On Jan 27, 1:17*pm, "Steve Freides" > wrote:
> If memory serves, we recently had a discussion about recipe differences
> between pancakes and waffles. I think my wife had found a pancake mix
> here that suggested leaving out the egg yolks (or maybe it was the egg
> whites) when preparing this mix for waffles instead of pancakes.
>
> Today, I happened to be going through the pantry, looking for things I
> could use up, and found one open and one unopened box of Pumpkin Pancake
> and Waffle Mix, presumably from November (think: Thanksgiving) from
> Trader Joe's. *This box says to substitute water for the milk, in equal
> quantity, IOW, milk gives you pancake batter but the same amount of
> water instead gives you waffle batter.
>
> I will start by asking if there is _any_ compelling reason to even
> change the recipe at all? *The only thing I can think of is, since the
> waffle iron contains the batter, it can be thinner - that seems a reason
> to me, and using water instead of milk would result in thinner batter,
> so I think I'm on board with that particular change. *Would using milk
> in the waffle batter tend to make it stick to the waffle iron, or create
> "too-fluffy" waffles, if there is such a thing?
>
> If anyone would care to track down and review that other recent thread
> and/or contribute anything else, that'd be great.
>
> Thanks very much and, yes, I do cook from scratch sometimes, not from
> mixes and frozen food, just not during my busy season of work, which is
> right now. *I'm curious about this in an Alton Brown kind of way.
> I'd like to know if there is any sound reasoning and science behind
> these changes.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> -S-

The only real difference between waffles and pancakes is the cooking
method. Pancakes turn out fluffy because there's nothing on the top
surface of the pancake to keep them from rising. Waffles, on the
other hand, are baked in an enclosed vessel and can only rise as much
as the waffle iron will allow. They're also cooked on both sides at
once. This makes them turn out crispier.