Getting air bubbles in ANYTHING - specific English muffins
So, I keep reading, and keep learning. I'm a novice, I know. It takes time and practice, but somewhere, I'm not getting it right.
Tonight I was itching to make something and decided to try Bernard Clayton's Engish Muffin recipe. I followed it to the T. I felt the dough was a bit stiff, but went with it as how could I know HOW it's supposed to feel.
It rose as it should, I rolled it and cut the muffins out and 'most' of them rose as they should. I cooked them and no "poof". Actually, nothing I cook seems to grow much or poof much when I bake bread - in the oven or now in the griddle.
The muffins taste good, but they are more like a very short dinner roll than an english muffin. Here are pictures:
Rising:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/melissa_sinclair2003/IMG_0356.jpg
On the Griddle:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/melissa_sinclair2003/IMG_0357.jpg
Fork opened:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/melissa_sinclair2003/IMG_0359.jpg
Taken with the Iphone, so not the best pictures.
You have to let the muffins proof for 45 - 60 minutes, or however long it takes for them to become "poufy"(about double), before you fry them.
They did double. Recipe said to roll them out to 1/4 inch and double it to 1/2 inch and then bake on griddle. They doubled in 45 minutes.
Your initial feeling about the dough being too stiff was probably right. To get close to the ideal EM texture, the dough needs to be very soft. Almost, but not quite too soft to handle. That is of course recipes for doughs, as opposed to batters.
Does the recipe have weights? I know at least one of Clayton's recipes is pretty popular here(italian bread), but there are really a lot of questions as to how much flour is actually being called for. No weights.
No weights (which I prefer). I started weighing everything I was measuring, but then thought, "But, yes, this 1/2 cup weighs this much now, but is this really how much I need?"
I'll try one of the other recipes mentioned here to test it out and see. At least these are yummy, but not what I was going for.
Hi,
I don't know how much help this wiill be, but I posted on muffins here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15953/crumpets-and-muffins
I only use weighing, but there is bakers% given as well if that helps.
I'm UK based, so the post is to provide info on the hotplate goods found here that really overlap with what are known in the US as "English Muffins"
Anyway, I use a sponge in the recipe, and that should help to give better gassing in the final dough.
Best wishes
Andy
It is frustrating. I'm a good cook and a good baker (make decorated cakes for fun), but I'm having air bubble issues, for sure.
Where we live we have softish water (Columbia, MD)... that's not helping.
I'm going to start another post as I'm half through making pain de campagne from Clayton's book and I don't want to RUIN IT!
Right now it's on it's first rise (fermented overnight) and it's a WET dough. I mixed it up and kneaded it with the DLX Mixer. I can barely work it with my hands as it's WET, so we'll see. I don't know how it will rise or shape. I'll be asking for help again, I'm sure.
Go here to see pain de campagne honfleur updates: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18848/so-i-got-airless-english-muffins-now-i039m-making-pain-de-campagne-honfleur