It Must Be Healthful: It’s ORGANIC Crud–in–a–Can

Lobo and I undertook a recon mission a few days ago—we visited an upscale supermarket in the area, in hopes they’d have a larger selection of Asian goods than the other stores in the area. We were wrong on that, but were pleasantly surprised to find competitive prices on a few things (not enough to make regular stops there worthwhile, however).

I did find something in the dairy section that got my culinary coils all knotted up. Imagine this mashup: the epitome of 1970s-tech “convenience” foods, processed and packaged in a pressurized can for squirting, then consuming; and current organic food mania.

If you just can’t visualize that, then hie thee to Batter Blaster to see the resulting spawn. Atop the can, and all over the site, the word “organic” is splashed about, as if to reassure the reader each time his brain protests: It’s food in a can—pancake batter in a can! How healthful can that be?! It features prominently in the ingredients list too, natch:

Filtered water; organic wheat flour (unbleached); organic cane sugar; organic whole soybean powder; organic whole egg solids; cultured dextrose (stabilizer); sea salt; sodium bicarbonate (baking soda); dicalcium carbonates (leavening agents); xantham gum.

Not too bad, but I am skeptical that soybeans are as healthful as some current food faddists would have us believe. “Cultured dextrose” sounds suspicious, but some research indicates it’s quasi-natural, and intended to replace scarier-sounding preservatives.

But still: how can all this organic chatter replace the fact that we’re talking about a processed, packaged, quasi-food-type substance? I thought organic was about eating healthfully in toto, not slapping a bunch of ingredients together with semi-natural preservatives and thickeners, and suspending the resulting goop in an artificial state for future use.

I understand that convenience is important to a lot of cooks. But really, does convenience trump nutritional value for that many people? Wait a minute, don’t answer that; I don’t think I can handle what I suspect is the truth.

Here’s the saddest thing about this awful hybrid spawn: it furthers the lie that making pancakes requires a lot of effort. Even our current favorite recipe—which requires room-temperature eggs and milk—is quick to come together; just place the eggs in some hot water to warm them while getting out the other ingredients, and warm the milk in the microwave. Here’s the recipe:

Fluffy Pancakes

Yield: approximately 20 pancakes

1 1/2 C. flour
1 T. baking powder (see notes)
1/2 t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 1/2 C. milk, room temperature or slightly warmer
2 eggs, room temperature
4 T. (1/4 C.) melted butter
1/2–1 t. vanilla (optional)

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well. Set aside. Combine wet ingredients and stir to at least break up the eggs.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and whisk lightly just until all ingredients are wet. Don’t worry about lumps.

Pour about 1/4 C. of batter onto warmed griddle or greased cast iron skillet. Cook to your preference; serve hot if possible. Otherwise, hold in a warm oven until all the pancakes are cooked. Serve with butter and whatever toppings your little heart desires.

Notes: Yes, one tablespoon of baking powder. It gives the pancakes a very light texture. I strongly recommend using only an aluminum-free baking powder with this recipe; otherwise you will almost certainly wind up with harsh, metallic-tasting pancakes that even the birds won’t touch. Rumford is an excellent brand; I understand Bob's Red Mill makes an aluminum-free baking powder too. (Return to recipe)
If your preference is for sweet, dessert-type pancakes, the sugar can be increased some; if your preference is for a more traditional pancake flavor, keep the sugar at 2 T. and omit the vanilla.
I like to add some freshly-grated nutmeg to the dry ingredients; it adds a subtle depth of flavor and doesn’t clash with any of the usual pancake toppings.
This recipe is quite flexible, like most pancake recipes; however, over-mixing the batter will cause some loss of volume in the pancakes. I recommend mixing any dry additions (including chopped nuts or chocolate chips) in with the dry ingredients, and any wet additions (fruits) in with the wet ingredients, then whisking as directed. Or, fruit and/or nuts can be sprinkled atop each pancake as it cooks, but that is usually too much work for me. And that’s what you’d have to do to get variations with this schmorganic batter from a can, too.

Another from-scratch possibility presents itself, too: overnight yeast pancakes. Haven’t tried that yet, but I probably will.