July 17, 2011 - 7:30am
Naive question on crumpets...
I feel ashamed to ask, but I got a formula for sourdough crumpets and it says to cook using oiled rings on a griddle. So far, so good
the question, which I hope won't get me banned from this place is - do crumpets get "turned" to brown on both sides like an English muffin? Or do they get cooked in one side only?
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Short answer is, if you turn em over to cook on the other side, you get muffins!
The batter for crumpets should be REALLY REALLY wet, and easily bake thoroughly from one side.
Thanks! Will report back... I have 3 more hours to go before I cook my first batch! So exciting!
According to King Arthur, their two recipes are indeed flipped.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/crumpets-recipe
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-crumpetsbrior-how-to-resurrect-a-neglected-starter/i-recipe
ps: So far every recipe I've come across, so far, has them being flipped for a short period. Even one on BBC.co.uk.
Sally, here on the east side of the pond, we very definitely flip both crumpets and muffins on the hot plate
Best wishes
Andy
ok, I will try to do a flip - not me, the crumpet - and make it a quick one
... from me, ok?
Thanks!
Crumpets are flipped. However, they should only be flipped at the very end and for only a minute or less. The crumpet top should have tons of holes and be very nearly dry before you remove the ring and flip them over.
If you filp too early you will have, like Sean McFarlane said, muffins.
To repeat, they must be very nearly cooked through to the top, ring removed, and flipped just to brown a little.
FYI: Not at all a naive question. It's been years since I made crumpets and your question made me want to make them again. In fact, How and when to turn them over was written in my recipe's margin. It seems the original recipe didn't mention anything. LOL. Thanks for making me improve my Sunday brunch
Cheers
Well, the quest for the perfect crumpet is launched...
My recipe just did not turn out well - I did not care for the taste, something is off in it, not quite sure what. THe texture also failed to impress me - not enough holes, even though the batter was very liquid
I will add a photo when I download them, but now I want to make "regular" crumpets, not necessarily with the sourdough starter - one of the things I was forced to change in the recipe was using skim milk, because that's all we had in the house. Probably did not help things at all
they will be ok toasted, but definitely not a winner recipe.
this is the recipe I used, only change was the milk
http://sourdough.com/recipes/sourdough-crumpets
Suggestions? Ideas? Kleenex to wipe tears off?
Hi Sally,
Authentic crumpets here in the UK use a combination of teasted pre-ferment plus a bicarb solution to let the batter down just prior to griddling.
You could look at my more detailed post here, although no sourdough goes anywhere near this, I should advise in advance.
See: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15953/crumpets-and-muffins
Best wishes
Andy
Would you believe I had this bookmarked in my computer and just never got around to doing it? The sourdough variation mesmerized me, but now I'll try this version, and report back
thank you!
For those interested, I uploaded a few photos (quite self explanatory) to my PIcasa album
https://picasaweb.google.com/SallyBR2007/SourdoughCrumpets?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWsk8u848-wHQ#
Ok, Andy....
made those today!
Much, much, MUCH better, I think I'm on the right track - now, my batter was sooooo elastic, that there was no way to scoop it out, in fact the best way was to pull a bunch of it, and let it more or less fall in the ring, then cut with scissors to prevent excess batter from dripping in. Tricky to explain, but maybe you get what I mean
My mistake this time was to fill some of the rings too much - I now realize that less batter is the ticket to have the holes stay open when you flip the crumpet, because all the batter will be more stabilized and almost fully cooked when you flip them
Thank you! I insert two photos of today's production, my husband asked me to say a big THANK YOU from him ;-)
Hi Sally,
my best tip is to use a piping bag to deposit the batter into the rings
Best wishes
Andy
I guess you have never seen me attempting to use a piping bag, right? ;-)
Let's say I've got "issues" with it...
Well, so much for my assessment.... beloved husband is ooohhhing and aaahhing over those. Go figure.
I still want to try the recipe from this site next weekend. I'm sure they will turn out better, at least for my taste... ;-)
if anyone is interested....
here is the link
http://bewitchingkitchen.com/2011/07/28/a-tale-of-two-crumpets/
Hi Sally,
I've been wanting to try this out for ages, but couldn't find crumpet/muffin rings anywhere. Where did you get yours?
Thanks
Kirsten
I bought mine at a store in town called International Pantry, the only place that had them where I live
If I had not found it there, I would have to order online in amazon.com or other appropriate venues
They are cheap, and work very well!
hope you find them soon
I make them using 3 or 4 safety opened (I invested in a can opener that removes the tops completely, much nicer), cleaned out (run through dishwasher!) greased tuna cans.