[2 - 2] today I want to talk about pancakes
[2 - 4] America's favorite maple syrup vehicle
[4 - 5] now what I really wanted to do for this
[5 - 8] episode was go full Magic School Bus
[8 - 9] where we get really small we go inside
[9 - 11] the pancake we get to see everything
[11 - 14] happening start hydrating gluten forming
[14 - 17] baking soda reacting reality is we're
[17 - 19] not gonna do any of those things
[19 - 21] no microscopic cameras none of that
[21 - 23] magic you already blew our budget for
[23 - 26] this video on well stay tuned and you'll
[26 - 27] see where all that money went but we're
[27 - 29] still gonna get as close as we can to
[29 - 35] pancakes so let's do this I'm gonna be
[35 - 37] focusing on Cook's Illustrated senior
[37 - 39] editor long lambs recipe for easy
[39 - 42] pancakes it produces tall plush fluffy
[42 - 44] pancakes and it's as easy to put
[44 - 46] together as a box mix chances are really
[46 - 47] good that you have everything in your
[47 - 49] kitchen right now in order to make these
[49 - 51] we'll start with the dry stuff so we
[51 - 53] have flour sugar baking powder baking
[54 - 56] so just whisk this all together in a
[56 - 60] bowl and it's about as boring as it gets
[60 - 62] this mixture isn't doing anything but
[62 - 64] that's actually exactly the point the
[64 - 66] key here is to combine all of your dry
[66 - 67] ingredients before you add any liquid
[67 - 70] because once we add water in this case
[70 - 72] in the form of milk and eggs we set off
[72 - 75] a cascade of irreversible changes when
[75 - 77] that water hits the flour two key things
[77 - 79] happen the starch and the flour hydrates
[79 - 81] and two proteins called glutenin and
[81 - 83] gliadin come together to form gluten
[83 - 85] both help create a viscous batter that
[85 - 87] can hold on to gas and where does that
[87 - 89] gas come from the water moistens the
[89 - 90] baking powder allowing its acidic and
[90 - 92] alkaline components to react and produce
[92 - 95] carbon dioxide the water also dissolves
[95 - 96] the sugar and the salt and that's just
[96 - 98] what the water is doing it also added
[98 - 100] oil which will increase tenderness and
[100 - 101] richness and the pancakes we've added
[101 - 103] baking soda which will raise the pH and
[103 - 105] improve Browning reactions and vanilla
[105 - 107] extract which well that's really just
[107 - 109] for flavor but it's a really nice flavor
[109 - 112] that is a serious set of changes set off
[112 - 114] by just mixing wet and dry ingredients
[114 - 116] together but that's the beauty of
[116 - 118] pancakes they ask so little and you give
[118 - 121] so much anyone can mix up pancake batter
[121 - 123] even on a groggy Sunday morning but
[123 - 125] where the pancake pros are separated
[125 - 127] from the pancake bros
[127 - 128] where the man cake errs are really
[128 - 130] separated from the pancake or zoo open
[130 - 132] open ooh but where the hotcakes are
[132 - 134] separated from the cult okay I am done
[134 - 135] with that look what I'm trying to say is
[135 - 137] it's easy to mix up pancake batter it
[137 - 140] can be hard to cook them perfectly let's
[140 - 141] just go in the kitchen and figure it out
[141 - 144] one final note on mixing before we get
[144 - 146] into cooking how you mix your wet and
[146 - 147] dry ingredients together can actually of
[147 - 149] a decent impact on your pancakes mixing
[149 - 151] it until just combined like this and
[151 - 152] then letting it sit for 10 minutes gives
[152 - 155] you a thick luscious batter like this
[155 - 156] and here's the thing a thick batter
[156 - 159] equals the thick fluffy pancakes if you
[159 - 160] keep mixing until everything is smooth
[160 - 162] you end up with a thinner batter and you
[162 - 163] guessed it thinner pancakes
[164 - 165] check out the height on these two
[165 - 167] different pancakes at the same batter or
[167 - 169] just different mixing methods okay so
[169 - 170] it's time to cook now your best friend
[170 - 172] for making pancakes is an electric
[172 - 174] griddle you can set it to 350 degrees
[174 - 176] and it'll deliver perfect pancakes from
[176 - 178] the first the last your next best is a
[179 - 180] nonstick skillet over medium-low heat
[180 - 183] both can produce even beautiful browning
[183 - 184] from an edge-to-edge instead of these
[184 - 187] uneven or pale cakes regardless of
[187 - 188] cooking vessel one of those important
[188 - 190] things you can do is preheat with just a
[190 - 191] little bit of oil and then wipe out
[191 - 193] almost all of it with paper towels
[193 - 195] before you start cooking why is that so
[195 - 198] important because of this the dreaded
[198 - 201] splotchy Brown first pancake it might
[201 - 202] feel like one of the laws of the
[203 - 204] universe that the first pancake always
[204 - 206] comes out a little wonky but the truth
[206 - 209] is it's entirely avoidable it's caused
[209 - 211] by excess oil in the skillet where oil
[211 - 213] pools under the pancake it will Brown
[213 - 215] less because the pan itself will conduct
[215 - 218] heat much faster than the oil will so
[218 - 220] the answer just wipe it out the next
[220 - 221] step in guaranteeing that your first
[221 - 223] cake is your finest cake is to make a
[223 - 226] tester pancake simply add a tablespoon
[226 - 228] of batter to the skillet and if after
[228 - 230] one minute the bottom is pale golden
[230 - 231] brown we're good to go
[231 - 233] if it's not simply adjust the heat in
[233 - 234] the right direction and don't forget
[234 - 236] that tester pancake perfect for your
[236 - 239] hamster now all I have to do is scoop
[239 - 240] and for that I'd like a dry measuring
[240 - 242] cup or a portion of scoop and cook until
[242 - 244] the pancake has popped the bottom has
[244 - 246] turned pale golden brown and the bubbles
[246 - 248] on the surface and just started to pop
[248 - 250] then comes the flip this is a
[250 - 253] surprisingly complex task or buying real
[253 - 255] dexterity then we've all flipped a
[255 - 256] pancake and how'd it turn out like this
[256 - 258] where the top slides off the uncooked
[258 - 261] portion of the pattern it's a bummer the
[261 - 262] key is to slide the spatula under the
[262 - 265] pancake in one quick motion lift it up
[265 - 267] only as high as is needed to rotate the
[267 - 269] spatula fully and then flip it quickly
[269 - 271] with authority that is a beautiful
[271 - 273] pancake I'm ready to dig in this thing
[273 - 276] and just close this one out but I don't
[276 - 277] know something feels a little unresolved
[277 - 280] we just didn't get Magic School Bus
[280 - 282] closed what if instead of trying to get
[282 - 285] really small to go inside a normal sized
[285 - 287] pancake which made the pancakes a lot
[287 - 288] bigger I think I'm gonna need some help
[288 - 290] with this I think it's time to call my
[290 - 293] buddy Andrew ray hey Kay babish hey
[293 - 295] Andrew what's going on hey what's up
[295 - 297] welcome back to Benjamin batter oh damn
[297 - 299] it's good so I'm working on teaching
[299 - 300] people about pancake stand I've gone
[300 - 301] through all the science and I've gone
[301 - 303] super molecular and really small and I
[303 - 305] feel like it's still not clicking not
[305 - 306] totally making sense so I kind of wanted
[306 - 307] to go bigger like I wanted to make
[307 - 309] bigger pancakes I've been thinking a lot
[309 - 311] about big pancakes recently you have I
[311 - 313] knew it I could just tell that you've
[313 - 314] been thinking about big pancakes so I
[314 - 315] know you're in New York
[315 - 316] I mean how soon do you think you could
[316 - 320] get here what's up good okay so if you
[320 - 321] want to make big pancakes
[321 - 322] you've got a couple of options use a
[322 - 325] baking steel 12-inch skillet or our
[325 - 329] classic electric griddle and Andrew not
[329 - 330] playing around with a lot of these I
[330 - 335] mean her best luck with the baking steel
[338 - 338] it definitely was smart to call Andrew
[338 - 340] he was like born to make big pancakes
[340 - 342] but even a baking steel pancake isn't
[342 - 344] that big could we get even bigger like
[344 - 347] as big as those pancakes John Candy
[347 - 350] makes in the 1989 film Uncle Buck any
[350 - 351] problem isn't I'm a griddle big enough
[351 - 353] to do that I definitely not have a
[353 - 355] spatula big enough we do however have
[355 - 356] some great neighbors in Autodesk
[356 - 357] they're right next door and they have a
[357 - 360] serious fabrication shop one of my buddy
[360 - 362] Paul could help us out with this before
[362 - 364] heading over to pitch our idea to Paul
[364 - 366] Andrew and I got our heads together and
[366 - 367] figure out what our vision for this
[367 - 369] griddle could be think up a little weird
[369 - 374] John Candy we've actually done the work
[374 - 376] for you to translate it into a prototype
[376 - 378] which we are very proud to present which
[378 - 379] I think you're really gonna be impressed
[379 - 384] with the Autodesk Candyman
[385 - 385] John Candy Man
[385 - 388] great news Paul is enthusiastically up
[388 - 389] for the challenge of creating the
[389 - 391] cooktop big enough to cook the pancakes
[391 - 395] let's head to the robot as I mentioned
[395 - 397] before an electric griddle is a pancake
[397 - 399] errs best friend now Paul was able to
[399 - 401] cut a 50 inch round of stainless steel
[401 - 402] we would use for the top of the grill
[402 - 404] but we still needed a way to heat it up
[404 - 406] so I grabbed for commercial two burner
[406 - 408] Electric cooktops and we had an
[408 - 410] electrician wired them up easy peasy a
[410 - 412] pancake er also needs the right spatula
[412 - 414] for the job another sheet of stainless
[414 - 416] steel laser cut and folded that should do the
[416 - 418] laser cut and folded that should do the trick man I love my job
[418 - 420] finally our batter so we're using the
[420 - 422] same easy pancake recipe just a lot more
[422 - 425] of it like a lot more of it I've
[425 - 426] estimated that we need about five times
[426 - 428] the standard recipe to make 1/32 inch
[430 - 431] I think this is actually gonna work I
[431 - 434] think this is going to work if it was
[434 - 435] just me doing this
[435 - 437] no but just look at the team we've
[438 - 440] assembled we've got Andrew ray who has
[440 - 441] we've got Andrew ray who has successfully recreated hundreds of
[441 - 444] recipes for movies and TV shows I mean
[444 - 446] this is his jam we've got LAN lamb an
[446 - 448] incredible cook and expert
[448 - 449] problem-solver and a true pancake
[449 - 452] whisperer we've got Eric Hassler Tess
[452 - 453] cook extraordinaire
[453 - 455] he doesn't just make great food it makes
[455 - 458] great food looking good and we've got
[458 - 460] Paul so he who knows how to make robots
[460 - 463] and like make them do stuff so yeah I
[463 - 465] think we've got a chance but not unless
[465 - 467] we do a lot of testing let's start with
[467 - 468] a small pancake
[475 - 479] [Music] perfect so that was pretty promising but
[479 - 480] perfect so that was pretty promising but I've been using the surface probe
[480 - 481] thermometer and I've noticed that
[481 - 483] there's a pretty significant differences
[483 - 485] in temperature across the surface of the
[485 - 487] griddle we have major hot and cold spots
[487 - 490] and honestly I'm not surprised all we
[490 - 491] have separating the pancake from the
[491 - 493] burners is a thin sheet of stainless
[493 - 495] steel I Cooks Illustrated we love clad
[495 - 497] cookware or two thin sheets of stainless
[497 - 499] steel or sandwiched around a core of
[499 - 501] aluminum now that kind of construction
[501 - 503] it leads to really even heating could
[503 - 504] the same thing work here to find out
[504 - 506] paul has added a thick sheet of aluminum
[506 - 508] underneath the stainless now after a
[508 - 510] lengthy preheat to make sure we've
[510 - 512] saturated that aluminum with heat I take
[512 - 514] some readings we've got really
[514 - 516] consistent results across the board yes
[516 - 518] but we've got another problem
[518 - 521] no the griddle is evenly heated across
[521 - 522] the surface and it looks nice and flat
[522 - 524] but when we add our pancake batter to it
[524 - 526] the temperature drops and it causes
[526 - 528] thermal shocking which leads to warping
[528 - 530] that limits the contact with the burners
[530 - 532] and the griddle and we're back to hot
[532 - 535] and cold spots as much as I admire what
[535 - 537] you do I think it's gonna come down to
[537 - 540] the human touch today it's moment of
[540 - 542] frustration and defeat reminded of
[542 - 543] something my dad has always said to me
[543 - 546] his mantra in life is that he or she who
[546 - 550] dies with the most clamps wins I buy him
[550 - 552] clamps for all his birthdays and fathers
[552 - 553] days uses them everywhere
[553 - 554] what would my dad do in the situation
[554 - 557] add clamps the clamps are doing their
[557 - 560] thing I'm finally happy with the entire
[560 - 562] griddle setup it's time to test some
[562 - 565] full-size pancakes I'm high-fiving you
[565 - 567] like we did anything we've got our
[567 - 569] griddle preheated to about 350 degrees
[569 - 573] first shot here we go good luck done so
[573 - 575] Andrew and I'm poor on the batter from
[575 - 577] two bowls and then use spatulas to
[577 - 579] spread it into a healthy 32 inch wide
[579 - 581] pancake it looks pretty good yeah that
[581 - 583] looks like a pancake then we get out of
[583 - 585] the way a lot of robot do its thing oh
[585 - 588] that's new Sciences hands now oh man
[588 - 590] this is looking pretty good nice bubbles
[590 - 592] forming over the entire surface this
[592 - 593] might actually work
[600 - 600] not at all we went really light on the
[600 - 601] cooking spray for that first one and the
[601 - 603] spatula just couldn't get underneath the
[604 - 608] pancake next up more spray round - yeah all
[608 - 610] next up more spray round - yeah all right we're ready to flip all right
[610 - 611] let's do this
[619 - 619] oh man that was so close we've solved
[619 - 620] the sticking issue on the griddle which
[620 - 622] is great but now the problem is that
[622 - 624] it's thinking to the spatula when we're
[624 - 625] trying to flip lawn thinks the robot
[625 - 627] needs to act a little bit more like a
[627 - 629] human and speed up that flip we want the
[629 - 631] second portion of that flipping motion
[631 - 633] to go faster to kind of force it off the
[633 - 636] spatula so Paul is making some tweaks
[636 - 639] time for round three it's not the one
[639 - 641] that's the wizard you know I feel like
[641 - 642] pretty good about the tweaks we've made
[642 - 644] also feeling really hungry for pancakes
[644 - 647] at this point so I'm hoping we're close
[647 - 652] great here we go one two three this is
[652 - 656] good okay oh it looks great whatever God
[674 - 674] yes yes can't believe that happen we got
[674 - 676] we nailed it with a last one which was
[676 - 678] like the best feeling I've never I've
[678 - 679] never been so excited about pancakes in
[679 - 682] my life so all we need now is two more
[682 - 684] pancakes have a short stack we need a
[684 - 687] 12-inch pad of butter and about a gallon
[687 - 689] of maple syrup you know after all this
[689 - 692] excitement and the robots and everything
[692 - 694] I kind of forget why we were making
[694 - 697] these big pancakes in the first place oh
[697 - 700] that's right because this is absolutely
[700 - 703] positively put it out a doubt how to eat
[703 - 709] pancakes did you like that video if so
[709 - 711] hit subscribe don't never miss an
[711 - 712] episode of what's eating dad don't
[712 - 714] forget to click below and check out
[714 - 716] andrew's video about this massive
[716 - 718] massive pancake we made and if you've
[718 - 720] got ideas for future episodes of westin
[720 - 722] e dan lima in the comments thanks this
[722 - 725] is the best birthday I've ever had