Naive question on crumpets...

Submitted by SallyBR on 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?

Filed under:

General Discussion and Recipe Exchange

Submitted by Sean McFarlane on July 17, 2011 - 7:44am.

one side

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.

Submitted by SallyBR on July 17, 2011 - 8:07am.

Thanks! Will report back...

Thanks! Will report back... I have 3 more hours to go before I cook my first batch! So exciting!

Submitted by mrfrost on July 17, 2011 - 8:18am.

According to King Arthur,

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.

Submitted by ananda on July 17, 2011 - 8:20am.

both sides

Sally, here on the east side of the pond, we very definitely flip both crumpets and muffins on the hot plate

Best wishes

Andy

Submitted by SallyBR on July 17, 2011 - 8:28am.

ok, I will try to do a flip -

ok, I will try to do a flip - not me, the crumpet - and make it a quick one

Submitted by SallyBR on July 28, 2011 - 12:56pm.

Please check your inbox for a message...

... from me, ok?

Thanks!

Submitted by PastryPaul on July 17, 2011 - 8:29am.

Flip 'em, but only at the end of cooking

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

Submitted by SallyBR on July 17, 2011 - 11:52am.

Well, the quest for the

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?

Submitted by ananda on July 17, 2011 - 12:00pm.

Alternative approach?

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

Submitted by SallyBR on July 17, 2011 - 12:54pm.

Would you believe I had this

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!

Submitted by SallyBR on July 17, 2011 - 1:01pm.

For those interested, I

For those interested, I uploaded a few photos (quite self explanatory) to my PIcasa album

https://picasaweb.google.com/SallyBR2007/SourdoughCrumpets?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWsk8u848-wHQ#

Submitted by SallyBR on July 24, 2011 - 1:50pm.

Ok, Andy.... made those

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 ;-)