Speaking of Pancakes...

[JimQPublic]

In the midst of an online discussion I opened my big mouth and offered to make sourdough pancakes for 5000 campers 4 days running...

Actually it was more like "show up at 7:00 am and there'll be pancakes and maple syrup for all comers 'till the batter runs out."  I'm thinking to make enough for two or three dozen people.  Last year at a Thanksgiving campout with 3 dozen family members I made 'cakes from Krustaez Buttermilk mix two days running.  This time I want to be a bit more unique and do sourdough.

My personal sourdough recipe uses King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour and milk for the sponge, then I beat in egg and oil, followed by a sugar, soda, salt, baking powder blend right before cooking.  My reason for milk and egg is to try to amp up the protein content so the 'cakes stick with us a while.

This will be camping out in the woods, so I won't have enough fresh milk and eggs.  Also many uninitiated are put off by how sour my cakes turn out.  I've been trying to think up a recipe/method that will be fairly inexpensive and easy, while maybe being less sour.

My thought is to make a half and half blend of sourdough sponge and packaged Krustaez mix (non-buttermilk).  With a 24 hour growth period the sponge would get good and sour, then it would be tempered by the mix which ought to have enough leavening to make good cakes.  I'll try it with powdered milk and my standard white whole wheat flour in the sponge.

Note on milk-  Initially I was concerned that milk would spoil the sponge.  My mom uses powdered milk added before cooking.  I developed my sponge from native Long Beach garden yeast and fed it on milk and flour.  It took a dozen or so growths but settled into a very nice flavor and robustness.  I only use it for pancakes and waffles.  I don't know if it would like being fed only water and flour, hence the plan to use powdered milk.

Any comments, suggestions, etc?  I've realized that the pancakes are only 1/4 of the logistics.  I'll spend more on maple syrup and butter than the 'cakes.  Then there are plates, napkins,  and cutlery to consider.

Am I just mad?

Jim

[AustinBoston]

...maple syrup...

Am I just mad?

Yes.  Here's what to do.

Send all the real maple syrup to me.  Give everyone else cheap immitation maple syrup.  Don't worry about the quality of the pancakes.  They'll be eaten.

Austin

[JimQPublic]

Yes.  Here's what to do.

Send all the real maple syrup to me.  Give everyone else cheap immitation maple syrup.  Don't worry about the quality of the pancakes.  They'll be eaten.

Austin

I'm trying to raise standards, not just jack everybody up on white flour and high fructose corn syrup.  

I have lowered my ingredient list a bit though.  Instead of  King Arthur White Whole Wheat (KAWWW) flour and fresh organic milk and eggs, I'll use half KAWWW and half Krustaez mix with powdered milk instead of fresh. For such a large non-paying group I won't get gold-medal organic Vermont syrup, instead the generic Grade A (or is it B?) Canadian in half-gallon jugs from Costco.  Same with butter- just basic stuff not organic hand-churned by virgin milkmaids.  

Jim

[aw738]

Am I just mad?

In one word YES.   :p   But I can understand.

[PJay]

Thank God for Costco ... Yes I would agree you were mad for the open invite ... but work for the best at this point.  

I would also put out the coffee can (er... syrup jug) with a simple donations sign on it.  That way if people are feeling especially grateful they have a way to express it!:)

You planning to cook on a flat griddle over charcoal?  That is the one issue that I did not see you address yet.

Have fun!

[AustinBoston]

I would also put out the coffee can (er... syrup jug) with a simple donations sign on it.  That way if people are feeling especially grateful they have a way to express it!:)

That is an excellent idea.  Be sure to "seed" it with some "donations" before the first breakfast guest arrives...it makes others feel guilty about not contributing!  

[JimQPublic]

I don't work for tips.  I'll take payment in karma, babysitting services, homebrew, and banjo solos.

No fires are permitted at the festival we'll be attending.  I just ordered the Lodge 10"x20" cast iron griddle to use on my two-burner Coleman stove.  I already have a smaller Lodge griddle (9"x17") that I use over my Weber Gas Go Anywhere Grill.  These griddles aren't perfect for pancakes because of the grease gutter- but I arrange the griddle so the gutter is uphill and it works okay.  I figure between the two griddles I can make enough 'cakes for three or four folks at a time.  I'm going to get a two gallon food grade lidded pail for the batter and some smallish squeeze bottles for the syrup- pouring from the half-gallon Costco jugs is a recipe for overconsumption.

Any ideas of ratio between syrup, butter, and batter or number of guests?  I'll draw the line at a half gallon of syrup per day (gotta check the price first!) and I'm guessing about 10 plates of pancakes per stick of butter- so 1 pound should cover my "3 dozen" target.  I might up the guest target- it seems once I'm on a roll why stop at 36?

My dad is a pro at putting on pancake breakfasts (with crappy ingredients though) so I'll pick his brain on quantities.  We're leaving on the trip tomorrow but we'll wait to hit Costco and/or Smart & Final in Sacramento before heading up to Yosemite for Labor Day.

[JimQPublic]

Update-

It came off great.  Melissa, Jason, and I served up approximately 1,000 pancakes, 4 to a plate.  I ended up buying 1/3 ounce butter pats and that seemed perfect for a plate of small cakes.  Maple syrup was served in squeeze bottles which seemed to really cut down on quantity.  We went through slightly less than 1 gallon of syrup which was half what I had along.  We started out with a practice day feeding about 15 people- though some had several servings.  Then at the music festival we served three mornings.  I think the second day we probably did close to 100 plates in an hour and a half.

After some experimentation on the 2 weeks of camping prior to the big event I went back to my mom's recipe.  I scaled it up 8x to use a full 5 pound bag of flour each day for the next day's batter.  In hindsight and after talking with a guy who does mass sourdough pancake and waffle feeds, I like his idea of only adding the batter ingredients to the sourdough sponge in double recipes (about 6 cups of sponge).  This prevents the batter from going flat.

The cost was much more than my initial thought- I spent about $300 total.
Probably about $130 for some reusable stuff including a custom printed sign, the new griddle, Cambro 3 and 5 gallon containers, new flipper, and some other odds and ends.

The expendables were about $120, consisting of: pancake ingredients including King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, milk, eggs, oil, salt, soda, sugar $45; butter $15; syrup $40 (though I had $80 worth along); plates, knives, forks & napkins $20.  Pancake mix, margarine, and imitation maple syrup would have been about 1/3 the cost and worth far less.

The plates of small cakes were really a  "taster" size.  3" to 4" and quite thin.  Most people liked them, a few obviously didn't, and many are now lifelong converts to sourdough.  I find about 16 cakes to be a good meal.  When there was a lull in business one teenager had 2 plates of 16.

The new griddle was pretty good but was hot on the ends and cool in the middle from the 2 burner stove.  I'm planning to use #10 can lids as diffusers over the burners next time.

All in all it was a great way to meet people.

[cmack98]

That is awesome Jimmy....

an inspiration to us all!  Glad to hear everything went well!