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cookin' engineer Guest
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: joy of cooking pancakes |
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When using a non-stick pan or griddle, I have found it totally unnecessary to butter or grease the pan. The amount of butter in the batter is more than enough to do the job.
Also, when melting the butter in the microwave, try putting the milk in along side. You then get warm milk and melted butter to mix together and it keeps the butter from congealing (as it does when you mix it with cold milk). |
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Guest
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:38 am Post subject: other variations |
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I have been delegated the role of making pancakes on sunday mornings, and have had the following finds
Use of wholmeal self raising flour gives a stronger flavour
Add a bit of olive oil instead of butter for a bit of oomph
Prepare the batter the night before - allows it to relax
I prefer vegetarian fed eggs
In addition I will try the apple recipe this sunday it sounds really good, but the girls like theirs with yougurt ice cream |
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Guest
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Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject: add flour |
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when adding any berry to a batter.muffin, pancake, etc. Do not unthaw them the heat in the pan or oven will defrost them. your first mistake was thawing them in water, this thinned your batter. Second, a baker taught me that if you shake the berries in a little flour before you put them in the batter this will allow the berries to latch to the batter instead of falling to the bottom." |
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Friend Guest
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Renzukoken Guest
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:34 pm Post subject: Wow |
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Wow, these pancakes were amazing! I'm a 16 year old with possibly no cooking skills what-so-ever and I tried your recipe because everyone was out of the house when I woke up and I wanted food. :] Now, I am unoffically the Pancake King of the house. >_> |
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GaryProtein
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:58 am Post subject: Re: Even color |
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My guess is the uneven browning is caused by uneven bubbling of the batter and loss of surface contact with the pan as it cooks and starts to rise. I believe you didn't have the baking powder evenly mixed into your batter. |
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Michael Chu
Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 1654 Location: Austin, TX (USA)
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: Re: Even color |
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Friend wrote: | Anyone know what determines whether or not you get an even color on your pancakes? I tend to get the splotchy surfaces with bubble-shaped areas like here. |
Did both your sides look like that? Most pancakes have a pretty side (the side that hit the griddle first) and a not as pretty side. |
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Guest
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:39 am Post subject: |
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i tried to solve the "blueberries being unevenly distributed among pancakes" problem by dropping blueberries on the batter after it's poured on the frying pan....and the berries ended up getting singed when i turned the pancakes over, because the berries stuck out above the batter, and had no coating of batter to protect them. |
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Guest
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:30 am Post subject: Re: Even color |
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After many years of cooking pancakes using plain mixes, "doctored up" mixes, and "from scratch" recipes (as presented here) I have found that they can produce a wide variety of pancakes textures. In my experience, the variation is color I find is caused by three factors: temperature, grease and batter viscosity.
1) Temperature of the griddle. Your picture looks as if the pancakes were fried at high temperature. I use an electric griddle and keep it set 375-400F. When I have tried to make pancakes while camping (where the temperature is difficult to control), mine frequently come out looking like your picture.
2) Amount of grease. Remember that the recipe said, "You don't want too much fat on the griddle or you'll be frying the pancakes"? I take a paper towel and put a small amount of vegetable oil on it (I presume you could do the same with any fat - i.e. butter, margarine, etc.), then thinly coat the griddle. Do this before it gets hot and you'll find that it take a very small amount of oil indeed (especially if your recipe already includes a fat - i.e. oil or butter).
3) Thickness of the batter. I find this to be the most variable thing about pancake batter. A thick batter will produce very thick, fluffy (sometime crumbly or cake-y) pancakes, whereas a thin batter will produce thin, tougher pancakes (a very thin batter will make a crepe!). In general, the thicker batter pancakes will brown more evenly (notice in your pictures that the 'even color' pancakes are all thicker?) The key that I have found is that the difference between "thick" and "thin" batter can be as little as 1-2 Tbsp of liquid (milk is usually what I use to thin). So, after I make up the batter, I take a look at the viscosity and add a SMALL amount of milk if necessary.
Of course, this is very subjective and requires some experience as "how thin" the batter should be (not to mention variability in personal preferences), but hopefully some of this will be useful.
Good luck, and I love the site. Reminds me a lot of AB's GEs! |
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youngcook
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 97 Location: GA
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Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 1:37 pm Post subject: Cool |
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Excellent,Michael. Looks great. Will try to do. |
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opqdan
Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 43
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:51 am Post subject: |
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My wife used to complain to no end how I would buy buttermilk, use a little for some recipe, and then the rest would spoil in the fridge (spoiling bittermilk takes a long time, but I use it so rarely that it happens). I was having a tough time keeping buttermilk in the house for the once-in-a-blue-moon that I needed it.
The America's Test kitchen cookbook had a great suggestion to use dried buttermilk as a substitute in baked goods. I've only been able to find a single company that makes it (the same one they show), but fortunately it seems to be almost universally available in grocery stores (at least in Cleveland, OH and Seattle, WA).
I can notice no difference at all when I use it in baked goods (pancakes, bread, biscuits etc), but I would not recomend using it if you are making a dressing or something, as the texture is off.
Once opened, the package says that you need to keep it in the fridge, but it should keep indefinately (I suppose).
It comes in a cylindrical white container found in the baking aisle, and has a chef face on it. Sorry I can't remember the brand.
Anyways, this is a great way to keep buttermilk on hand to make wonderfull pancakes without having to worry about actual buttermilk or squeezing lemons into normal milk. |
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youngcook
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 97 Location: GA
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:58 am Post subject: |
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Yep, you are right, man. |
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cloud_swift
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Northern California
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:17 am Post subject: |
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I've used that recipe for years. It works fine with a seasoned steel pan or stainless or anodized aluminum. It needs a bit of butter in the pan to get started, but after that the butter in the recipe is enough to keep it from sticking even when I reduce the butter by half.
I agree that uneven browning can be caused by too much grease on the pan. The first pan full usually comes out a little uneven (but I haven't been toweling off the pan as Michael suggests) but it still tastes good.
When my kids were little, I would sometimes make a simple design like a smiley face by pouring the eyes and smile first than pouring the pancake around it so it the color difference makes the design. |
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Gmoney Guest
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Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject: Pancakes |
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This recipe from The Joy of Cooking has been a family favourite for three generations. I've never found a better recipe!
BTW, who doesn't like blue pancakes? |
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Guest
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Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:06 pm Post subject: Donot turn out |
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Ijust tried thesespancake and they did noy turn out good. I cooked them to dark brown and there still not done in the middle. there gos my breakfast. |
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