A light and fluffy pancake drenched in butter and maple syrup is a hard breakfast treat to pass up, yet far too many home chefs mess them up. Botching a batch of pancakes is a quick way to ruin a morning and according to the article only a few tips and tricks stand in the way of the perfect flapjack. So much can go wrong in between the making of the batter and the filling of a stomach.
"I'm a chef for a living, and my wife tells me I used to mess these up all the time," Geoffrey Cambal said. "I wish someone would have given me tips and tricks. It could have saved me plenty of embarrassment."
Simple mistakes can leave a batch of pancakes sense, floppy, flat or burned. The article argues there are nine frequently committed mistakes that ruin an otherwise delightful pancake breakfast. These revolve around the ingredients, preparation and cooking of the batter.
Ingredients are the foundation for the perfect pancake. Although more convenient and typically available in any pantry, all-purpose flour is not the best choice for crafting fluffy delicious pancakes. Mix all-purpose flour with cake flour for a smoother consistency. Always weigh ingredients too. Geoffrey Cambal says that although there are many recipes where eyeball estimations will produce a good result, pancakes are finicky.
"The only times I get into trouble when making pancakes are when I don't take the extra time to measure my ingredients," he said. "Pancakes really are about the little things."
Making fluffy pancakes requires preparing the batter right before frying it. Convenience might dictate preparing it in advance to have on hand, but pancakes made from old batter will have a dense texture because the flour absorbs too much liquid. Overbeating the batter is another common mistake cooks will make when preparing flapjacks at home. The temptation is to beat all the lumps out of the batter, but that will ruin the batter every time.
When cooking pancakes, one of the reasons so many batches fail is because the batter cooks unevenly. Greasing the pan by pouring oil directly into it is a common culprit for unevenly cooked pancakes. Geoffrey Cambal tells home chefs to always use wadded paper towels to apply oil to the pan. Overheating the pan also causes pancakes to scorch before they rise.
"The goal is to make airy pancakes," Geoffrey Cambal said. "Turn the heat down to a medium level and let them cook more slowly."
Once the batter is on the pan, let it sit and cook. Resist the urge to poke, prod or otherwise giggle the pancakes. Another mistake commonly made is over-flipping the pancakes. Geoffrey Cambal said when he first learned to make pancakes he thought flipping them again would help them brown, but found they deflated and ended up rubbery. A nearly foolproof way to know when to flip pancakes is to wait for bubbles to form and burst in the center of the batter.
Many of these tips might seem like common sense, but home cooks all too often neglect them. Geoffrey Cambal knows most home cooks are only a few steps away from a delicious and impressive pancake breakfast.
ABOUT:
Geoffrey Cambal is the owner and executive chef of an Italian restaurant in Tuscan, Arizona. The restaurant is a joint effort between Cambal and his wife. He earned his BS in Culinary Arts in 2007 and has gone on to earn the praise of his peers. He is a widely celebrated chef and personal gardener. Although his restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine, Cambal offers plates created using a variety of culinary techniques and in an assortment of styles.
