thanks for sharing the pancakes recipe! sounds like a one that is worth to try 😉

Give it a try and tell us what you think!

I’m very happy that all who have tried it so far seem to have liked it very much.

When mentioning what is now my ex-wife’s Jenn-Air, I forgot to mention the fact that downdraft grill cooktops soon become roach motels.

After every messy use even the most thorough cooktop cleaning still does not get to the drippings that fall into the heating elements.  After they cool off it’s dinner time for the cock-a-roaches.[xx(]

It was a total waste of 1,900 1985 $ (easily three grand today).[:(!]

After a few months I bought a gas grill for the deck and never used the Jenn-Air grill again.

From that point on the only purpose that roach trap served was to impress guests — Ooohh, you have a Jenn-Air! —  if only they knew! 

One of them actually did:  a patent lawyer buddy saw it and said, “So, you have a $2,000 roach motel, too!”  

EDIT:

Here’s a picture of one just like my POS (except we had pig-tail burners). 

See that nice clock? 

That was where I first noticed the freaking ROACHES[:0];

they were crawling around inside the clock![xx(][:(!]

Then let your fingers do the walking and see which one has the ‘extra fluffy’ in stock!

BTW, here in McKinney (pop. 140K) we already have three Wal-Mart Super Centers; in addition, they are now building a ‘neighborhood market’, their ‘grocery only’ store.

finally got time to make the pancakes with your recipe. And: my girlfriend liked it very much and so did I [:D] I especially went to to buy maple syrup but was absolutely worth it. Don’t know why I havn’t tried pancakes with orange flavor yet.

I wonder why pancakes aren’t that popular as breakfast food items (statista.com/statistics/262493/leading-us-breakfast-food-items-2011/). With your recipe it would definitely change 😉

The orange zest is not just for flavor.  It reacts with the baking soda in the mix both to enhance fluffiness and to make the pancake “stand up” to the maple syrup, i.e., the syrup does not make the pancake disintegrate.  And, the zest from any citrus works just as well; try limes or lemons as some above have done.

And, pure maple syrup (Grade B is the best, BTW) is quite the revelation over the other commercial ‘pancake syrups’ out there, e.g., Mrs. Butterworth, Log Cabin, et al.

Glad you and (especially[8D]) your girlfriend liked them.

Avoid downdraft grills. 

They are a nightmare and never work as one hopes they will. 

If you must have a grill on a cooktop you must also have a low, full hood. 

The last two homes I’ve bought had downdraft vents built-in.  

Both original downdraft grill tops had already been replaced. 

(Mrs. Metro II still has the Jenn-Air I had installed (and vented) in 1985[lol]).

Here’s what we have — and love:

+  = [:X]

We tried Aldi’s several times after they opened in the Metroplex and did like a (very) few of their brands:  cheese puffs and a decent spaghetti sauce, but in general they’re not worth the hassle for a few items.  Their prices, however, are wonderful.  In fact, I came to notice that those who actually purchase food with their food stamps are their very best customers.

In general, you are right about Wal-Mart’s ‘Great Value’ products.  I once bought their hot dog buns and wondered if there was actually any wheat used to produce them!  Their ‘Extra Fluffy Pancake Mix’ is a wonderful exception, like Aldi’s cheese puffs.  They have hit a home-run with that formula.  And, their new “Sam’s Choice” line rocks – at least for the few items I have tried.  BTW, the price point for that line is right up there with the national brands.

The best house brand anything I ever bought was Safeway’s ‘Town House English Muffin Toasting Bread‘.  It was so good a loaf of sliced bread that it had to contain tons of stuff that pissed off the food police – which most likely explains why the last time I saw it was back in the ’80’s.  But it made the best toast ever.[:p] 

EDIT:  I should also mention Costco’s ‘Kirkland’ Brand – that brand truly rocks and is better than most national brands on everything from sliced almonds to batteries to Italian 120 Merino wool dress slacks.  (The latter are presently on sale for $39, $10 off their regular price.  The same quality at Nordstrom costs $150+).

If you didn’t see it, here is an absolutely fascinating CNBC special on Costco.  The testing products go through to earn the Kirkland Brand is especially worthy of your taking a look at.  That starts at minute 37:00.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOwJ4PXt3GM[/tube]

mar52, we use the griddle plates of our Griddler only as a press flat top for Panini-type sammies, fresh ground sausage patties, split hot dogs, etc.  For those apps it’s fantastic. 

However, we do not use it in its open configuration for eggs or pancakes.  Our ‘high tech’ cooktop and cookware are more convenient for such ‘one side at a time’ apps.  

I went to Walmart and this one didn’t carry the regular fluffy mix, only the buttermilk kind.  So I bought it but haven’t tried it since my Granddaughter wanted French Toast instead. I’ll try it this weekend. 

I first learned about Wal-Mart’s ‘extra fluffy’ mix here on Roadfood. 

The original poster said that he was told by a Wal-Mart employee that they are often sold out because restaurants come in at 5 AM and buy them out!  That poster also said that the buttermilk variety is not nearly as good.  We’ve tried both and I agree.

That said, I’m sure that citrus zest will ‘raise the bar’ with the buttermilk variety.

Try another Wal-Mart; I’m sure greater Phx has a ton of them.