In response to a request, here is the recipe that I have used to make crumpets.
This quantity makes around ten (give or take).
The Dough
| Ingredient | Metric | Imperial | Baker's Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 200 grams | 7.06 oz | 100.00% |
| Starter (100% hydration) | 90 grams | 3.18 oz | 45.00% |
| Water | 260 grams | 9.18 oz | 130.00% |
| Sugar | 40 grams | 1.41 oz | 20.00% |
| Salt | 4 grams | 0.14 oz | 2.00% |
- Total Flour Weight:
- 200 grams
Percentages are relative to flour weight (flour equals 100%) and every other ingredient is a percentage of this. Flour from the starter is not counted. This recipe was originally in grams and has been automatically converted to other measures.
Weigh 200g flour into a one litre Pyrex jug and make a well.
Add 90g of your favourite 100% hydration starter.
Pour in 260g of your water of choice.
With a chopstick, agitate the starter and water to disperse the starter. Then continue to incorporate the flour into a smooth batter. You can leave it to autolyse for a time if you wish.
Add the sugar and salt and give a good mix with the chopstick for a couple of minutes.
Cover the jug with GladWrap and leave on the bench to rise. The volume increase will depend, but should be at least 50-100%. Depending on your temperature this might be anything from a few hours to overnight. Try not to let get to the stage where the volume is decreasing.
Set your electric frypan to 295F (or whatever experience tells you is good). Give the frypan and your crumpet rings (100mm*20mm) a light wipe with your favourite source of fat.
Place the rings (four rings just fit nicely) in the pan and give a few minutes to heat up. Pour batter from the jug to half fill the rings. This takes a bit of practice due to the gloopy nature of the batter. Don't try to ladle the batter as I have found that this destroys the gas bubbles for the later crumpets.
Cook for 10 minutes with the rings in place. Remove the rings and cover the frypan and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Lift onto a wire rack to cool.
Toast to your liking and slather with your accompaniments of choice.
Replies
Hi there
I'm new to this sourdough game and I understand the bakers percentage column in the recipes but can you explain what 100% hydration beside the starter means? I've got a starter given to me by a friend and I baked two loaves successfully last week based on the book Tartine. I want to try making crumpets though and I don't understand whether I can just use my starter or I have to do something to make it 100% hydration.
Cheers
Kathleen
Hello MsConstantia,
Whether it is starter or dough, the percentage is the hydration. That means that a 100% starter is made from the same weight of flour and water.
One complicating factor is that some recipes give the dough hydration in relation to new flour and do not take into account the flour and water that comes with the starter so it can be a bit confusing at times.
Basically, if your starter is not 100% hydration, if you want to be precise you can calculate how much more (or less) water you need to add to the dough/batter to get the hydration exact. You don't necessarily have to change your starter hydration if you don't want to. It's just that 100% is a convenient and commonly used figure.
Hope this helps.
Farinam
Farinam, what a winner this is. Not one failure even when the mixture is on the decline. Tried leaving it for about 35hrs and the taste is magical. Seems this is a very flexible and forgiving mix. I have found that if it is bubbly it will work but doesn't have to be frothing madly.
You have also answered the question a mate had as to how they put the holes in crumpets.. he is now able to dismiss the theory of using a drill.
Hi there,
I 've made this twice & need a bit of help with getting them right please!
(I used to think I could bake bread adequately but not brilliantly when I was living in the USA, but now I'm back in Australia everything I make seems to come out gummy, including these crumpets). Help! I'm assuming it's different flour & water & I need to fine tune the quantities? I've been trying gradually less water, but I'm still not producing much that's edible.
So with the crumpets, the first batch looked great but were gummy inside. I used medium heat on my stovetop & they burnt on the bottom by the time they were set, so I lowered the heat & tried again with better results but still gummy. I made another batch & cut the water down by 30g, but still gummy. Then I tried the lowest heat setting to see if I could get them cooked through this way & cooked for longer. Now they just looked white all over, but still gummy, so it was obviously too low. I'm thinking I should try again with low-medium heat & use even less water?
Other than the insides being gummy, they looked great on the outside, had nice airholes, and when attempting to eat them, had a great & promising crispiness when bitten, but I just didn't want to chew or swallow them!!
I used a plain flour, rather than a bread flour as I figured I wasn't kneading it.
Any pointers or suggestions? I REALLY want to make these work & know that they would be so much better than storebought ones!
And if I can get them right, then I'd like to put some wholemeal into them too, but baby steps at the moment I think!
Thanks for your help,
Carleen
Hi Carleen,
I would have to say that this recipe is a bit more dense than the ones that you buy in the shops but I wouldn't have said that they were 'gummy' so I am a bit of a loss to say exactly what the problem might be.
The temperature certainly shouldn't be enough to burn them but has to be enough to set the batter quickly enough so that the bubbles stay open as they rise to the surface to give the honeycomb texture. Maybe you could try turning them over once the top has set and you take the rings off, then put the lid on. That way you might get more complete cooking.
Most crumpet recipes also add bi-carb soda to the mix that might give a lighter texture. I haven't tried it as I wondered about the reaction with the acids in the sourdough and, as they mostly call for it to be mixed in later in the process, the effect on the loss of gas that might result.
I think I might do some more experimenting to see if I can get them to 'lighten up'.
Sorry I can't be of more help at the moment.
Good luck with your projects.
Farinam
Thanks for your suggestions Farinam. I'll give it another try & will let you know how I go!
carleen
Hi Carleen,
I've got an experiment on the brew at the moment. I too will let you know how it goes.
Farinam
So I gave it another go. Fantastic! My family were inhaling these crumpets. They turned out so great - I don't think ones from the shop will ever be the same again.
I used the full amount of water, started cooking on a medium heat until the bubbles came through, & then turned it right down until the tops were almost dried out, & then flipped them & cooked some more on the other side. Even so, the bottoms were a little bit too brown, but it was mostly cosmetic. So I think my problems were all in cooking temperature rather than batter.
Thanks for a brilliant recipe & your helpful tips. Our family will be enjoying these a lot more in future!
Good to hear Carleen,
My experiment with using bicarb soda was a bit disrupted when some other committments went on a bit longer than expected and the batter was probably a bit too 'old' but I think they turned out a bit more 'delicate' than the one without. I will try to schedule another batch when I can give it some more attention and then post some detail for you to try.
Can't beat a good crumpet, I say.
Farinam
Hello Carleen and all,
I had a chance to redo the crumpet recipe using bicarb soda and got the timing right. The result turned out a treat.
Basically the recipe and method is as follows.
Prepare 180g of starter at 100% hydration. If your stock is at 100% take 90g and feed with 45g bread flour and 45g water. Leave to activate and note how long it takes to double. This technique helps to allow for differences in room temperature rather than giving strict timings.
Now take 300g of flour and add your starter and 300g of water and beat well for a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to work for about half your doubling time. It should be quite bubbly so adjust timing if necessary.
Take 145g of warm (barely - just helps to dissolve solids) milk and add 7g salt and half a teaspoon of bicarb (forgot to get the weight of that) and stir well to ensure that the salts are dissolved. Then beat into your batter until all incorporated. Cover and leave to reactivate for the rest of your doubling time or as necessary.
When the batter is ready (should be really bubbly with large and small bubbles), cook in rings (about a quarter cup of batter per ring) for seven or eight minutes. Remove ring, flip the crumpet over and give two minutes more to finish setting the top.
Makes about fifteen crumpets.
Yum, yum!
Good luck with your projects.
Farinam