4 ms·

It was life changing when I learned that if you set the stove correctly, it's almost impossible to make a bad pancake.

wincy 4y ago
Ah yeah slow heat for longer trick. Like if I cook a steak in the oven for an hour at 250 then throw it on the grill people think I’ve become some master chef.
- fsckboy 4y ago
  whhaaat? i cook a steak for 1/2 hour in the oven on 200, and sear it in a pan (don't have a grill, am jelly) and sometimes risk over-cooking it? with pancakes, while you don't want it tooo too hot, you do want a hot pan to sizzle fry some crispy edges on there. i like a little "crack" of the crust, not a steamy on the outside cake.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  Once I figured out that cooking is mostly optimizing water while hitting the desired through-doneness and char points, my food markedly improved. Everything about low and slow makes a lot more sense then!
  - treeman79 4y ago
    Adding water to pan for Bacon is a new hack. One guy did a bunch of experiments to see what worked and scientific reasons why. https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g
    - ethbr0 4y ago
      I'll have to try. I've had pretty good luck with the Spruce oven method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-to-995313 https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-... Tl;dr - Put cold bacon in cold oven. Turn on oven to 400°F. Cook 17-20 min.
fsckboy 4y ago
what? whether it's a great or only a good pancake is decided in the batter phase. bad pancakes come from whatever that flavor of instant cake mix is called, cake-plasticine.
- klyrs 4y ago
  No, you can definitely ruin perfectly good batter on a griddle that's too hot or too cold.
  - saalweachter 4y ago
    Yeah, if you've ever heard jokes about "the first pancake"[0] or burnt your pancakes when you get distracted by the rest of breakfast, do yourself a favor and set your griddle to 325F/160C. Your pancakes can sit at 325F for a long time before they burn, and that alleviates the fear of burning that leads you to flip that first pancake too fast. [0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%20Pancake https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%...
    - klyrs 4y ago
      I always make "test pancakes" until my griddle is just right, as I don't have a fancy temperature control. A drop of batter will behave just like a full-size pancake if you know what to watch for, a teaspoon if you don't.
      - fsckboy 4y ago
        I don't have a fancy temperature control, but I had just moved from gas stove to glass top electric* and and I got tired of waiting sooo long to hopefully get to a good cooking temp, only to ruin things by finding out the answer was no. So a bought a hand-held laser-pointer-temperature gun at the hardware, wow, it's fantastic. Now I know what temps are for what (it's remarkably similar to the oven, 325 to 450) and I know how to find them and how quickly on my stove. *what is with Miele appliances, they all suck, range, convection oven, microwave. the UIs are impossible.

Ah yeah slow heat for longer trick. Like if I cook a steak in the oven for an hour at 250 then throw it on the grill people think I’ve become some master chef.

fsckboy 4y ago
whhaaat? i cook a steak for 1/2 hour in the oven on 200, and sear it in a pan (don't have a grill, am jelly) and sometimes risk over-cooking it? with pancakes, while you don't want it tooo too hot, you do want a hot pan to sizzle fry some crispy edges on there. i like a little "crack" of the crust, not a steamy on the outside cake.
ethbr0 4y ago
Once I figured out that cooking is mostly optimizing water while hitting the desired through-doneness and char points, my food markedly improved. Everything about low and slow makes a lot more sense then!
- treeman79 4y ago
  Adding water to pan for Bacon is a new hack. One guy did a bunch of experiments to see what worked and scientific reasons why. https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g https://youtu.be/PCW6dlBD-_g
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    I'll have to try. I've had pretty good luck with the Spruce oven method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-to-995313 https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-oven-cooked-bacon-how-... Tl;dr - Put cold bacon in cold oven. Turn on oven to 400°F. Cook 17-20 min.

fsckboy 4y ago

what? whether it's a great or only a good pancake is decided in the batter phase. bad pancakes come from whatever that flavor of instant cake mix is called, cake-plasticine.

klyrs 4y ago
No, you can definitely ruin perfectly good batter on a griddle that's too hot or too cold.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  Yeah, if you've ever heard jokes about "the first pancake"[0] or burnt your pancakes when you get distracted by the rest of breakfast, do yourself a favor and set your griddle to 325F/160C. Your pancakes can sit at 325F for a long time before they burn, and that alleviates the fear of burning that leads you to flip that first pancake too fast. [0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%20Pancake https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20First%...
  - klyrs 4y ago
    I always make "test pancakes" until my griddle is just right, as I don't have a fancy temperature control. A drop of batter will behave just like a full-size pancake if you know what to watch for, a teaspoon if you don't.
    - fsckboy 4y ago
      I don't have a fancy temperature control, but I had just moved from gas stove to glass top electric* and and I got tired of waiting sooo long to hopefully get to a good cooking temp, only to ruin things by finding out the answer was no. So a bought a hand-held laser-pointer-temperature gun at the hardware, wow, it's fantastic. Now I know what temps are for what (it's remarkably similar to the oven, 325 to 450) and I know how to find them and how quickly on my stove. *what is with Miele appliances, they all suck, range, convection oven, microwave. the UIs are impossible.