Pancakes can hit the spot, especially on a blustery day. Flour, eggs and milk come together to create a light, flaky canvas of comfort. Here are some tips from IHOP breakfast food chain on making the perfect flapjacks at home.

Water temperature: When preparing your dry pancake mix, it is essential that water be chilled to less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The chain says it brings its water to this temperature by using ice when preparing a fresh batch of pancake batter.

Lumps are good: Do not overmix the pancake batter. Ensure that there are some lumps of flour that remain. If the batter is a smooth consistency, then you will not be able to prepare tall, fluffy pancakes.

Grill temperature: Ensure that your grill is at 350 degrees and that you do not have hot or cold spots on the grill that can affect cooking time.

Cook time: Judge if a pancake is ready by appearance. When dropping the pancake batter look for bubbles to form and for the batter to have a dull appearance. This takes approximately 2.5 minutes. After flipping, cook for approximately two more minutes.

Tuesday event

Pancakes don’t get any tastier than when they are free and help benefit charity. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, most IHOP restaurants will celebrate National Pancake Day by giving customers a complimentary short stack of buttermilk pancakes in exchange for guests considering making a donation at the end of their meal to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities.

The nearest IHOP locations are on the north side of the Cincinnati area. For locations, go online to ihop.com and click the “locations” tab.

For more information, go online to www.ihoppancakeday.com.