brits keep their pancake consumption on the whole to Shrove Tuesday – which makes it all the more special.

Everyone wants that perfect pancake, and everyone knows the key to a perfect pancake is a perfect flip. To that ends here are seven examples of how not to flip a pancake and seven rules to make sure you get it right:

Rule 1: Make sure the pancake cooked on one side at least before attempting a flip.

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Rule 2: Get a decent pan. One that isn’t going to break on you mid-flip.

Rule 4: When flipping a pancake, you’re not looking for a full somersault, you’re looking for a 180 flip, in order for the pancake to cook on the other side. A somersault achieves nothing.

Rule 5: If your pancake flip hits the ceiling and you get away with it the first time. Don’t try again.

Rule 6: This next lad has obviously got natural talent, in fact he’s a real showboater. He shows some great skills with the frying pan, then smashes the pancake at the person filming him. We’re not exactly what the rule is here, erm, don’t be mean?

Rule 7: Start with a pancake. We don’t know what this monostrosity is supposed to be, but it isn’t a pancake. It looks more like scrambled eggs.

Rule 3: Start with a pancake. We don’t know what this monostrosity is supposed to be, but it isn’t a pancake. It looks more like scrambled eggs.