About Baking: Eight Tips for Perfect Pancakes

Pancakes are easy and almost foolproof. But there are some tricks to making them perfect. We'd like to share those tips:

1. Use a low gluten flour. We like to use unbleached pastry flour in our recipes-that's what our mixes are made with-but all purpose flour will do. Bread flour makes for a pancake that it too tough and chewy.

2. Don't over mix. Mixing develops the gluten in the batter. Mix the dry ingredients together to dispense the leavening throughout the flour. Mix the recipe's wet ingredients together in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. There will still be lumps. That's okay-they'll cook out.

3. Get the batter the right consistency. The batter should be runny enough that it will spread on the griddle. If it is too runny, the pancakes will be crepe-like. As you progress through the batch, the batter will tend to become thicker as the leavenings work. Add a little more water or milk as needed but remember to stir minimally.

4. Prepare the griddle. Very lightly grease the griddle with a little shortening or with an aerosol can of vegetable oil.

5. Get the griddle hot enough. Set the griddle on high or medium-high heat. When the griddle is hot enough, water droplets will dance on the surface. After putting batter on the griddle, turn the heat to medium.

6. Cook uniform-sized pancakes. Use a 1/3-cup measure for medium-sized pancakes and a 1/2-cup measure for larger pancakes.

7. Cook it right. You can tell when it's time to turn the pancake by watching the bubbles form and watching the edges of the pancakes. The bubbles tend to cook into little craters and the edges will be dry-looking when the pancake is ready to turn. A little practice makes perfect.

8. Keep your pancakes hot. Pancakes are best if steaming hot. As you take the pancakes off the grill, cover them lightly with aluminum foil. If it's going to be more than a few minutes before they are eaten, stick the loosely covered plate in an oven heated to 275 degrees. For a special touch, heat the empty plates in the oven before serving.

For more articles like this visit The Bakers' Library.

© 2004 The Prepared Pantry