Over the last couple of weeks I've worked my starter on the counter to get it really hot and bothered. I feed it regularly but only when it needs it. I've been watching it's stages as it starts by rising, then it becomes sponge like and then it builds up the "water" which is the sourdough alcohol and byproducts. I can tell you that until you have a good amount of "water" you won't have really sour pancakes.
You might also hear that you should pour off the water before making the pancakes or even bread. This is dead wrong. That water is where the flavor is at. It's your sign of having a hot active sourdough. If it takes too long to get to that stage then you likely don't have a very strong starter yet. Don't worry about that, just give it a few feedings and some sugar (for hyperdrive) and let it rock and roll.
I have now mastered the sour part of the pancake but haven't really gotten to the fluffy. No matter what they aren't going to be as fluffy as buttermilk pancakes but you can get them a lot more fluffy than mine. Today's iteration seemed to be a result of my batter being too thin. I also tried making waffles which was a fail as I used an old iron which wasn't seasoned well and it stuck.
The "secret" ingredient to making cheater sourdough is: Lemon juice
I haven't tried ascorbic acid (pure vitamin C) yet but I'm guessing that would work as well.
This week I may titrate some lemon juice with baking soda to see what will yield a neutral pH. Then I can mix those parts in with an already sour sourdough and that should yield fluffy but still sour pancakes. Hope this works.
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