Pancakes 5

Ingredients:

1 cup loosely packed flour 1 tblsp baking powder 1 egg 1/2 cup
milk 1/2 cup water 1 tblsp oil (canola seems to be the healthiest)
1. Whisk flour and baking powder (I sift ’em together, but if you
don’t have a sifter, no problem).

2. Whisk egg, oil, milk and water together (seems to mix better if
mix egg, oil and milk first, then add water).

3. Stirring liquid, slowly whisk in flour and baking powder mix.
Don’t over whisk, as this’ll toughen the pancakes. A few lumps are
okay. Slowing adding flour and baking power mix makes this step a bit
easier.

4. Pour on a hot griddle (see below on determining temp.). I use
about 1.5 spoonfuls of a large serving spoon and use the back of the
spoon to spread out the mixture a bit so its not so thick that they
don’t cook through. Turn when bottom is turning dark (too bad they
don’t make clear pancake griddles). Using the corner of the turner,
knock several holes in the pancakes. Done when bottom is turning
dark. Only turn once.

5. Stack for a minute or two when done so the tops warm so butter
will melt. Stack too long, and they’ll get soggy.

Determining correct griddle temperature:

On my stove, medium high does fine.

Make sure water sizzles on it and small drops evaporate in just a few
seconds.

The pancakes should get quite brown (actually close to black) when on
the griddle for just a few minutes (2 or 3?) and the edges on the top
should thicken. A few bubbles should form on the middle of the top.

I cooked ’em at too low a temperature for years and a hot griddle
really helps I’ve found; don’t worry if you incinerate a few in the
process of figuring out the correct setting on your stove; that’s
what kitchen trash cans are for.

Hints for lighter, fluffier pancakes:

Before mixing liquid and powder mixture, heat the liquid to room
temperature (microwaves are great for this; just thought of it, but
maybe hot water w/ cold milk & egg might work too).

After mixing liquid and powder, let sit for 5 or 10 minutes and mix
no more you’ll see it rise a bit and bubbles form).

The water/milk as opposed to all milk ingredients helps here too (got
this from Usenet’s rec.food.cooking).

Note on batter thickness:

The batter should, well, be not too thick or thin. I judge this by
how it pours on the griddle; I find I need to spread the batter
around a bit with the back of a spoon. If too thin, next time add a
tablespoon or two of flour. Note that I call for somewhat packed
flour above as this seems to give me the correct amount of flour for
proper consistency (flour can be compacted to some degree).

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%