June 11, 2023 - 7:59pm
English Muffins - take three
I made some English muffins for lunch today. I'm tweaking the recipe and process as I go. These are great without too many enrichments like you see on some sites. I had one for lunch with home-made green tomato pickle, ham, and Smokey cheese.
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Those look just about perfect to me! Great crumb and a nice looking exterior.
Sounds like a great lunch.
Dave
Thanks for complement. Yes, the lunch was very tasty. Very happy with the result. I've made notes about the tweaks from bake for reference.
Gavin
Well done Gavin, they look perfect as does that English muffin sandwich.
Benny
... and nifty pan too :)
BTW, did you try the Marion Cunningham recipe and if so, what was it like?
Thanks Debbie,
This is the Marion Cunningham recipe as per the US volume to metric grams I estimated; it worked well. The process was a cross between what you do, KA's version. I skipped the weight on top this time trying to keep an open crumb. I like them very much. I'm keen to try the oven method of yours :).
This morning, I wrote up my notes so far:
1st bake: King Arthur English muffin recipe. The finished crumb was far too tight and not what I was expecting an English muffin to be. It was also very sweet. The process was quite sound and easy to follow.
2nd bake: Marion Cunningham recipe - The Breakfast Book(via DW). (Now out of print). Similar process to KA’s but with some slight differences. The recipe suggests a final 20-minute proof in the cooking pan and start the cook from cold. When I tried on this bake (I only cook four at a time), the first out muffins had a nice rise and browned well. The second out muffins had a higher rise and browned darker. I had to lower the heat to slow down the cook. The internal crumb temperature had to get to 93C.
3rd bake: Marion Cunningham’s recipe. I preheated the cast iron pan but not hot. The baked muffins were all similar in shape, rise and brown. I was very happy with the results and will bake these again.
Future testing: Use rings on a baking sheet in the oven.
Ingredient differences: Both doughs were 620-gram. 8 x 75-gram muffins with 20-gram to spare. The significant ingredient differences are:
KA’s: sugar 14 g, butter 25 g, Egg 41 g, salt 4.3 g.
MC’s: sugar 3.2 g, butter 9.8 g, salt 3.1 g. No egg.
Cheers,
Gavin
These look excellent. Do you cover them when baking in this pan? I have an electric skillet with a cover that creates steam that works great. I’ve tried numerous recipes myself and was pretty happy with my last bake. I’ve never heard of adding eggs before as that’s certainly different. I’ll add a link to my last try in a few if your interested.
Ian
No. I didn't cover them when using this stove top pan. I would cover them if using an oven bake on a baking tray and rings and another tray on top to keep them flat. Just for the first part of the baking and remove until finished.
Gavin
My last bake. You can omit the cherries if desired. https://mookielovesbread.wordpress.com/2022/12/10/sourdough-buttermilk-ww-cherry-english-muffins/
Thanks for the link. They look good.