Buttermilk Question - Pancakes

Over the past 6-9 months as I have been introducing my 3 y/o son to cooking, we have been making a lot of buttermilk pancakes on Saturday mornings. I find that there is a pretty fine line between having a batter that is too wet and and will result in thin pancakes one that is too dry so I started weighing my ingredients to try and make things more consistent. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be working as the ratio I needed to get the correct batter thickness changes week to week. My perception is that with the same ratios, ‘fresh’ buttermilk will result in a wetter batter than buttermilk that is a few weeks older - or said another way, when the buttermilk is older, I need more of it to get the correct consistency. Does this jibe with you experience or is there something else going on here?

Currently I am starting with 200g of flour and 360g of buttermilk. After they (and other ingredients are mixed) I typically need to add a little more buttermilk (30g-50g) if it is older.

The buttermilk acidity can vary, leading to different degrees of interaction with the leavening agents, which impact the cooking speed and texture.

Unlike baking, exact measurements just aren’t critical for pancakes imo. Make em how you like. There isn’t a right or wrong thickness.

If the batter is too thin… add flour.

If the batter is too thick… add water or milk.

Are you adding any other wet ingredients like eggs or butter?

I use Alison Roman’s Perfect Pancake recipe with good results. Her ratio is 2 cups AP flour and 2.5 cups buttermilk, but also has 2 eggs and 3 Tbsp of butter.

I appreciate the sentiment and that is exactly how I cook my pancakes. I started weighing my ingredients because I noticed the inconsistent batter thickness when using the same ratios and was curious as to why. My question is more about understanding the cause of the variability. Is this a buttermilk thing and does buttermilk change as it ages?


Yes on eggs and butter - the ratios in my recipe are pretty much the same as in AR’s except for 1 less egg.

Humidity, flour density, freshness of leavening agents, salt, acid, variations in size of your egg???

That last one is getting a bit personal. [wow.gif]

(From memory)

Wet
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 T melted butter
1/4 cup sour cream

Dry
2 cups flour
2T sugar
1t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Whisk until batter is integrated, but not fully smooth
Mix it up while you are cooking bacon so it has a few minutes to start reacting.

Agree with Chris- If a bit too loose for your taste add a bit of flour, if too dry, add a bit of water.

A bit off topic, but does anyone else find it incredibly annoying that it’s so difficult to find regular buttermilk except at a farm stand? It’s all low fat! Similar to the utter ridiculousness that is low fat cream. Ugh.

I don’t know if this contributes to the differences in the thickness of the batter, but Cook’s Illustrated basically said, “What Victor said.”

From: 5 Buttermilk Questions You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask

…To find out, we held a series of tastings, comparing pancakes made with freshly opened buttermilk with those made with buttermilk that had been refrigerated for one week, two weeks, and three weeks. We found that as time went on, the pancakes tasted increasingly bland.

Here’s why: The bacteria in buttermilk produce lactic acid and diacetyl, a flavor compound that gives buttermilk its characteristic buttery aroma and taste (diacetyl is also the dominant flavor compound in butter). As time passes, the buttermilk continues to ferment and becomes more acidic. The abundance of acid kills off virtually all of the bacteria that produce the buttery-tasting diacetyl. So three-week-old buttermilk will retain its tartness (from lactic acid) but lose much of its signature buttery taste, giving it less dimension. The good news is that there is a way to prolong the shelf life and preserve the flavor of buttermilk: Freeze it.

Mooooo. You milked that pun for all it was worth.

No idea but we sub maple syrup for white sugar and add more butter! I like to let the batter sit for a bit so it thickens and I see bubbles. This extra time also lets the cast iron fully heat up.

Sarah our local crappy grocery store actually has this one. It is quite good.

Nice! Being further south than I am probably helps a lot.

It’s from PA
[scratch.gif]
Not sure how Harris Teeter gets it

Not surprising - lots of dairy comes from PA. I can get it here in the Philly area, but like I said I have to go to a farm stand or Amish market. Was just speculating there is more of a market for it where biscuits proliferate.

They should really take care of the pancake folks too. [cheers.gif] champagne.gif

Never used anything but fresh buttermilk. I use the recipe from Joy with one modification; instead of cake flour, I use 50/50 whole wheat flour/AP flour. I double the recipe and yield about 10 pancakes from 3oz. batter each. I find the recipe is a little dry/thick if followed exactly, so I rinse my measuring cup with a little water and thin it with that.
I can’t buy buttermilk in less than a 1qt. quantity, and even doubled the recipe uses only a pint. I use the remaining pint to make ranch dressing.