Machine-made pancakes are now available, but machine-made pancakes do not taste as good as handmade pancakes. The traditional process of making pancakes by hand is very complicated, including grinding the batter, setting up the griddle, spreading or rolling, and storing, so handmade pancakes are often made in large quantities at one time and then stored for long periods of time for consumption. The following describes the traditional rural pancake-making process.

Grinding the batter

Wheat, sorghum, corn, grain, dried groundnuts and other raw materials are washed, soaked, and then ground into a paste, commonly known as "pancake batter". In some places, before grinding the batter, into one-third or half of the "cooked material" (that is, first cooked to eight or nine mature part of the raw materials), commonly known as "half of the son", "half of the son" after grinding The batter that comes out is easy to spread, and the pancakes are soft and tasty. In some places, dried groundnuts are soaked in water after being ground into noodles to soak out the black water in the groundnut noodles. Traditionally, stone mills were used in Shandong to grind the batter, with large mills pushed by animal power and small mills pushed by human power, but nowadays machine mills are commonly used. The batter is usually ground on the first night, and the griddle, fire and pancakes are made early the next morning.

Setting up the griddle

The process of setting up the griddle can be simple or complex. Simple set up method directly with three bricks to the griddle can be propped up; complex practice is to use the hard mud paste into a stove, with the bellows drum wind. Griddle set up after the fire. Rural areas generally use corn stalks or wheat straw as firewood. Building the fire and spreading the pancakes is often a two-person collaboration. After the griddle is hot, you can spread pancakes or roll pancakes.

Spreading Pancakes

"Spreading" is generally used to make pancakes with a better texture, such as those made from wheat and millet. Before spreading, the griddle is often greased with an oil wipe, which removes debris from the griddle and makes it easier to separate the cooked pancake from the griddle. Scoop the batter onto the griddle with a ladle, and using a scoop, will later spread the batter in a circle along the griddle, so that it will be pushed out to form a pancake. This will be repeated again with a spoon to distribute the batter evenly. The pancakes will be cooked quickly, and you will need to use a spatula along the edge of the griddle in time to grab the pancakes and remove them. The size of the pancake depends on the griddle, usually between half a meter and 80 centimeters in diameter. The amount of batter spread on the griddle determines the thickness of the pancake, and people with high levels of skill can make very thin pancakes. Pancake spreading is very much a matter of technique and heat.

Rolling Pancakes

Rolling is generally used to make lower-quality pancakes, mostly made from dried groundnuts. Dried groundnut or cornmeal dough, along the outer ring of the griddle rolled full layer, cooked can be removed. This method of production of pancakes is relatively loose, not good control of pancake thickness.