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Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

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Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#21

Post by [deleted] »

chickensong wrote: post #11
moron4hire wrote: post #8

> the use of imprecise cup measurements rather than weights It really does not matter. Both because variation doesn't matter and because weights vs volumes are not going to give a big enough variation to really be detectable.

It doesn't matter for small items like salt or baking soda, but you can get pretty different results scooping flour depending on how compressed the flour storage is, and how much the scooping packs down that flour. There's a reason that every bakery measures by weight. If you value consistency, and recipes should be consistent, you go by weight. You can say it doesn't matter, and in some cases it might not, but the e…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#23

Post by moron4hire »

gbear605 wrote: post #19
moron4hire wrote: post #8

> the use of imprecise cup measurements rather than weights It really does not matter. Both because variation doesn't matter and because weights vs volumes are not going to give a big enough variation to really be detectable.

It certainly can matter for proper baking (which this recipe seems to be?), though for traditional pancakes I would never bother. But there's a reason that bakeries weigh their ingredients. It's more consistent and allows for different people to get more similar results.

The baking industry isn't really measuring by weight, they are measuring by bag, which happens to be delineated in weight.

Look, this is arm chair, YouTube cooking. There is so much variation in recipes that 10% here and there is not going to make or break any recipe.

There is zero ability to make a "universally better" version of a recipe by micro optimizing ingredients. For one thing, you can't easily control temperature and humidity variations on your environment. If people think 2% difference in flour content is going to make or break their bread recipe, then daily humidity variations will definitely have an impact. But it doesn't, really. It's the sort of thing people blame when they don't have good process or good technique.

For another thing, there is no way to evaluate the outcome as "better". Better for you, perhaps, but even then, it's mostly psychosomatic. I've doubled the amount of baking soda in a recipe before and it has had zero impact. I've never measured flour by weight and my cookies come out exactly the same as my wife's when she breaks out the microscale

I've been cooking for a long time. I have family members who refuse to come to Easter Dinner unless I'm the one cooking. I barely measure anything, ever. Even when I'm baking. It matters to have things in the right ballpark, but 5% variations don't matter.

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#24

Post by moron4hire »

chickensong wrote: post #11
moron4hire wrote: post #8

> the use of imprecise cup measurements rather than weights It really does not matter. Both because variation doesn't matter and because weights vs volumes are not going to give a big enough variation to really be detectable.

It doesn't matter for small items like salt or baking soda, but you can get pretty different results scooping flour depending on how compressed the flour storage is, and how much the scooping packs down that flour. There's a reason that every bakery measures by weight. If you value consistency, and recipes should be consistent, you go by weight. You can say it doesn't matter, and in some cases it might not, but the e…

Flour is always the canonical example and I flat out reject it. It's not true. If you think it's true, you've convinced yourself it's true to avoid addressing other problems in process you have.

Here's a thing: a given measure of flour (by any means, volume or weight), a single one kept in a cupboard, not remeasured, is going to have a different weight on different days that have different ambient humidity levels.

The tools of the kitchen are imprecise. The environment is not well controlled. And human taste is robust against micro variations.

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#25

Post by esafak »

thechao wrote: post #3

A ten hour wait doesn't really strike me as a pancake? You should have a "it's 730am, there's four screaming girls, only two of which are related to me, the dogs are begging for scraps, and the demand for pancakes has crossed into Veblen goods territory."

If you know the kids are going to want pancakes in the morning you just prepare it at night? You can ask them to confirm over dinner...

While I can confirm sourdough pancakes are quite nice, I am satisfied with Krusteaze :)

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#26

Post by benoitg »

thechao wrote: post #3

A ten hour wait doesn't really strike me as a pancake? You should have a "it's 730am, there's four screaming girls, only two of which are related to me, the dogs are begging for scraps, and the demand for pancakes has crossed into Veblen goods territory."

It depends. The inspiration sometimes comes after a Saturday evening with friends and lots of drinks. Having a foolproof recipe comes in handy, and having the perfect stress-free pancake batter already made the next morning turns you into a household hero.

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#28

Post by sohex »

Well I have a new favorite website. I don’t know the last time that I read something that was so thoroughly and multidimensionally my shit.

Not actually measuring crispness when you self report having the perfect equipment to do so is a cruel, cruel tease though.

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#29

Post by smallerize »

moron4hire wrote: post #24
chickensong wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter for small items like salt or baking soda, but you can get pretty different results scooping flour depending on how compressed the flour storage is, and how much the scooping packs down that flour. There's a reason that every bakery measures by weight. If you value consistency, and recipes should be consistent, you go by weight. You can say it doesn't matter, and in some cases it might not, but the e…

Flour is always the canonical example and I flat out reject it. It's not true. If you think it's true, you've convinced yourself it's true to avoid addressing other problems in process you have. Here's a thing: a given measure of flour (by any means, volume or weight), a single one kept in a cupboard, not remeasured, is going to have a different weight on different days that have different ambient humidity levels. Th…

A given weight of flour will have a different weight on a different day?

Re: Show HN: I Derived a Pancake

#30

Post by chrysoprace »

Awesome work. I'm really interested in the parametric-driven recipe card. I wanted to do something like this for bread recipes where you can tweak the hydration / salt levels to alter the recipe but still get a traditional recipe card. I would be really curious to hear about the approach in more detail.
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