Do all ingredients in a recipe scale linearly?

[aruvqan]

@Cheesesteak

I’m having trouble understanding how these two situations give you different taste:

Simmer 2 one gallon potsof cider with X spice per gallon, then combine them for serving.

Simmer 1 two gallon pot of cider with X spice per gallon, then serve.

Conceptually, it makes a certain amount of sense, but I can’t put my finger on the mechanism by which the second scenario draws more flavor from the spice than the first. The spices are sitting in hot water, they don’t have an appreciably different experience with 2 gallons of water around them, vs 1 gallon. Imagine a third scenario:

Simmer 1 two gallon pot with X spice per gallon, but insert a divider in the pot just before the spice packets. How about if the divider has a hole in it?

You put the spice packet in after it has reached the simmer. Im a control freak in cooking=) If you put the packet in cold and bring to a simmer, you cant control the extraction rate as easily as if you bring it to temperature then add the packet for a set time … Im sort of funny that way.

[Cubsfan]

@aerodave

Yeast-raised waffles were once news to me, too. But the SDMB actually turned me on to yeast-raised waffles a while back. After sampling their delicious crispiness and superior flavor, there’s been no going back.

There’s a recipe in the thread linked above. Goddamn they’re good. I must make some this weekend.

Yes. I just started making these things and they are dee-lish!! I’m wondering though, can I take the waffle batter, pour it on a griddle and make pancakes using the same batter? Will the pancakes be light, crispy and fluffy like the waffles?

Thanks for the answers gang.

[Dangerosa]

For a good talk on how to scale baked goods, get a copy of The Cake Bible. Rose Levy Birnbaum will explain in geeky chemical detail why you can’t scale baking powder - but give you the formula so you can scale.

[Dangerosa]

@elfkin477

Examples, please? I’ve never tried adjusting a recipe and gotten different results than the normal sized batch, but my repertoire is sort of limited. Cookies, cakes, brownies and bread-things (biscuits, quick breads etc).

Wedding cakes are notorious non-scalers. They have the combination of an increase in the batter and bigger than the recipe calls for pan size. If baking a wedding cake, use a wedding cake recipe or use Rose’s book to adjust. Many an amateur baker has baked an inedible first wedding cake.

[vison]

Yeast raised waffles? These are the best I’ve ever made and have the added advantage of being mixed up the night before:

Raised Waffles:

Mix your batter up at least 12 hours before you want to cook waffles.

1 ¾ cups milk. (Any kind, 1%, 2%, or whole milk)
½ cup butter (if you use margarine, NOT soft margarine. Use butter! It’s better.)
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

1. Heat milk and butter until butter is melted, in a microwave is fine. Let cool to lukewarm.
2. Mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl to combine.
3. Whisk milk/butter mixture into dry ingredients.
4. Beat eggs and vanilla until combined, stir into flour/milk mixture.
5. Cover closely and refrigerate at least 12 hours, up to 24 hours.
6. Stir the batter down (It will deflate, this is fine!)
7. Bake on preheated waffle iron as usual. It will make seven 7 inch round waffles or 4 big 9 inch waffles.
   The recipe calls for instant yeast, but any yeast will do. If you don’t have instant yeast, I would let it proof in the warm milk mixture for 10 minutes before stirring it into the flour mixture. I, personally, loathe instant yeast, and always proof traditional yeast.

This is a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.