Popover Problem

LTH -- I need your help.

I've been making popovers for years -- and somehow, something has gone wrong with my methods. And I have no idea how.

I've used the same recipe for years -- 3 eggs, 1 cup flour, pinch of salt, 1 cup of milk. For years I got lovely puffy popovers. However, lately, my results are horrible. No puffing. Small weird shapes. It's as if my popover mojo had up and vanished.

I heat the pan in the over first -- then I put melted butter in each little cup -- then I fill the batter up 2/3rds full -- after having rested the batter for a good 5 minutes -- and then i cook for 15 minutes at 450 and turn the heat down to 350 for the next 15.

The popovers are more like popped in.

Any help you can offer would be appreciated. I love this treat and I'm sad as sad can be.

Shannon

Have you calibrated your oven lately? It sounds like you're not getting enough heat.

Flip

The first thing I would do is check the oven temperature with a thermometer. Something might have gone wrong and you could be operating at a much lower temperature than it's reporting.

Best,
Michael

Also, are you possibly using flour that is past its prime? That could contribute to baking problems.

I've given up on popovers with added fat, as much as I like Yorkshire Pudding. Whenever I omit the fat, they work fine. Also, there seems to be a very narrow window for properly filling the muffin cups. Just a a hair too much, and the popover becomes a muffin. Try underfilling the cups a bit. Good luck.

Guys, thanks for ideas -- I think I'll pick up an oven thermometer this weekend, just to check the heat but I've done cakes and bread with no problems -- granted, a popover is more delicate creature.

The flour is an interesting idea. I think the popover problem dates back to using some garden variety flour I picked up a month or so ago -- i usually have King Arthur in the house but it was late, I needed it, couldn't get to Whole Paycheck, that whole thing. I've not had a problem with taste on this though -- the biscuits I've made with this flour are just fine.

The underfilling isn't an issue with this -- I am always careful not to do that.

At any rate...i will try again -- I will make a poppy popover, although I think this weekend I'll use the buttermilk and make biscuits instead.

earthlydesire wrote:The underfilling isn't an issue with this -- I am always careful not to do that.

I was suggesting that the problem can sometimes be overfilling. Anne Willan of La Varenne fame noted in a talk at Ann Arbor that she and her staff had had a lot of muffin-like results when baking popovers under early American kitchen conditions, apparently due to imprecise filling of the cups. She even suggested that the "discovery" of muffins (apparently an American bread form) may have resulted from such a variation. The whole oven temperature regulation thing for an early oven adds another layer of uncertaintly, though.

Good luck with your biscuits. You might want to check out the current COOK's magazine and try for the flaky result they achieve.

Hey guys...

I bumped this old thread because I think I have solved my popover crisis. I think the problem was length of cooking -- I've been playing with my recipe and I have cut out an egg -- most recipes i looked at only recommend 2 eggs instead of 3 but in general, my recipe seemed sound.

However...cooking methods varied. Today I tried preheating the pans, buttering the pans and then cooking for 10 minutes at 425 and then clicking it down to 325 for 25 minutes...which did a fabulous job.

So I think the long slow cooking in a cooler oven seems to be the trick. I've got my popover mojo back!

shannon

Glad you did decide to revive this, as my last batch of popovers flopped. I will try your technique and report back.

I'd like to take a stab at making popovers for Mother's Day. Forgive my ignorance, but do you use a regular muffin pan, or do you use a popover pan? Is there any real difference in the end result? Thanks.

Pucca -- i use a popover pan but only because someone gave me one, long ago -- and actually one of the cups on it has detached itself from the pan -- it's still usable but sort of annoying.

I think you can use a muffin tin just as easily. They'll just be smaller popovers.

Josephine -- any luck with the longer baking at the lower temp?

Popover pans put a smile on my face. ~Doesn't take much to make me happy

Cooked our standing rib roast outside, thus no drippings. Rendered down a bit of beef fat trim to cook the popovers.

In desperate straits yesterday, lacking beef fat, I made my Yorkshire puds with bacon grease. Delish. Nobody noticed, everybody enjoyed.

Note to self.

Geo

G Wiv wrote:Cooked our standing rib roast outside, thus no drippings. Rendered down a bit of beef fat trim to cook the popovers.

Christmas1.jpg

Christmas2.jpg

those are positively gorgeous!

How about I popover for dinner? #lowslowbbq #countmeafan #homecooking #nobabycorn #popover #YorkshirePudding



Popover, count me a Fan!

Yorkshire Pudding, a little uneven but super tasty.

click to enlarge




Yorkshire Pudding, count me a Fan!

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, what's the difference between Yorkshire pudding made in popover pans and popovers?

tjr wrote:Please excuse my lack of knowledge, what's the difference between Yorkshire pudding made in popover pans and popovers?

Technically, yorkshire puddings are supposed to be made from the drippings of the roast, which makes it a type of popover, but not all popovers are yorkshire puddings.

earthlydesire wrote:I heat the pan in the over first -- then I put melted butter in each little cup -- then I fill the batter up 2/3rds full -- after having rested the batter for a good 5 minutes -- and then i cook for 15 minutes at 450 and turn the heat down to 350 for the next 15.

16-years later . . .
Don't use butter, the smoke point is too low. Also, heat the pans with the fat (beef, goose, corn etc.) Don't heat the pan and then add oil/batter. The fat needs to be screaming hot when the batter goes in.

I realize you later said you got your mojo back but, these suggestions will aid in popover production.

I made another round last night to bring to a dinner party. Tasty, if a little uneven.

click to enlarge




Popovers, count me a Fan!

JoelF wrote:Technically, yorkshire puddings are supposed to be made from the drippings of the roast, which makes it a type of popover, but not all popovers are yorkshire puddings.

What Joel said . . .

A very few times I've made Yorkshire pudding by pouring that batter into the roasting pan after removing the roast. It's quite a production - requires heating the used pan to blazing hot, etc etc - but the taste is great with little beefy bits in the pudding. Not as puffy and has to have a pretty fatty roast - tenderloin will not work at all.

Same taste, bigger puff, less work? I'm a fan!

Getting Popovers dialed in . . .

Batter rested overnight:
Time/temp:
450 for 15 minutes
400 for 10 minutes
Poke a small hole with a paring knife as they come out to release steam

click to enlarge




Popovers, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:

earthlydesire wrote:I heat the pan in the over first -- then I put melted butter in each little cup -- then I fill the batter up 2/3rds full -- after having rested the batter for a good 5 minutes -- and then i cook for 15 minutes at 450 and turn the heat down to 350 for the next 15.

16-years later . . .
Don't use butter, the smoke point is too low. Also, heat the pans with the fat (beef, goose, corn etc.) Don't heat the pan and then add oil/batter. The fat needs to be screaming hot when the batter goes in.

I realize you later said you got your mojo back but, these suggestions will aid in popover production.

I made another round last night to bring to a dinner party. Tasty, if a little uneven.

click to enlarge




Popovers, count me a Fan!

I have to add that clarified butter works perfectly.
Yours look wonderful G.

Isn't a German pancake or Dutch baby a variant (name variant?) for a popover?

That's been my conclusion from having made all of them.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:Isn't a German pancake or Dutch baby a variant (name variant?) for a popover?

Pretty much the same. Dutch babies often use a higher ratio of eggs to flour, contain sugar/honey/etc. Dutch babies also typically have flavor such as nutmeg, cinnamon.

Hi,

Today my plan was to make popovers/Yorkshire puddings in a 12-cup cupcake pan. That is until I discovered they were not quite clean. Shifted gears to use a caste iron pan.

Instead of using beef suet, I opted for clarified butter. Melted one-stick of unsalted butter in the microwave, it finished with clarified butter on top and milk solids on the bottom. I poured butter in the pan, then set it in the oven for 10-minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to not find it smoking when I opened to pour in the batter.

This buttery popover was ready in about 20 minutes. Popover out and roast beef in and temperature raised to 500 from 450 degrees. The popover was devoured before the beef reached the table. I still have half of the batter for another tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will cook it via Gary's suggestions of starting with higher heat and lowering after the batter is started.

Regards,
CAthy2