Taste Test

Batter's up: We're flipping over pancakes

By Kathy Saunders, Times Correspondent
Published January 16, 2008

Pancake mix rankings

1. GFS (Gordon Food Service)

2. Betty Crocker

3. Pioneer Brand

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Nothing says good morning like a plate of fluffy pancakes. In fact, pancakes are great comfort food for lunch or dinner as well, according to the Taster's Choice panelists.

And, if readers buy the judges' favorite brand, they'll have plenty of batter for any meal.

Taster's Choice judges enjoyed a large stack of pancakes from 11 dry mixes. All required adding only water and a little elbow grease. The pancakes were whipped up and cooked on a hot griddle. They grew prettier as the griddle got hotter.

Even though syrup was next on the tasting menu look for results in next week's column, judges ate the pancakes plain, without butter or any toppings.

The best pancakes came from a giant box of mix from GFS (Gordon Food Service) Marketplace ($3.59 for a 5-pound box). Judges awarded the pancakes 80 out of 100 possible points; one took the remaining mix for his family's dinner.

The store brand's box gave directions for making 68 pancakes in a batch, so preparing the mix for four required a little math. All four panelists said they would buy the brand.

Besides having a nice fluffiness, the GFS pancakes were very tasty. One judge detected a bit of salt and another spotted a cornmeal-like taste. Both were delighted.

The texture would probably hold up well under a heavy blanket of syrup, judges said. And they liked the size - not as tall as a waffle, not as fluffy as a biscuit and not as crusty as a bagel.

One judge likened the pancake to a "delicious, slightly grainy breakfast loaf."

It was the only one of the competitors that made judges long for the stacks they used to enjoy at the former Robby's Pancake House on Treasure Island.

The familiar pancakes from Betty Crocker ($1.52 for a 37-ounce box at Wal-Mart) placed second among judges. They gave the Betty Crocker flapjacks 68 points and said they would buy the brand if they ever ran out of mix from GFS.

"These are sweet, fluffy, spongy pillows that griddle up nice and brown," said one panelist.

"These look the best on a plate," said another.

They also liked Pioneer Brand (60 cents for 6 ounces at Albertsons). Judges gave the mix 57 points and two of the four said they would buy the brand.

The Pioneer Brand pancakes had a sweet/sour flavor and not quite as much spring as the competition's.

Also sampled were mixes fromAunt Jemima ($2.04 for 32 ounces from Wal-Mart); Hungry Jack ($1.74 for 32 ounces at Wal-Mart); Great Value ($1.34 for 32 ounces); Krusteaz ($3.12 for a 3.5-pound box from Wal-Mart); Publix ($1.59 for 32 ounces); Bisquick ($1.89 for 10.6 ounces); Albertsons ($1.69 for 32 ounces); and Hannaford ($1.29 for 32 ounces from Sweetbay).

Panelists wereNan Jensen, registered dietitian with Pinellas County Cooperative Extension; Bob Devin Jones, artistic director of Studio@620; Jim Yockey, aesthetician at Anu You Institute; and personal chef and caterer Kay Studer. All foods were tasted blind.

[Last modified January 15, 2008, 11:50:17]