English Muffins

[taxlady]

I hope I never come across a recipe that tells me a "baseball sized" anything. It's a perfectly good note to oneself if one is familiar with the size of a baseball. I would be more comfortable making notes about "golf ball sized", "tennis ball sized", or "hockey puck sized".

 

[RPCookin]

Since I don buy eggs, Andy, I do have to weigh them. My girls are not consistent when they lay eggs. The width of my hand is the perfect size to measure (across) for a 5 oz. portion of meat or fish.

In my experience that would vary a lot depending on the thickness of the cut. Once again not a form of measure that I would even consider. My Salter electronic scale is my preference for any portioning by weight.

The sizes given, golf ball, medium is about the size of a tennis ball, large is the size of a baseball. Doesn't matter the size of a person's hand, if one can adjust to how a golf ball, tennis ball, or baseball fits in one's hand.

I never really saw a golf ball sized onion (and I'm very familiar with golf balls, having played for 40 years). Even the smallest "standard" supermarket onion is between that and a tennis ball, but closer to the latter. I have bought onions that are close to softball size, but I usually try to pick what I call "medium", around tennis ball size. Once again, if quantity is critical, weight is the way to go. For things like onions, I'm as likely to just estimate and go.

 

[CWS4322]

In my experience that would vary a lot depending on the thickness of the cut. Once again not a form of measure that I would even consider. My Salter electronic scale is my preference for any portioning by weight.




I never really saw a golf ball sized onion (and I'm very familiar with golf balls, having played for 40 years). Even the smallest "standard" supermarket onion is between that and a tennis ball, but closer to the latter. I have bought onions that are close to softball size, but I usually try to pick what I call "medium", around tennis ball size. Once again, if quantity is critical, weight is the way to go. For things like onions, I'm as likely to just estimate and go.

The thickness of the cut doesn't matter. We use my hand all the time to cut a fillet into two portions for photo shoots. On the scale, they are bang on 5 oz. Which is the portion size we want. I lay my hand across the top of the chunk of fish. We're not buying this at the supermarket, we're buying it either off the boat or at the fishmonger. You can be very picky about thickness and where you want the fishmonger to cut when you buy direct.

 

[Addie]

In my experience that would vary a lot depending on the thickness of the cut. Once again not a form of measure that I would even consider. My Salter electronic scale is my preference for any portioning by weight.

I never really saw a golf ball sized onion (and I'm very familiar with golf balls, having played for 40 years). Even the smallest "standard" supermarket onion is between that and a tennis ball, but closer to the latter. I have bought onions that are close to softball size, but I usually try to pick what I call "medium", around tennis ball size. Once again, if quantity is critical, weight is the way to go. For things like onions, I'm as likely to just estimate and go.

And for any item in the kitchen, it also depends on your taste buds. Not every one likes onions. I had a friend that hated them and if a recipe needed onions, she always bought a bag of pearl onions. A couple of them tossed in the mêlée and she felt that she added what she was willing to tolerate. Whereas I could easily peel and slice a 5 lb. bag and just sauté them up as a side dish alone. Unfortunately for me so do my kids. Dang! I want them all to myself.

 

[taxlady]

boiler onions are often about golf ball sized.

 

[Addie]

boiler onions are often about golf ball sized.

And as far as I could tell, have no onion flavor. At least not enough for me.

 

[taxlady]

And as far as I could tell, have no onion flavor. At least not enough for me.

I guess they aren't the same everywhere.

 

[RPCookin]

boiler onions are often about golf ball sized.

And as far as I could tell, have no onion flavor. At least not enough for me.

I guess they aren't the same everywhere.

In fact I've never even heard of them. Yellow, white, Vidalia, red, pearl, scallions, shallots... these I've heard of and used, but never heard of a boiler onion. If I was someplace with a real produce department I'd check for them, but out here in the wheatfields we don't have a lot of such "exotic" items.

I'm with Addie... I love onions, in things, on things, just good food.

 

[Andy M.]

In fact I've never even heard of them...

Check this link. Scroll down. Cook's Thesaurus: Dry Onions & Shallots

 

[taxlady]

In fact I've never even heard of them...

Check this link. Scroll down. Cook's Thesaurus: Dry Onions & Shallots

Nifty link, Andy

 

[Rparrny]

So I have tried a ton of different English muffin recipes....baking soda, yeast, oven baked, cooked on a griddle...but none of them ever made the grade. Somewhere (maybe on this thread) I found a reference to a cookbook from the early 1900s that did something very different. It made a yeast dough with milk and egg and let it over proof on the counter overnight. The reason being the over proof would make bigger bubbles for nooks and crannies. Well, I tried it and I have to say...we have a winner! Very tender and I was surprised because the dough was half whole wheat flour. I'm guessing the overnight soak in the milk helped that.

 

[Andy M.]

I've been using the King Arthur flour recipe and they turn out better than Thomas'. I find that melting butter soaks into a split muffin regardless of the size of the holes.

Also, I use muffin rings.

 

[Rparrny]

I am a huge KA fan and was a member of the now defunked baking circle for...well for as long as it existed. I tried the KA recipe and it was okay, but I was not thrilled. I also really like making the dough the night before as it is really quick and makes the work in the morning much easier.

 

[Sagittarius]

Salt & Pepper, Andy & Rp Arnnay,

Truly lovely English Muffins ..

Have a wonderful summer ..

 

[Addie]

So I have tried a ton of different English muffin recipes....baking soda, yeast, oven baked, cooked on a griddle...but none of them ever made the grade. Somewhere (maybe on this thread) I found a reference to a cookbook from the early 1900s that did something very different. It made a yeast dough with milk and egg and let it over proof on the counter overnight. The reason being the over proof would make bigger bubbles for nooks and crannies. Well, I tried it and I have to say...we have a winner! Very tender and I was surprised because the dough was half whole wheat flour. I'm guessing the overnight soak in the milk helped that.

Any recipe to share? Would love to see it!

 

[Rparrny]

Any recipe to share? Would love to see it!

This is a halved recipe for 6 muffins

1 Cup AP flour
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup boiling water
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey or sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 envelope yeast (I used 2 tsp or so)
I egg, beaten
Cornmeal


Scald the milk, add the boiling water, butter, sweetener and salt and stir to dissolve. Let it cool to barely warm and add the yeast. Wait about 10 minutes until you see the yeast bubble action and combine liquid, egg and flour and mix until combined. Cover with plastic overnight. (I kept mine in the microwave)
The next morning, run a spatula around the edge of the bowl and deflate the dough. Have a bowl of cornmeal ready and scoop a generous half cup and drop into the cornmeal. The dough will be quite sticky and I used a fork to flip it over into the cornmeal. Once coated I gently took it in my hands and tucked edged under to form a ball. I placed these balls on my cold griddle for 30 minutes and then started cooking fairly low (4 on my electric stove). You can also bake but I don't know the oven temp or time.

 

[Just Cooking]

Thanks, Rparrny...

I like small batch recipes... Will give this a try..

Ross

 

[Addie]

Thanks. Yours look fantastic.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I always use a bread knife to split them. I never could tell which were the nooks and which were the crannies anyway.

I have them as toast for breakfast once in a while, but mostly I use them in my handy dandy breakfast sangwich maker:

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I hope I never come across a recipe that tells me a "baseball sized" anything. It's a perfectly good note to oneself if one is familiar with the size of a baseball. I would be more comfortable making notes about "golf ball sized", "tennis ball sized", or "hockey puck sized".

Next time you're walking past a sporting goods store, go inside and take a look at a baseball. They don't charge anything to look. Even if you want an example to take to the produce market with you as an example, you can pick one up for around 7 bucks Canadian.