The Absurdly Optimized Pancake: Leavening Chemistry, Acid-Base Stoichiometry, and an Interactive Calculator

https://www.absurdlyoptimized.com/recipes/pancakes

A systematic investigation of acid-base neutralization, CO2 production kinetics, gluten inhibition, and the Maillard reaction as applied to a 125-gram flour batter, with an interactive stoichiometric calculator that adapts to whatever is in your refrigerator

26 points · 9 comments · view on lemmy.world

9 Comments

AnAmericanPotato@programming.dev · 9 pts · 81d (1 reply)

The inside should be light and custardy, not dense and bready... A pancake that requires chewing has failed at its only job

The pancake should be tall without being cakey.

Wait, wait, what?

They're called panCAKES for a reason, are they not?

Custardy? I don't think I've ever seen someone slurp a pancake without chewing. I can't be sure of this, though, because if I ever did see someone do this, I would have surely suppressed such a traumatic sight from my memory.

One of us must be living in an alternate reality. Tell me it's not me. Please, commiserate with me.

AlchemicalAgent@mander.xyz · 5 pts · 81d

It's ok. They should be soft enough that you don't have to chew. But they definitely need to have an internal structure closer to bread than custard.

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 3 pts · 81d (1 reply)

If the inside of my pancake is custardy I'm sending it back to finish cooking. They're literally called cakes for a reason.

jim_v@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 81d

Pankkake.

sbv@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 81d (4 replies)

but what if I'm a barbarian and I don't have a kitchen scale

IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 2 pts · 81d (2 replies)

You should get one. I was late to the party, but it's made a huge difference convenience-wise. Instead of dealing with (and washing) various measuring cups, I just pour directly into the mixing bowl and zero it out after each ingredient. I think a cheap one only set me back a little under $20.

sbv@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 81d

Every time I buy one, I find I never use it, give it away after a few years, and then decide I need one again. It's a viscous cyclei can't batter my way out of. Maybe this time I'll rise to the occasion.

okwhateverdude@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 81d

+1 for kitchen scale. It should be gram accurate at least. Half/Tenth of a gram precision if you're making weird micro-batches. When I was experimenting with cupcake recipe creation, I basically made one cup cake at a time iterating and adjusting ratios until it came out how I wanted it. Only really possible with the scale.

PunnyName@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 81d

Absolutely get one. They're cheap and reliable.