Buckwheat Crepes and Pancakes

[Jacques]

I've been using olive oil. I STILL cannot get them to cook all the way through let along be crispy! They stuck to the iron skillet, which I guess is not seasoned right. All I've gotten so far is a mushy on the inside, burned on the outside, oily mess.

Seriously, I do NOT excel at cooking!!!

I have an iron skillet and the error that I was making was that the temperature was too high. So as soon as I lowered the temperature on my stove, the results were just great.

So instead of cooking them at max temperature , I cooked them in the middle and they are very tasty. It is just a bit longer.

 

[3DStudent]

This time I used hemp oil (along with unsweetened hemp milk) and that worked quite well.

I think hemp oil is one of those ones you don't want to heat, like flax oil. Psyche has discouraged cooking with olive oil too. The best is saturated or animal fats.

I, like you, have tried to find a way to get the hemp oil into food, because I don't make the shakes any more. I just drizzle it over stuff like you would with olive oil. FWIW

 

[mcb]

I think hemp oil is one of those ones you don't want to heat, like flax oil. Psyche has discouraged cooking with olive oil too. The best is saturated or animal fats.

I, like you, have tried to find a way to get the hemp oil into food, because I don't make the shakes any more. I just drizzle it over stuff like you would with olive oil. FWIW

I would not use either kind of oil directly on the pan at the temperature I was using. It is thoroughly blended into the batter. I would think that the crepe itself would not become extremely hot while cooking (unless I burned it), although I might be wrong.

I still like the shakes but i am looking for more variety.

 

[dugdeep]

3D Student is right, Megan - hemp oil shouldn't be heated. The batter might buffer it from direct heat, but it could still become easily damaged. Olive oil is a little heartier and can stand up to light heat, so I'd use that in the batter instead (or ghee or duck fat).

 

[mcb]

3D Student is right, Megan - hemp oil shouldn't be heated. The batter might buffer it from direct heat, but it could still become easily damaged. Olive oil is a little heartier and can stand up to light heat, so I'd use that in the batter instead (or ghee or duck fat).

Yes, I found the temperature information on the hemp oil label -- no hotter than 176 C. Buckwheat has a high ignition point (~380 C, I think) so I am guessing that any browning is due to the "milk" (hemp milk in my case). That could easily be happening above 176 C (350 F).

Thank you for the information. I am not sure I would have noticed the small print on the label otherwise.

 

[Meager1]

Awhile ago a friends Aunt gave me her old Popeil pasta maker, it sat in my closet for a couple of years because I didn`t have the inserts that go with it. I was recently able to find a whole set of the inserts on E Bay rather cheaply, so I bought them and have been experimenting with pastas made from buckwheat flour. It`s really good!

You can make noodles, spaghetti, macaroni's etc, and this opens up a whole new world to experiment with buckwheat.
I was actually surprised at how good it tastes and how quickly it cooks, compared to the store bought buckwheat pasta`s.
If anyone has one of these old pasta makers, it might be worth dragging it out and giving it a try, I am glad I did and use it quite often now! All you need is the flour, a little oil and water.

 

[Nathan]

You can make noodles, spaghetti, macaroni's etc, and this opens up a whole new world to experiment with buckwheat.

That sounds like a great idea. Most of the "buckwheat pasta" sold where I live contains 30% rice flour. Egh. I was beginning to think it just wasn't possible to make buckwheat-only pasta without rice or soy. But it sounds like maybe you can.

 

[Meager1]

After doing this for awhile myself, the only thing I would suggest is that you use way more flour then the recipes that come with the machine calls for, because buckwheat is so sticky and heavy that once it gets wet it doesn`t extract as well as it should.

So you will want to add more flour ( if it says 2 cups, use 3 ) and make sure that the "dough" is very dry and not just forming a heavy wet mass, this works the best and makes awesome pasta.
It makes a lot too! So there will be some left over for another meal.

You could also add sea salt or any dry herbs etc, you might want to experiment with.

Check E Bay for the machines, sometimes they are pretty cheap on there.

 

[Stranger]

I've been using olive oil. I STILL cannot get them to cook all the way through let along be crispy! They stuck to the iron skillet, which I guess is not seasoned right. All I've gotten so far is a mushy on the inside, burned on the outside, oily mess.

Seriously, I do NOT excel at cooking!!!

You're not alone, dude. Exactly the same here. :D

 

[Aliana]

I've been using olive oil. I STILL cannot get them to cook all the way through let along be crispy! They stuck to the iron skillet, which I guess is not seasoned right. All I've gotten so far is a mushy on the inside, burned on the outside, oily mess.

Seriously, I do NOT excel at cooking!!!

You're not alone, dude. Exactly the same here. :D

I made some Saturday - used bacon fat and a hot skillet and tried to make them thin. They browned nicely - but noticed mine are still a bit uncooked in the center. I am not sure if the heat needs to be lowered so they don't burn and can stay in the pan a bit longer or if i just need to use more oil. I have made quite a few batches in the last couple of months, but must admit, am still on the learning curve.

 

[Josi]

Just thought I would throw out one idea on getting duck fat that worked for me. I know someone who is a co-owner of a high quality restaurant and asked if their food supplier had duck fat. They did, came with their next order, and I bought two 3.5 pounds of duck fat for $16 each(no shipping :)) from the restaurant.

Even if you don't know someone in the restaurant business it wouldn't hurt to call and ask.

 

[jen1221]

I just made the buckwheat crepes. This was my first experience making crepes, and they turned out really well. I substituted the grapeseed oil for light tasting olive oil . The first two I had to throw out because the pan wasn't hot enough. I also had to add more liquid. They worked better with runny batter. I fried them in ghee. I also took Laura's idea with the bananas and made a Bananas Foster filling. I used 2 really ripe bananas cut in 1" pieces. I sauteed them in ghee, xylitol, and cinnamon for a few minutes. Place the banana mixture on the crepe and fold once. It was delicious!! No one would ever guess that they were made the healthy way!! I was thinking that some sort of whipped topping or vanilla icecream on top would really top off this recipe. With dairy being evil, are there any alternatives?

 

[RedFox]

I just made the buckwheat crepes. This was my first experience making crepes, and they turned out really well. I substituted the grapeseed oil for light tasting olive oil . The first two I had to throw out because the pan wasn't hot enough. I also had to add more liquid. They worked better with runny batter. I fried them in ghee. I also took Laura's idea with the bananas and made a Bananas Foster filling. I used 2 really ripe bananas cut in 1" pieces. I sauteed them in ghee, xylitol, and cinnamon for a few minutes. Place the banana mixture on the crepe and fold once. It was delicious!! No one would ever guess that they were made the healthy way!! I was thinking that some sort of whipped topping or vanilla icecream on top would really top off this recipe. With dairy being evil, are there any alternatives?

Best (and pretty much only thing) I've found so far is coconut milk (if you pour it into a plastic bowl/tub and freeze it for a while you get coconut ice cream!). Just have to watch you're not having sweet stuff like this too often though :)

 

[Jacques]

I just made the buckwheat crepes. This was my first experience making crepes, and they turned out really well. I substituted the grapeseed oil for light tasting olive oil . The first two I had to throw out because the pan wasn't hot enough. I also had to add more liquid. They worked better with runny batter. I fried them in ghee. I also took Laura's idea with the bananas and made a Bananas Foster filling. I used 2 really ripe bananas cut in 1" pieces. I sauteed them in ghee, xylitol, and cinnamon for a few minutes. Place the banana mixture on the crepe and fold once. It was delicious!! No one would ever guess that they were made the healthy way!! I was thinking that some sort of whipped topping or vanilla icecream on top would really top off this recipe. With dairy being evil, are there any alternatives?

Best (and pretty much only thing) I've found so far is coconut milk (if you pour it into a plastic bowl/tub and freeze it for a while you get coconut ice cream!). Just have to watch you're not having sweet stuff like this too often though :)

Coconut milk is totally delicious.

 

[shadowsaround]

I just made my first batch of buckwheat pancakes and they came out delicious! A bit bland but I didn't add anything other than the ingredients that Laura listed. I put a little bit of olive oil in the pan and let it heat for about 2-3 minutes. I mixed in some sea salt, splash of olive oil, cup of rice milk and a cup of buckwheat flour. All though the pancakes came out somewhat huge they did cook nicely and browned just right which surprised me. I will certainly start experimenting with this batter.