Help With Sourdough Pancakes or Injera (Wheat and Non-Wheat)
I have been experimenting with a number of different flours and my sourdough starter for the last two weeks (barley, millet, teff, whole wheat, rye, brown rice, and buckwheat) initially trying to make injera, but after many failures, I thought maybe it was an issue of chemistry, so I tried vegan pancakes. I live by myself, so I am just making enough for one serving; hence, the vegan pancakes instead of regular. I am not vegan, but didn't want to have to make a large batch so I could add the egg.
I have had the same problem with both the injera and the pancakes: The outside is cooked, but the entire inside is like porridge. It's not like an undercooked pancake in which just the middle may still have the consistency of the batter. I have played with the consistency of the batter making it thicker and thinner. I have had the heat medium-high and medium-low. I have used three different cast iron skillets. I tried the traditional way of cooking injera by letting only one side cook and covering the pan with a lid. Then I tried flipping the injera like a pancake. I tried both larger (8 in) and smaller (4 in) pancake shapes. Today, I tried making it like a vegan pancake with rye flour, flax for the eggs, oil, and sugar, but all methods with no success--well, almost no success. I was so frustrated I decided to make whole wheat sourdough pancakes with eggs, butter, and sugar, and these came out the best; however, while they were cooked through, I still feel they were a little moist even though they looked the most like cooked pancakes or injera in the middle and outside of the pancake. I have had the most success with just millet as an injera and just whole-wheat as a regular sourdough pancake but cannot figure out where I am going wrong with the other flours.
I read one other post in which an injera maker had the same problem of a porridge like center and a cooked outside with just teff flour, but I am not sure how he or she remedied the problem. Has anyone else had this strange porridge center happen for injera or pancakes? I am mystified as what to try next. If anyone has any recipes or methods for successful non-wheat injera or vegan sourdough pancakes, I would appreciate the guidance.
My first reaction is the proportions of liquid/flax and flour are out of kilter. And it may not be the amount of flour but rather that the flour you used did not have enough time to absorb the water so the starch can be released to form some structure for the pancake-esp since you are using different types of flours that have unique characteristics. So please include at least a rough recipe and technique (do you mix and bake, does the dough sit overnight, is it a thin or thick batter, is there leavening,etc,etc). Then it is easier to help you figure this out. Weighed (in grams) would be ideal but even just tablespoons/cups would be helpful.
Thanks for your help. I too have a feeling that the hydration level of the batter is not correct. I have been a little inexact in my measurements. I use a slightly rounded 1/4 cup of flour (just one type) with a scant 1/4 cup of water and about 3 TBL spoons of sourdough starter at maybe 80% hydration. I stopped using the exact measurements of water for the injera recipe because it would often seem too runny or too thick. The vegan pancakes are the same except I add 1TBL ground flax with 1 TBL water and 1/2 TBL of Coconut Oil. I don't use any other leavener. The consistency of the batter at this point is fairly thick. When I lift the spoon up after mixing, the batter falls in a long clumps. It's is not the continuous stream that I associate with crepe batter. The batter sits overnight at least 8 hours and sometimes longer. When I stir it the next morning, it doesn't seem quite as thick.
In the past when I followed a bread recipe, the dough would often be too wet, so I had to start adding liquid by feel. I started this same practice when making injera. I assume because I live in a foggy coastal area that my flours absorb extra moisture. This project started out as just learning to make injera, which is supposed to be able to be made with any type of flour, but then it morphed into pancakes too because of the cooked porridge consistency. I thought maybe adding flax seed and oil would solve the problem. Part of the problem is that all injera recipes I have found have an ambiguous point right before pouring the batter into the skillet: They say to add enough hot water to make a crepe-like consistency. Perhaps, I can leave this step out and just go for the thicker batter consistency that I am left with after the batter sits overnight to sour.
I think this would be easier to fix if I wasn't just cooking for myself and if I could eat one type of grain for a few days in a row. I have some trouble digesting grains but am okay if I rotate them and eat them as sourdough; hence, why I don't often bake bread anymore. I wanted to find a way to eat sourdough bread that satisfies my body. Injera seemed like a good solution because it's just flour, starter, water, and salt, or the vegan sourdough pancakes because of the flax substitute and oil. It seems as if I shouldn't have to make a huge batch to be able to make a few pancakes for myself.
If you have any recipes for either pancakes or injera that you think could be modified for one, perhaps that would help set me on the right track. Again, thank you for your help.
If you are using starter as your only leavener and they are turning out so flat, I would suspect that the dough (being mixed and left overnight) is probably just running out of ability to raise the dough. Try keeping it overnight in the refrigerator right after mixing it up and then warming it at room temp for about 30-60 minutes before cooking. Or try adding another leavener such as baking soda or baking powder right before baking.
Thank you for the suggestion and taking the time to think about. I am going to give it a try and then go from there.