English Muffins, good but doughy
So, after 10-11 days of discarding half my starter, it was finally at the point yesterday where saving half to use in a recipe seemed like it would be ok (and possibly beneficial in the flavor category.) I used the KA English Muffin recipe that's been posted here a few times, and mixed up my starter, flour and milk last night. This morning I added the additional ingredients, mixed and kneaded then rolled it out. I can't seem to find my round biscuit cutters, so a wine glass did the trick. I cooked them up about 7 minutes per side on a very lightly buttered griddle, and they came out looking very nice.
Here's where I could use some help. They were still a little doughy in the middle, a little more than the toaster could counteract. They tasted great, but a bit more soft/dense in the middle than I would prefer. My thoughts to fix this are to either cook a bit longer, or roll out the dough a little thinner (this may be it, as I had to re-roll scraps twice to get the 12 muffins indicated in the recipe.) Perhaps both? Any thoughts, tips or hints?
Here is the finished product:
Thanks for any input!
Rich
Very pretty muffins, by the way.
Here are some ideas try for your next batch:
1. Roll the dough a bit thinner
2. Allow the muffins enough fermentation time to be light and airy before they hit the griddle
3. Turn the heat down to allow for more cooking time without burning
4. After flipping them to cook the second side, very gently press the muffins to bring the whole surface in contact with the griddle. You aren't aiming to deflate them, just giving more area exposure to the direct heat.
One or the other of those should help.
Paul
Nice looking muffins, I made some for breakfast last saturday morning and this is making think it might be worth it again this weekend but I have more baguettes than I know what to do with at the moment so figure I should wait untill at least sundy before I bake anything else.. Any way, I digress.
So I made muffins dozens of times before i found out this little trick, what you do is put them in the oven as soon as they come out the pan. Set the oven to around 175˚c leave them in there for around ten minutes and the will cook through completely. Also I never roll out the dough, just divide and scale it as you would do for any other dough, boule them up and then proof them on a tray covered in cornmeal, and also sprinkle some cornmeal on top. When you come to put them in the pan, just scoop 'em up with a scotch scraper or spatula and slide them in to the pan.
Hope this helps & happy baking
Tom
www.tomdrum.tumblr.com
Some good suggestions, Paul. Thank you. For this batch, I put them in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 just to give them a little extra cooking, and they are now cooled and in the freezer. Not bad for the first batch, but some ideas for improvement for the next. I especially think that some fermentation time will be key, and should improve as my starter gets more active/stable.
Thanks again!
Rich
Some interesting ideas, there, Tom! I like the weigh, and shape concept. Saves rolling and cutting, and gives me some more practice on forming balls of dough properly! :) I'll incorporate some to all of the suggestions from you and Paul on the next go, and hopefully take a step to getting these where they are consistent, and I'm satisfied with them (again, this first round was fine, tasted great, etc., but left room for improvement.)
Cheers,
Rich
good luck rich and let me know how they turn out
Tom
RCee-
Interesting idea, I may have to give that one a try.
Thanks!
Rich