Buckwheat Crepes and Pancakes

Nathan said:
I used duck fat for the first time; my local butcher imports it from France. (Perhaps I can make duck confit? :P)

Compared to lard, I found the duck fat gives the pancakes a very different taste, which is different but great. Much like how olive oil gives pancakes a different taste to butter. The duck lard certainly helps keep the pancakes crispy. It also lasts longer in the pan and keeps the pan coated nicely, as opposed to olive oil or butter. But I found if I used too much duck fat the pancakes became a little ... ducked out.

I made the consistency somewhere between pancake and crepe, and later added a few tablespoons of xylitol and a liberal dose of cinnamon. This did make them a little sweeter. I suspect crispiness was not an issue because the consistency of the batter was almost crepe thin. Also, my baking powder had fallen into another dimension, so they did end up a fraction heavy.

I'll have to experiment further with the next batch. This water/oil recipe is the nicest yet.
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I tried making them with water instead of almond milk this morning, and thinned the batter out considerably, but they are still mushy inside. But then, I don't have the Magic Iron Skillet. ;D
 
Has anyone experienced any adverse effects of eating plain buckwheat crepes?

I've had them for a few days now in the evenings for dinner, and after eating them this evening I'm quite ill with abdominal cramps etc.

I'll back off eating them and stick to just meat and veggies for a few days, but I would sure miss the crepes...its the only bread like thing I eat. :(
 
Gimpy said:
Has anyone experienced any adverse effects of eating plain buckwheat crepes?

I've had them for a few days now in the evenings for dinner, and after eating them this evening I'm quite ill with abdominal cramps etc.

I'll back off eating them and stick to just meat and veggies for a few days, but I would sure miss the crepes...its the only bread like thing I eat. :(
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I'm not 100% sure, but I think the buckwheat crepes may be making me gain weight. It's hard to say, since I don't own a scale. Also hard to say since I've kind of been off the exercise wagon for awhile now, so that could be what's leading to weight gain (if it's happening). I'm actually finding it really difficult to determine which foods are causing reactions in me. I tried eggs today and they seemed fine, but I don't really know what to look for.

Anyway, I don't know if this helps at all Gimpy, but unfortunately I think there are people who don't do so well on buckwheat and I'm beginning to suspect I'm one of them. I might try switching to quinoa flour in the crepe recipe and see how that goes.
 
dugdeep said:
Gimpy said:
Has anyone experienced any adverse effects of eating plain buckwheat crepes?

I've had them for a few days now in the evenings for dinner, and after eating them this evening I'm quite ill with abdominal cramps etc.

I'll back off eating them and stick to just meat and veggies for a few days, but I would sure miss the crepes...its the only bread like thing I eat. :(
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the buckwheat crepes may be making me gain weight. It's hard to say, since I don't own a scale. Also hard to say since I've kind of been off the exercise wagon for awhile now, so that could be what's leading to weight gain (if it's happening). I'm actually finding it really difficult to determine which foods are causing reactions in me. I tried eggs today and they seemed fine, but I don't really know what to look for.

Anyway, I don't know if this helps at all Gimpy, but unfortunately I think there are people who don't do so well on buckwheat and I'm beginning to suspect I'm one of them. I might try switching to quinoa flour in the crepe recipe and see how that goes.
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I am one that doesn't tolerate buckwheat. I use quinoa flour and crepes turns out nicely for me. I also use quinoa flakes for making muffins/hot cereal.
 
I think it is clear that everyone is different and some people are super sensitive to lectins and there ARE lectins in any grain product - some are just stronger and more poisonous than others! Flours not made from grains would be tapioca, potato, sweet potato.

It can also be that a person can be more or less sensitive depending on their general state of health. So each person has to experiment, try different things, find out what your body likes/tolerates/does best with. Then, start creating a cuisine around those foods.

I think buckwheat bothers me a tiny little bit but not as much as beans or rice. I can tolerate green split peas if I soak them. In general, though, I do best on meats, veggies and limited amounts of fruit. I am pretty free with frying meats and veggies in duck fat and drizzling things with olive oil and balsamic vinegar so I don't feel at all deprived.
 
dugdeep said:
I think the buckwheat crepes may be making me gain weight.
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I definitely gain weight on buckwheat :( - in 3 days I gained 2 kg, so that's a no go. I'm a type B.

I also seem to have problems with rice and riceflours, so I'm eating ryebread (no more than 60g a day or so), even though it contains gluten, it's the only breadthingie I don't gain weight on.

The other day, I made a whoopsie, out of old habit, I had some gummibears, and within 5 min I had the worst migraine, lasted for 2 whole days, that'll teach me! As the food I eat gets purer, I get more sensitive to evil stuff.
 
Today, I made a trip to "Amish-ville" where I could find bulk buckwheat flour and a nice cast iron griddle. I just made buckwheat crepes. It turned out more like a pancake, but having been off gluten for three weeks and not having bread, it tasted delicious!

Thanks for this quick and easy recipe!
 
I have some questions. How do you stop the pancakes from turning into balls of goo? Could it be the batter is too thin? I've had no luck thus far.

Here is the recipe I used. It's taken from a couple of places in this series of posts and elsewhere in the recipe section.
2cups buckwheat powder
3 cups rice milk
a little oil or ghee (I used Olive oil)
1 teaspoon baking power or baking flour (I used flour)
2 rounded teaspoons sea salt

Good for creeps, pancakes or muffins as I understand it. I am used to the old school ways of cooking, milk, butter, flour and I understand this is not the same. I also understand that I should use a lot of heat, but the quality of the gas stove I have (40'd-50's) makes dialing a temperature a bit of a burden. Am I missing some ingredient? Should I be more patient and let the thing cook more fully (burn it)? Any "HELP!" would be much appreciated.

I've yet to use it, but I just went out and bought a cast iron skillet, I was using a stainless steel one. It's been taking a lot of time to get my house in order (physically, mentally..), but now I can take some ownership of the kitchen and I'm really hungry (pun intended) to get busy with some of the recipes.
 
Hi Balberon. The problem might be the stainless steel pan. Others have reported the crepes not working at all in stainless steel no matter how much ghee/oil is used. If I were you, I would get the cast iron skillet seasoned properly and start using that instead. I imagine your results will be much better.

Also, what is baking flour? I imagine it's not the same thing as pastry flour, because that's a wheat product. :)
 
http://www.bobsredmill.com/baking_powder.html
I can give no honest answer, it's a gluten free product, that's about all I know so far as the difference between soda and powder. I'm going to take your advice now and start seasoning the pan. I also think I should thickin the batter a bit, it's thin and not at all that thick. Thanks for taking the time out to offer some advice dugdeep. I really appreciate it!
 
Balberon said:
I have some questions. How do you stop the pancakes from turning into balls of goo? Could it be the batter is too thin? I've had no luck thus far.

Here is the recipe I used. It's taken from a couple of places in this series of posts and elsewhere in the recipe section.
2cups buckwheat powder
3 cups rice milk
a little oil or ghee (I used Olive oil)
1 teaspoon baking power or baking flour (I used flour)
2 rounded teaspoons sea salt

Good for creeps, pancakes or muffins as I understand it. I am used to the old school ways of cooking, milk, butter, flour and I understand this is not the same. I also understand that I should use a lot of heat, but the quality of the gas stove I have (40'd-50's) makes dialing a temperature a bit of a burden. Am I missing some ingredient? Should I be more patient and let the thing cook more fully (burn it)? Any "HELP!" would be much appreciated.

I've yet to use it, but I just went out and bought a cast iron skillet, I was using a stainless steel one. It's been taking a lot of time to get my house in order (physically, mentally..), but now I can take some ownership of the kitchen and I'm really hungry (pun intended) to get busy with some of the recipes.
Click to expand...

Your recpie seems okay, for what I can tell - maybe more oil/ghee would be an idea. I've noticed that depending on the label, the 'density' of the buckwheat powder can vary a lot. I would suggest that you try adding more oil/ghee and use a 50-50 solution with the buckwheat and milk WITHOUT the baking powder and see how that goes. It's better IMO to have the batter too thick and less fluffy than too thin and very fluffy (because of the baking powder). If you want to play it 'safe' you can add some grated carrot in the mix, it will help to keep it from sticking to the skillet. And when you use the skillet, let it warm up thoroughly and use a semi-high temperature: it should be okay when the batter 'sizzles' when you pour it in.
 
Hi Aragorn,

It would appear that having it watered (rice milked) down was the culprit. I'll follow your instructions and we/I (my wife and I) appreciate the feedback!
 
Balberon, get a cast iron skillet. It will make all the difference. I tried with a stainless skillet, and it was at best hit or miss, at worst, a total disaster. With a well-seasoned cast iron skillet and lard, it is easy.
 
Aragorn said:
Balberon said:
I have some questions. How do you stop the pancakes from turning into balls of goo? Could it be the batter is too thin? I've had no luck thus far.

Here is the recipe I used. It's taken from a couple of places in this series of posts and elsewhere in the recipe section.
2cups buckwheat powder
3 cups rice milk
a little oil or ghee (I used Olive oil)
1 teaspoon baking power or baking flour (I used flour)
2 rounded teaspoons sea salt

Good for creeps, pancakes or muffins as I understand it. I am used to the old school ways of cooking, milk, butter, flour and I understand this is not the same. I also understand that I should use a lot of heat, but the quality of the gas stove I have (40'd-50's) makes dialing a temperature a bit of a burden. Am I missing some ingredient? Should I be more patient and let the thing cook more fully (burn it)? Any "HELP!" would be much appreciated.

I've yet to use it, but I just went out and bought a cast iron skillet, I was using a stainless steel one. It's been taking a lot of time to get my house in order (physically, mentally..), but now I can take some ownership of the kitchen and I'm really hungry (pun intended) to get busy with some of the recipes.
Click to expand...

Your recpie seems okay, for what I can tell - maybe more oil/ghee would be an idea. I've noticed that depending on the label, the 'density' of the buckwheat powder can vary a lot. I would suggest that you try adding more oil/ghee and use a 50-50 solution with the buckwheat and milk

<snip>
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That was the thing that stuck out for me in your recipe too. I think the dry to liquid ratio should be close to 50/50 for pancakes. This is what I usually do and it seems to work well every time.

And yes, a cast iron skillet is the best way to go. :)
 
I got the cast iron skillet yesterday, after my overly liquefied wannabe pancake lumps. Today I used the iron skillet, thickened up the batter, and cooked up four good sized pancakes. They came out perfect! I have had some ghee I bought awhile back, and 100% pure maple syrup (I'll of course be trying other things, but for the moment..). Best pancakes I EVER had! Most filling as well. I think I could eat a couple more but two did the trick for certain. I've never had ghee.. ya know, the pancakes were as good as cake!

Thanks for the sharing and giving feedback. I'm really motivated to make major changes in my diet. I went a couple of months without caffeine (I've picked coffee back up) and still have yet to have 1 can of soda. For the last couple of months I've struggled with my wife to make our place more livable for others (me) and am now ready to take over more of the kitchen work. I really like to cook. So far we've gotten rid of the majority of the plastic (bowls, cups, plates). She's mostly vegetarian but will eat some meats. This is a challenge area though since it is hard to find range fed/organic/natural/non-injected (not sure of any particular way of saying it) meats.

Thanks again RyanX, Galahad, Aragorn, dugdeep, Laura and others who've added to the context of the discussion. I'm so glad that I'm moving toward getting on the right page so far as my diet and nutrition intake. BTW my wife son loved the pancakes tonight and my wife and daughter didn't mind the heated goo I made yesterday. THANKS! :)
[me=Balberon]salivates thinking of tomorrows pancakes[/me]
 
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