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Your Kitchen Aid Mixer Should Never Be Used to Make This Recipe

By: Marcy Givens I love to use my Kitchenaid mixer and I use it for a lot of recipes. However, recently I stumbled on a blog that was giving some advice for a recipe. In my opinion the recipe was pretty good but there was a problem that the author did not address. The recipe was for pancakes and it called for them being mixed up with an electric mixer which I think is not a very good option.

For me pancakes are all about being soft and light and fluffy. They should not be dense or chewy or gummy in any way. If I wanted that, I could make a trip to one of those all night breakfast joints and get a stack of hockey puck flap jacks.

For me pancakes need to be handled with care and attention. The reason is gluten. Now for a bit of food science. Gluten is a protein, actually it is a composition of 2 proteins named gliadin and glutenin. When water is added to wheat flour and then mechanically mixed, gluten forms. And it is this wonderful gluten that gives bread dough and pasta their chewy and elastic characteristics. But since the gluten content is increased by mechanical mixing or kneading, it is not something we ever want to do if we desire to have light and fluffy pancakes.

So, the next time you want to enjoy some pan fried goodness for breakfast, leave your mixer tucked neatly away. Instead, follow this basic cooking process.

You can use any basic pancake recipe that you like. The key to a great result is in the mixing. What you want to do is mix all the dry ingredients first in a bowl that is large enough for your batter. Next, mix all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Like all good recipes, preparation helps the recipe turn out better. For pancakes, make sure you have a hot pan or electric griddle ready for cooking before you mix the wet and dry together. I use a pan on the stove and if I had one I would use an electric griddle. They control the heat better and you can cook a lot more pancakes at one time. You can also wrap your cooked pancakes in a towl and place them in a 200 degree oven while you cook the rest and serve them.

With your cooking appliance hot and ready to go it is safe to make the batter. I prefer what is affectionately called the dump and stir method. The idea is to mix the wet and dry ingredients in about 12 seconds or less. So take the wet and dump them on top of the dry. Mix with a large spatula for a count of 12 and then immediately stop. Sometimes the batter does not get completely incorporated but that is ok because the cooking process will smooth things out.

Next, place some batter on the griddle or in the frying pan and wait. You want to see the bubbles forming all around the outside of the pancake. That is the sign of a flapjack that is ready to be flipped. If the heat is high enough the bottom will be nice and brown. If it is too low it will be pale in color and conversely if it is too hot the bottom will be very dark. So as gently as possible flip the flapjack and continue cooking the opposite side. Normally the second side will cook in half the time as the first.

When serving the pancake always have real maple syrup on hand. It can make all the difference in the world and the taste is like no other. Since you put all this care and attention into making the best pancakes you could, you deserve to have them sweetened perfectly with a little maple syrup.

There you have it. Next time you get a craving for some flapjacks, keep the KitchenAid mixer covered and instead use the dump and fold method for the lightest and fluffiest pancakes you can make at home.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Marcy Givens is a amature baker who decided to learn how to bake by watching shows and reading books about cooking. She has learned some important lessons and secrets for selecting the proper Kitchen Aid stand mixer which she freely shares with her readers.

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