March 19, 2018 - 7:37am
Waffles Raw in middle and crisp outside
Hi,
I have been trying to bake waffles for some time now but I am encountering an issue of crisp waffles exterior and raw or uncooked middle. As you can see in attached image, my waffles are as in No 1 and I have seen people serve No 2 and No 3 as well. My baking temperature is 200 degrees and I bake for 5 minutes in my waffle maker. The external part is very very crisp but the middle part is raw and slightly uncooked.
Which image according to you are the ideal waffles (considering the middle part of belgian waffles) and what can be done to cook only the middle part more.
Thanks in advance.
Austin
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When the outside is done and the inside is not, the cause is always the same, regardless of whether you're baking or cooking. The temperature is too hot.
I'm assuming that when you say 200 degrees, you mean Celsius. Most waffle bakers don't have a temperature adjustment, just a time setting, so I don't know how you can reduce temperature.
Maybe a higher percentage of liquid will help keep the outside from browning too fast?
Hi Tgrayson,
Thank you for your prompt reply. Yes I bake at 200 degrees celsius and it takes 5 minutes to bake.
Since I am in a professional setup, I need to bake waffles in less than 5 minutes. I know of many waffle companies who bake waffles in just 3.5 minutes and offer very crisp waffles which has middle portion fully baked. I also have an option of adjusting the temperature.
Is there any other way to bake middle portion without increasing baking time? And what picture according to you is ideal belgian waffle ?
Thanks a lot!
As it happens, I spent an hour or two yesterday researching waffles. I discovered a site whose author is obsessed by waffles and bakes them every day. The site only discusses waffles. Here are his observations on belgian waffles:
http://www.waffle-recipes.com/2014/03/16/waffle-batter-thickness-lumps/
Supposedly the key to belgian waffles is that the batter is thinner than classic waffles, which makes them light and crispy. That also makes them cook faster.
Your picture #2 is most appealing to me, but it may be more of a photography issue...hard to say. #3 looks really dry, and #1 looks dense.
A higher liquid percent would improve heat transfer within the waffle, so it might cook faster.
Hi Sir,
Thank you once again for all the help. Very useful indeed. The only problem with making batter thin using batter is the low rise of waffles.
Thanks!
The waffle-guy says there is a sweet spot of the ideal hydration. The steam generated will help puff out the waffle, like popovers.
Keep in mind that "thin" is relative; you might experiment with a somewhat thinner batter than you're using and see if the result is moving in the right direction.
sure sir. I will try to make it a bit thinner and see the results.
We have a 6? year-old Cuisinart Belgian waffle iron (4 large squares). The most consistent temp for us is 3 (middle temp) or just under. Works well even with thicker overnight batters where I sub part flaked grains for flour. Medium golden brown, perfectly cooked, uses SD plus baking powder & soda (Hamelman). Cooking for 2, but typically make a double batch so we have some some to freeze. On a lower toaster setting, they don't overbrown.
Over Christmas I made this recipe using a relative's decades-old professional iron (garage sale find), the kind where you load batter on one side and then flip it over to bake. It's on a stand, heavy cast metal , too big for my kitchen & not fancy, but did a great job with this thick batter. She's 80 and has used many irons, likes this one best and prefers medium temp to cook through. Good luck! This thread is making me hungry.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I do not have a flip waffle maker and hence if i make my batter thinner by adding more water, my waffles do not rise much to form square grids on both the sides.
or having a "waffle autolyse" makes a big difference. Fresh mixed requires a standing period before use or results will vary greatly from first to last. :)
yes you are right..If I use batter after say 6 hours, it becomes all the more thicker and hence more dence. But if I use it immediately, it is a bit thinner.
Thanks for your reply. Will try chaging water content and see how it goes.
mannslove
Just interrogating the image you uploaded,
In your waffle, there appears no point where the waffle has good structure - even at the edge where it has browned.. Notice on image 2 the bubbles are visible on the surface where as in your example . the edge structure does not look airy or appealing.
Your low bubble structure continues through the entire waffle section. In your image, the middle appears not only undone, but there are very few signs of bubbles. From my limited experience, a waffle's airy structure appears very early in the cooking. As someone else noted, when the mixture is enclosed in 200 C, the steam should be making the entire waffle go like crazy and the structure is formed very early in the process. After 5 min at that temp I would be expecting to see the structure well developed through the entire waffle.
I would suggest checking the basic things first....Is your waffle maker actually getting to 200C?
If the machine is actually at 200C and staying at that temp, then you have a fundamental issue in your batter. To understand any issues the forum probably needs more info on your waffle making
Hi redjacket,
Thanks a lot for your reply and apologies for being very late in replying you.
I cook waffles at 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes and still the mid part is uncooked or raw. My waffles aren't yeast raised. They are more of baking powder and baking soda raised.
When placed under the waffle maker, the rise is good when the batter is thick. Once I make my batter thin, the rise isn't prominent and only the bottom side of waffles have good pockets. But the upper part of waffles do not form good pockets.
Even in uncooked, the flavor is good but while eating waffles, the mid part of waffles taste soggy and the outer crust is very very crisp.
I add milk, water and oil to my batter as liquids as of now.
The waffles in the pictures look very light in color.