Hey Pancakes!

December 11, 2006 8:33 AM

Calling experienced cooks: What would cause pancakes to come out dull and tortilla-like in appearance rather than a scrumptuous dark brown?

I see this happen from time to time when I make pancakes (incl. from mix) and I don't know what causes it. When this happens, no matter how long I leave the pancakes on there, they don't toast up to any decent shade of brown. Could it be related to using milk instead of water in the mix?

posted by chef_boyardee to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

What type of pan are you using?
What type of fat are you using and how much?
Are they tortilla-like in texture and volume as well as color?

I don't think milk is the issue.
posted by Seamus at 8:40 AM on December 11, 2006

Stop poaching them.

No, really though. How are you cooking them? Skillet or pan with butter? oil? Crisco?
posted by beccaj at 8:41 AM on December 11, 2006

WIthout any more information, my guess is that you're using a teflon pan, not enough oil, or both. Teflon is crap for browning.
posted by deadmessenger at 8:42 AM on December 11, 2006

May need to turn up the heat a bit as well to get more carmelization on the outside.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:44 AM on December 11, 2006

For volume you must not use too much liquid and you must not stir them too much (it is best to stir them hardly at all).

Are you scrimping on the fat? That sometimes can leave them a bit pastey.

How hot is your pan? Are you using a little butter to grease it each time? It is hard to get that nice brown appearance without a little grease to quickly transfer the heat to the batter.
posted by caddis at 8:45 AM on December 11, 2006

The pan has to be really hot when you pour the batter in it. That usually takes a few minutes. Use oil that is at least partly saturated. I usually bake them in palm oil. These two things make sure that all my pancakes come out fine, even now that I am vegan and make them without eggs.
posted by davar at 8:53 AM on December 11, 2006

I'm big on pancakes and have to agree, more oil and (slightly) higher heat is likely what's required here. You may end up burning them slightly, but I usually find that its easier to nudge the heat down a little after it being too high rather than the other way around.
posted by Xoder at 8:57 AM on December 11, 2006

check the heat in the pan by flicking drops of water on the surface - they should skitter around before evaporating. also, a bit of oil (wipe it on with a paper towel) will aid in browning.
posted by killy willy at 9:01 AM on December 11, 2006

My first guess would be too much liquid if it's turning out like a tortilla. Also, are you cooking it enough on both sides? I usually don't flip them until they at least begin to burble on the uncooked batter side, and even then I wait a little bit. But this suggestion probably could be a corollary to the heat and pan issue.
posted by kkokkodalk at 9:15 AM on December 11, 2006

I use a heavy Teflon pan with good results. I find less oil (almost none) does a better job. The big secret of pancakes is not to stir the batter too much--just barely blend the ingredients, and leave the lumps.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:16 AM on December 11, 2006

I recently tried my hand at making pancakes again. I always made them with a cast iron pan when I was younger. With my newfangled teflon pan I had to turn the heat way up, and I found that butter burned too quickly. I used the oil and paper towel as killy willy suggests, with good results.
posted by kableh at 9:25 AM on December 11, 2006

If they're thin and not brown, your heat is too low. Use a thick, non-coated pan, butter, and medium-high heat. Make sure you have the proper amount of baking powder, sugar, and flour in the mix.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:35 AM on December 11, 2006

Oil in your pancakes? Ewww! I use Bisquick or even Aunt Jemima Complete (just add water) and make it a tiny bit more watery than they suggest. Milk, water, doesn't matter. Don't forget the secret ingredient of a dash of vanilla. I always use a nonstick, no oil, on medium to medium-high heat. The batter should not be terribly runny, so if your pancakes are spreading thin then the batter is too watery. If they're not rising, check your baking powder date-- might be too old. And if they're not browning, your pan isn't hot enough or you're not leaving them in long enough. Any bread product will brown in any pan if left on the heat long enough. And do you live at a high altitude or anything?
posted by orangemiles at 10:03 AM on December 11, 2006

One who suggests Bisquick and a teflon pan has no right to say "ewww" at anything.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:25 AM on December 11, 2006

Use a nice dab of butter for every pancake and a nice hot pan (hot enough that the butter will burn in about ten seconds if you don't cover it in batter).
posted by ssg at 10:30 AM on December 11, 2006

WTF is Aunt Jemima Complete?
posted by desuetude at 10:42 AM on December 11, 2006

Oh, the rest of my comment:

It's definitely not the milk. Nthing the above that suggest that your pan isn't hot enough, your batter overmixed, or both.
posted by desuetude at 10:44 AM on December 11, 2006

If you make the pancakes from scratch, separate your eggs and whip the whites until they form firm peaks. Mix yolks in with the rest of liquids, add the liquid and stir for less than 30 seconds with a wooden spoon. Then fold in the egg whites*. This will add fluff without bulk, and help them brown nicely.



*To fold:

Pour egg whites on top of batter. Push your wooden spoon down the center, draw it along the bottom, up the side, and over the egg whites back to the center. Rotate the bowl a small amount and repeat until the egg whites are fully incorporated into the batter. It's less fussy than it sounds.
posted by carmen at 10:49 AM on December 11, 2006

If the pancakes are chewy like a tortilla, you have most likely overmixed them. If you waited a really long time between mixing the batter and frying it, the oomph of the chemical leavener may have given out. Mostly, it sounds like you need to get that pan hotter. One of the things that gives a pancake a rise is the batter starts to cook immediately on contact with the pan, giving the pancake a firm base so the leavener pushes the batter up instead of out.
posted by Foam Pants at 11:33 AM on December 11, 2006

It might be that you aren't letting the pan heat up enough before the batter goes on it. Also, my husband once forgot to add the eggs the mix called for, and that definitely made the pancakes flatter and kind of tortilla-y. Also, hideously dry.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:52 PM on December 11, 2006

Seriously, snarks, don't knock Aunt Jemima Complete until you've tried it. It's a Just-Add-Water pancake mix. And it's really good. Bisquick also works well in a pinch. Do you all make your mix from scratch?

And nowhere, Mr. Gunn, did I suggest teflon, which I agree is crap. I use Scanpans, which have a ceramic non-stick baked in.

You all must like those kinds of pancakes I was disappointed in at the Hotel @ MIT-- oily, flavorless, rather like greasy, dense cardboard. Well, in that case, I can't help you. I like slightly sweet, fluffy, non-greasy pancakes. OP, perhaps you could specify what your desired result is...?
posted by orangemiles at 1:31 PM on December 11, 2006

AJ Complete- for emergencies only, like when you are out of eggs and milk. Bisquick only slightly better, but it does make superior biscuits. Regular Aunt Jemima is fine. For best results, premix the wet ingredients and then pour them into a well formed in the dry ingredients or mix. With a spatula gently fold in the liquid until it is just incorporated, leaving the batter lumpy and decidedly not smooth. Any more mixing builds gluten which prevents a light airy pancake. (orangemiles, I fail to see anyone advocating dense carboard pancakes here)
posted by caddis at 2:26 PM on December 11, 2006

Do you all make your mix from scratch?

Yep. Flour, baking powder, eggs, salt, milk, and butter are basic staples. If I want them sweeter, I sprinkle in bit of sugar. If I want them nuttier, I add toasted wheat germ. And so forth.
posted by desuetude at 3:38 PM on December 11, 2006

Don't skip the oil, unless you are a serious fat chaser:

Since the early 19th centrury, the term shortening has been used to mean fats, or oils that "shorten" a dough, or weaken its structure and thus make the final product more tender or flaky. This role is most evident in pie crusts and puff pastry, where layers of solid fat separate thin layers of dough from each other so that they cook into separate layers of pastry. It's less evident but also important in cakes and enriched breads, where fat and oil molecules bond to parts of the gluten protein coils and prevent the proteins from forming a strong gluten.... Fats and related substances also play an important but indirect role in the formation of the cooked structure of breads and cakes, where the addition of small quantities signfiicantly increases volume and textural lightness. "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee.

posted by caddis at 4:18 PM on December 11, 2006

( I use Scanpans, which have a ceramic non-stick baked in.

Actually, what makes ScanPans non-stick is a coating of PTFE. Teflon is also a PTFE coating. This is actually most important to know because if a ScanPan is overheated, it emits the same toxins as a Teflon pan.)

Anyway, butter in batter and higher heat will brown your pancakes up nicely.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:55 PM on December 11, 2006

According to my cookbook, browning of pancakes is improved by adding 1 tsp sugar for each cup of flour. Whether that's exactly true, I don't know.

I always add the sugar these days because I quit making pancakes with chemicals, after learning how easy it was to make them with yeast (just slower). This also removes the need for buttermilk, which is the only way I'll make chemical-risen pancakes. Trust me, the yeast risen taste far better.

With yeast risen pancakes, you adjust the balance between water and flour to get the desired thickness. Some folks use bubbly water for this, I've not seen an advantage. Initially, start with 50/50 water/milk.

Roughly, 2C flour, .5c milk, 2-3 eggs, .5c water, 2TBL oil (optional), 2 tsp sugar, 1 pacaket dry yeast, .25tsp salt. Warm the water to about 80 degrees, disolve the sugar, add the yeast and let it sit. Mix the flour and salt in the big bowl. Beat the eggs as much as you like. Add the milk and water w/yeast, mix, add oil if desired (or melted butter). Mix the wet into the flour, adjust with more water for desired thickness. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place to double in volume (I use a convection oven with a fermentation setting of 40 degrees celcius). Bake!

I vary whether I add fat to the batter. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a heavy pancake, other times, I want soft and light. I love both kinds (probably safe to say I love all kinds, as pancakes are my life-time favorite food).

I bake mine on a well-seasoned stainless electric griddle. It's an OLD piece of equipment I found in a house I bought. I bake at 350 or 375. I use oil on the griddle, butter I think would harm the vital seasoning of the steel.

It's absolutely true that pancakes are easy to over mix. You can reduce this hazzard by using cake flour, which develops less gluten. Or enjoy chewy pancakes, which are good sometimes. Occasionally I make mine thick enough they are borderline to English Muffins. Depends on my mood. Usually I add bran to the flour to make up the 2 cups. This should serve 4, I make it as brunch for 2, and could eat them all if I wasn't watching my weight.
posted by Goofyy at 3:41 AM on December 12, 2006

Wow - I was considering posting almost the same question after my last adventure, and I'm appreciating the advice given here.

I use the recipe from Joy of Cooking, using 2 eggs and skimping a bit on the milk as a consequence. I also put in a little more sugar than the recipe calls for (I also have a Scottish pancake recipe that calls for 1/4 c. sugar, so I'm between 3 T. and 1/4 c.).

I find that my first pancakes, cooked on teflon but also with a bit of butter, don't brown. After the first round, they brown better. I was wondering if it was the butter that was causing the problem. I usually do the "drops of water sizzling away" test before I start cooking.

I would have thought that sugar would help them brown - caramelisation. But the first ones are stubbornly pale even though they're done, and still pretty tasty.
posted by sagwalla at 3:43 PM on December 13, 2006