One of my favorite foods is Pancakes.
Hot Buttery Pancakes and Maple Syrup.
I love going to places like IHOP or Denny’s and eating their pillowy soft pancakes.
What I have been dying to know, does anyone know their secret to making their pancakes so light and fluffy?
I have never succeded in making pancakes that rival a diner’s.
I have heard to add lemon juice and baking powder, but it didn’t come out the same. I love lemons, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the taste I am wanting in a pancake.
I’m afraid I don’t have an answer, but I do have some info that might help you figure out why you can’t find the answer. Did that make any sense?
I used to work for Perkins. My first day on the job, the manager hands me several pieces of paperwork, tax forms, etc. Included in this paperwork was an agreement I had to sign stating that should I ever learn the secret to Perkins pancakes, I could not tell a soul or they’d take my first born or something equally frightening.
I’ve never been a big fan of pancakes, but the whole written agreement thing struck me as a bit much. Besides, the mix came in big 50 lb bags with the Perkins logo on them. All the cooks did was mix it up and grill them, I don’t know how anyone thought I’d pick up trade secrets as I waited tables.
“No no. What I’m saying is we go get laid, then get pancakes.”
Gotta love Fargo.
Add a little bit more milk, and whip the batter more than usual, then cook them on a griddle where the heat is more evenly distributed. Should help at least a little bit more.
“Is it too early for flapjacks?”
I sometimes make sourdough pancakes…add some baking soda into the batter right before final mixing…and then ladle on to griddle. The reaction between the acidic sourdough and the baking soda made for nice fluffy pancakes.
This is probably not what the chains do…but it’s worth a shot. Google “sourdough pancakes” and have fun.
I can’t make good pancakes, so I go to a place called “The Original Pancake House”. It’s in Falls Church VA, so I guess anyone who doesn’t live in Northern Virginia is out of luck. Anyway, they don’t use mixes. They have their own special recipes for sourdough, buttermilk, yeast-raised, etc., pancake batters and the smell is enough to make strong men whimper. They serve reall butter and real maple syrup as well. Yes, I am addicted to this restaurant but I won’t go there more than once a month.
I use baking powder, not baking soda. Mine are very fluffy. ( My pancakes, ya pervs… 
).
I add a SMIDGEN MORE baking powder than is called for. Works like a charm. Kids love 'em.
Cartooniverse
Nope. It’s a chain. There are five locations here in the Atlanta area. According to their web site, they have stores up and down both coasts, in the upper Midwest (Great Lakes states), Colorado and Texas. Folks in the plains states are SOL, it seems. The Atlanta locations are all quite popular – you can generally count on at least a half-hour to an hour wait for a table on a Saturday or Sunday morning, at least at the Midtown, Brookhaven, and Duluth locations.
As for the OP, there are two critical elements in fluffiness – producition of sufficient quantities of gas to form lots of small, discrete bubbles in the batter as it’s heated, and just the right amount of gluten – enough for the small bubbles to maintain their integrity and not just rise to the surface and pop, but not so much that they form huge voids, or that the cooked pancake becomes tough and chewy. The baking powder/baking soda helps with the gas production, but too much of the former imparts an unpleasant metallic taste, while too much of the latter will make the pancakes taste like soap cakes. Whipping does incorporate more air into the batter, helping with fluffiness, but too much will overdevelop the gluten in the batter, making the pancakes tough. Insufficient moisture (i.e., not enough milk) can have an adverse effect on fluffiness, since much of the water in the milk is converted to steam during cooking, so not enough milk = not enough fluff. Insufficient fat in the batter will also cause problems, since it’s the fats in the batter that prevent the gluten in the flour from developing into long, tough strands (hence the term “shortening”). In short, there’s not one secret technique that guarantees fluffiness – there’s a host of factors that have to be balanced just right to get as much fluffiness as you can without adversely affecting the taste or other qualities of the pancake.
wow, thanks for all the replies!
any recipes out there you suggest I try?
I’m not sure how much to add, but I read that club soda will make them light and fluffy.
Rackensack, I humbly bow before you. I only knew the restaurant in Falls Church, and another one in Rockville, MD. I might have to go there tomorrow to atone for my mistake.
I know the above statement doesn’t make sense but I’m floundering for excuses to make to eat at my favorite breakfast place.
As one who has made about 300 pancakes every Sunday for the past nine years, I can tell you a few things I’ve discovered.
Your basic kitchen stove cannot compete with a six foot gas grill.
Try to get your frying pan to exactly 350 degrees and perfectly level, if possible.
Use a sparing amont of butter on the pan; do not deep fry them.
If using a mix, use 90% of the water required in the directions.
Do not beat the hell out of the batter. There should be some very small lumps when you are done.
Add extra baking powder. I Tablespoon/cup of mix is probably too much, but experiment.
Dispense the batter with an Ice Cream scoop, trying to stay centered for a nice round pancake. The batter should flow like liquid.
It’s time to turn when you see lots of bubbles. The second turn is more of a feel thing. Pancakes are fragile–do not over turn them.
Good luck!
Top Secret Recipes® writes that the secret is buttermilk.
And extra baking powder.
Best pancakes I ever had was ones I made on Christmas morning (which was really afternoon because I worked a graveyard shift the night before) and I was by myself because all my friends had gone home for the holidays (and I had to stay where I was to work that graveyard shift).
Anyway, I didn’t have any milk so I poured a can of Schmidt in it–that’s right, the beer with the animals on the can. Fried up nice and fluffy.
Is there anything cheep beer can’t fix?
I like to add extra egg… but that I do for the flavor and structure, which is a little stronger.
I actually have a thing for McDonalds pancakes, truth be told. Theirs are usually pretty damn tasty and fluffy. Actually, maybe I’ll go get some right now. (And add extra butter. Every part of the pancake must be evenly and generously buttered so that each bite has butter in it. Then I put just a small puddle of syrup over to the side and dip lightly. You folks who drench your pancakes with syrup, well, why don’t you just drink it straight from the bottle? Yech.)
stoid