Fluffy pancakes w/Bisquick

[Connemara]

What's the best way to achieve this? The standard "box" recipe is not conducive to fluffy 'cakes.

 

[EL72]

I thought Ed had taught you how to be an expert fluffer.

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by EL72

I thought Ed had taught you how to be an expert fluffer.
He always makes me lick up all of the batter.

 

[Arethusa]

What.. the ****? Bisquick is not food. You shut the hell up.

 

[whodini]

Down here I've had the luxury of trying out different batches of pancakes. Yeah, you can make them from scratch, blah, blah, blah. If I'm making pancakes then it's probably Sunday, the last possible day of me not giving a crap and basically trying to fill my stomach just enough so that I'm not still drunk from breakfast four hours later.

That said, Bisquick is by FAR the worst pancake mix I've ever had. Grab a box of Aunt Jamima's Buttermilk mix. You only need water and it doesn't come out tasting like crap.

 

[Connemara]

Clearly, I have sinned. Tomorrow I will make pancakes from scratch.

 

[Thomas]

Scratch is the way to go. Two things to add:

Baking powder is the main leavener here, and it goes bad with time. If you're getting your hands on granny's old can of baking powder, throw it out and buy new. It's cheap enough. A can is good for around six months, you can stretch it to a year if you must.

Over-mixing your batter leads to flat cakes. Roughly ten swirls with a wire whisk. It should be wet but lumpy and thick. Some batters you practically have to spoon onto the griddle.

Enjoy.

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Scratch is the way to go. Two things to add: Baking powder is the main leavener here, and it goes bad with time. If you're getting your hands on granny's old can of baking powder, throw it out and buy new. It's cheap enough. A can is good for around six months, you can stretch it to a year if you must. Over-mixing your batter leads to flat cakes. Roughly ten swirls with a wire whisk. It should be wet but lumpy and thick. Some batters you practically have to spoon onto the griddle. Enjoy.
These are the real keys, with overmixing being the most important. As soon as you get rid of the large clumps, stop whisking. The more you whisk, the more gluten you produce in the flour. This causes them to be gummy and dense.

 

[Edward Appleby]

Not sure you would want to do this with pancakes, but for waffles I always separate the eggs and beat the whites to stiff peaks before folding them in.

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Edward Appleby

Not sure you would want to do this with pancakes, but for waffles I always separate the eggs and beat the whites to stiff peaks before folding them in.
He's using Bisquick. Let's take it slow with the advanced techniques.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Edward Appleby

Not sure you would want to do this with pancakes, but for waffles I always separate the eggs and beat the whites to stiff peaks before folding them in.

Originally Posted by rambo

He's using Bisquick. Let's take it slow with the advanced techniques.

Yeah, I don't want to encourage Conne to beat anything to a stiff peak.

 

[Huntsman]

Agreed that Bisquick is the worst of the pancake 'mixes.' The best way is to prepare a masterbatch of dry ingredients and stock that in a jar as your own mix. I'll post my recipe tonight from home -- its from the '40s, uses a ton of baking powder but makes really light pancakes. If you do it right, you'll get a little ring around the edge that has a slight crunch, then down into the pillowlike interior. It's just flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and a dash of vanilla.

~ Huntsman

 

[oscarthewild]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Agreed that Bisquick is the worst of the pancake 'mixes.' The best way is to prepare a masterbate of wet ingredients and stock that in a jar as your own mix (no kidding!!). I'll post my recipe tonight from home -- its from the '40s, uses a ton of baking powder but makes really light pancakes. If you do it right, you'll get a little ring around the edge that has a slight crunch, then down into the pillowlike interior. It's just flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and a dash of vanilla.

~ Huntsman

fixed!

 

[Huntsman]

Kindly don't screw with my posts. I don't directly participate in the circle jerk of bashing that has been going on and I don't want to be dragged into it. Thanks.

Regards,
Huntsman

 

[oscarthewild]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Don't screw with my posts.

"Beavis, He said screw!"