The best pancakes

Off the topic of computers again I wanted to share another great cooking tip. This one is on how to make the best pancakes you've ever had. This isn't a recipe, but a technique or process you can apply to any recipe, even box recipes like Bisquik.

The first tip is the order and how things are mixed. Place all the dry ingredients into one bowl, which in most cases will probably be one ingredient - the dry pancake mix. In a second bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Now pour the wet on top of the dry and mix by hand for at most 10 seconds. DO NOT OVER MIX. Yes, the batter may appear to be lumpy, this is all right. The lumps will cook out in the end, I promise. The second tip to excellent pancakes, after your short mixing period is to walk away and let the batter sit for 5 to 10 minutes. If you follow these two simple steps I promise you'll have the best pancakes you've ever made! This method works great for pancakes, waffles, and muffins.

If you're curious the science of why this works then read on. The key is what happens when you mix flour and water. Flour + water + agitation = gluten. Gluten is very elastic, very chewy. This is why when you're baking bread you kneed the dough for a long time, you're creating gluten for a nice chewy bread. But you don't want chewy pancakes. So do the minimum amount of mixing, and definitely do NOT use an electric mixer. Another thing this does is properly distribute the liquid particles through the dry particles. Most pancake recipes have oil and water - even if only in the form of an egg which is a self-contained package of water and oil. By mixing the oil and water ahead of time you ensure better pancakes in the end. The final tip was to let the batter sit before cooking. This tip allows the flour to fully absorb the water and changes the texture of the batter. Flour and water without agitation interact differently and does not form gluten. But it takes time to absorb the water which is why you need to let the batter rest. When you stop mixing the batter will be slightly runny and slightly lumpy. After a 5 or 10 minute rest you'll be surprised how much the batter has thickened. You will end up making the thickest most flavorful pancakes, they won't be flat. As a final tip, you might need to reduce the heat just a little bit so they cook through without burning.