About pancakes?

[gus20]

Hello friends , how r u?
Well, last week i learnd how to prepare pancakes at school, but i gte a nice colour, golden, it tastes good, but i think they arent well cooked, they arent very soft, they look a little like gum, and when i taste them they arent well cooked, ill give u my recipe and please if u know whta im doing bad, please help me:

220 g. flour or 0.484 lb of flour
half teaspoon of salt
0.1 lb of sugar
one and half teaspoon of baking soda
375 ml of milk (like 1 and half cup of milk)
1 and half eggs
21 g or 0.04 lb of melted butter

i mix the dryed ingredients first, after i mix the milk, butter and eggs in a bowl. After i add the liquis mix to the dryed ingredients, i mix everything with a spoon of wood, after the mix should rest 30 minutes. I heat the pan, a little not so hot or the pancake will burn. I wait till little bubbles appear and a nice golden colour appears and i turn it. Finally all the pancakes go to the oven for 5 minutes medium temperature. They taste good, but,butttt, they arent well cooked, i dont know whta to do, now how fat should they be? my chef told me about 1 cm, but my pancakes never rise as a 1 cm, how fat are they??, i ask u cuz , well pancakes are americans and i think this is the best places for asking, cuz i feel a little frustrated i have done them many times, and they arent well cooked, thanks

[kokopuffs]

Using the recipe that I found at the KING ARTHUR FLOUR website, your recipe seems lacking in leavening, namely BAKING POWDER. For the leavening to work properly, however, substitute BUTTERMILK for milk.

Do use the recipe offered at King Arthur and you won't go wrong. That recipe yields really fluffy pancakes.

[mike]

Double sift the flour from a great height & work gently at all times when mixing,yes to buttermilk for american pancakes. No if your doing crepes.

[Jock]

I agree with Kokopuffs, use baking soda and buttermilk. This gives a light and fluffy pancake that will reach 1 cm high.
Baking powder (and I am assuming you are using double acting baking powder) is a mixture of baking soda and an acid (usually tartaric acid.) they come together when mixed with a liquid and the acid activates the soda. This happens in the bowl. The second rising ingedient in the double acting powder is usually Sodium Aluminum Sulphate which becomes active above 160 degrees F. (about 70 degrees C.) It seems to me you might be missing out on the benefit of the double acting powder even with the time in the oven.
I also question the use of sugar in the batter. It promotes rapid browning on the outside and you may be getting a false indication it is time to turn the pancakes. The sweetness should come from all that lovely syrup you pour over the pancakes when they are on the plate.

Jock

[chefboy2160]

Hey dudes , I agree with Kokopuffs as to the use of buttermilk and like wheres the leavening at in this recipe man ? You trying to get a lot of puff out of baking soda and 1 and 1/2 eggs ( oh and like how do you split an egg in 1/2 ? )
Here is a good standard recipe for pancakes :
Put in a mixing bowl -
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Butter ( melted )
1 egg
Beat Lightly
sift together -
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
add this all at once to the buttermilk mixture and mix until just wet . Add more buttermilk as needed to make the mix as thick as heavy cream. Dont overmix !
I let this batter rest in the Walk In for at least a 1/2 an hour before using and I toss it at the end of the day as if you try to use it another day it will be flat and instead of pancakes youd be making tortillas .
Dude you say you finish your pancakes in the oven ? This is something I have never seen before . For perfect cakes you want between a 325 and 375 degree griddle . I keep a T towel with a little oil on it for rubbing the grill with , remember you want a very dry grill for pancakes . After the cake has filled with holes and is golden brown on the bottom side you want to turn them ( at this stage they are actually almost cooked all the way through ) .
When turned the cake will rise quickly ( do not press them down with the spatula as these are pancakes and not tortillas ) and will be finished in a little less than 1/2 the time it took to cook the first side .
This method works every time as I used to go through 20 Gallons of pancake batter a day and have way to much hands on grill experience . happy cooking , Doug

[chefAZ]

I always use oil in my batter. Also I have better luck when it is a bit on the thin side. Usually 2 cups of flour, salt , an egg,1 tbsp of oil or so. baking soda, buttermilk to the correct consistancy, sugwr if you like and sometimes a bit of vanilla, depending on mood.

[kuan]

You might try separating the eggs and beating the whites for an even lighter pancake.

Kuan