New Product Review:

Carbon's Golden Malted Original

Reviewed by Mr Breakfast on 4/2/2007

There's a good chance that you've already tried this product and don't even know it. The company's Original Pancake & Waffle Flour has been around since 1937. Since that time, it's been the secret ingredient in the pancakes and waffles of many upscale restaurants, hotels, resorts and even some colleges. Only recently has the flour become more widely available for home use. You can now find it at several specialty retail chains like William Sonoma and Cost Plus, and it's also become available online at Amazon.com.

When I first saw this product, I asked myself, "What the heck is Pancake & Waffle Flour?" To my regular-guy mind, flour was flour... you buy it in five pounds bags, mix it with eggs and milk and presto... breakfast. What makes this specialty flour so "special"?

Carbon's Golden Malted Original Pancake & Waffle Flour is not a pancake mix. You can't just add water. The directions to make pancakes or waffles with it are roughly the same as making them with standard flour minus the baking powder or baking soda. You mix it with egg, butter and milk and/or water. So what's so special about that?

In this case, the proof is in the pancake. This flour really does makes great pancakes. As the name implies, there's a distinct malt flavor. While ever-present and enjoyable, I liked that the malt takes more of co-starring role when maple syrup or other toppings are added. The flavors in the flour combine to create pancakes with a family recipe feeling. People won't say, "These are great malted pancakes." They'll just say, "These are great pancakes."

One of my favorite aspects of the end pancake was the uniformity of browning. I make a lot pancakes from scratch and their taste and texture can match up pretty good against these specialty flour pancakes. But when it comes getting that perfect golden brown appearance, I have to give it up to these guys. Every pancake, every time was golden brown throughout.

As for waffles, this flour does a respectable job. The flavor, as above, is terrific. I would have liked to have seen a bit more crispness to outer edge. I followed the recipe on the package exactly. Next time, I may add a bit more butter than they suggest and see if I can produce optimal crispness.

One interesting note about the waffles: I have a favorite ladle I use to make waffles. Each ladle full of batter is the perfect amount of batter for my waffle maker. When I used my favorite laddle with this batter, it proved to be too much and some batter overflowed out of my machine. It's a strange phenomenon. I have to think their levening agents are bit quicker acting than standard baking powder. So for those of you with a favorite waffle-batter-ladle, now you know.

Before I give you the bottom line, you should know... I wanted like crazy to like this stuff. The company sent me a lot of it to sample. I felt like I was on a game show and won a year's supply. I hoped like heck that it wasn't a year's supply of garbage. Fortunately, I was impressed. But you should know that your buddy Mr Breakfast may have been slightly influenced by the company's generous shipment of samples.

The Bottom Line: This flour makes excellent pancakes. If you can find it and the price is reasonable, definitely give it a try.

The price we paid: $0.0