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When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

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When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Jenise » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:07 pm

Yesterday, I made crepes.

But since my "go to" recipe apparently got up and went, I had to rummage the internet for another. The basic recipes were all about the same: 1 cup liquid (all milk or 3:1 milk to water) to 1 cup flour, 2 or 3 eggs, 3 T butter. There was some difference, however, in how many crepes each recipe predicted it would make. Alton Brown's, I think it was, suggested 17 to 22. Another 14 to 16. Too much time has passed since the last time I made crepes so I can't tell you exactly how many I netted from a single batch, but I've had enough accumulated experience that offhand I would not expect more than about 10. I needed about 40, so I tripled the recipe.

Oh, and you always have to allow for the fact that it takes some diddling around to get the batter consistency and heat level in the pan just right. As a French chef once told me, "the first two are for the dog".

I threw out the first three and thinned the batter between each, finally getting a fourth perfect crepe after adding at least a full cup of additional water/milk. The 5th and the 6th were likewise lovely, and I was on a roll. Crepe, crepe, crepe crepe crepe, so lovely.

But I didn't get very far before eyeballing the fact that the batter level in the bowl was reducing at a faster rate than the crepes were piling up in order to get the desired 40 crepes, so I quickly made another 1.5 recipe's worth of batter (after running up to a neighbor's for more flour) to add to the three I'd already made.

By Alton's calculation, I could have made as many as 99 crepes with that amount of batter. How many did I get?

Thirty-three.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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John Treder

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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by John Treder » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:44 pm

Crepes come in many sizes. Probably as many sizes as crepe cooks. How big is a crepe? If you're making pizza-size crepes, that's about 3 times the batter as for a 9" crepe.
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Jenise » Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:38 pm

John Treder wrote:Crepes come in many sizes. Probably as many sizes as crepe cooks. How big is a crepe? If you're making pizza-size crepes, that's about 3 times the batter as for a 9" crepe.


Of course. But my crepes were, btw, what should be standard size since I use a Scanlon pan that's made just for creperie. I would guess about 8". And they weren't thick.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Barb Downunder » Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:24 am

How annoying, and frustrating. Difficult for an experienced cook,can you imagine the grief it must cause to novice cooks.
My crepe batter the other day was about 2.5-3 cups (winging it) and made about12. No wastage this time, the batter rested overnight and I cooked it in a non stick pan.
That recipe is off, as you found. 2 eggs, 2 cups liquid, then for me enough flour to make it like thin cream, melt d butter seasonings.
The overnight rest in the fridge seems to help.

BTW my test crepe with the cheese sauce held very well for 24 hours in the fridge without any soggy bottoms! I then added some wate and left on the bench for 8 hours and it start d to get a soggy bottom but still held together.
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Jenise » Wed Oct 18, 2017 11:17 am

Good for you for testing, thanks for reporting back. I meant to do something similar but forgot that when tidying up and tossing the remaining two crepes in the trash. Dang it!

And yes, I've read that an overnight rest is desirable. Supposedly the crepes have more integrity. Must have something to do with the glutens, but I'm not scientific enough to know what.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Bill Spohn » Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:21 pm

Send Alton an email and tell him he must have really small crepes. He might have a comment.
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Jenise » Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:57 pm

Bill Spohn wrote:Send Alton an email and tell him he must have really small crepes. He might have a comment.


No man ever wants to hear that he has really small crepes. :)
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: When recipes don't make the advertised # of servings

by Bill Spohn » Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:04 pm

Jenise wrote:
Bill Spohn wrote:Send Alton an email and tell him he must have really small crepes. He might have a comment.


No man ever wants to hear that he has really small crepes. :)


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