Go to the Recipe: Scratch English Muffins, Slow and Classic
About how big (what weight) are the portions of dough?
Anyone bake them in rings?
Did you let that sit out over night on the counter or in the fridge. After portioning on the tray (the next morning) do you let the sit for awhile before griddling? Like an hour or so? Thanks! By the way I saw this recipe and immediately went and mixed everything together and it is now sitting on my counter. Hopefully I will be having delicious English muffins for breakfast. Grant, you sir are an inspiration!
By “molten lava”, do you mean anus?
OK, I just kind of blobbed them out with a fork. No cornmeal, and next grocery trip is Saturday, so I whirled some rolled oats in the blender to cornmeal size and used that. No griddle, either, so I cooked them in a heavy, flat fry pan. I found that I had to lower the heat and cook longer on each side, ending up with 5 minutes first side, flip, 5 minutes second side, flip, 4 minutes each side and then cool on rack. Fork split one, toasted it, and it was a lovely thing for elevenses.
Yes, I used them with a recipe I had before seeing this one. Rings work beautifully.
Hi, I am also wondering about the timing. Did you prove them after scooping or did you scoop and go straight to griddle?
First time making English Muffins, they came out great!!
Used rings to form. Hollandaise credit to CS recipe, which is amazing, albeit one change - blend ingredients prior to sousvide step, then use mesh strainer before adding to syphon.
Lessons learned on this recipe:
- had polenta/grits, I put them in the spice/coffee grinder to make them a tad finer.
- I'd go a little smaller on portion size; scooped too much/didn't take into mind expanding dough in the ring.
- Test one on your griddle first; I went way too hot on my first guy.
- I believe finishing them off in a 350 oven for 10 minutes can help with the over growing on the griddle. Basically, experimenting with an oven step at the end I think can be beneficial.
- Make more than you think you're going to need, because you're going to want more of them, trust me. A LOT MORE!
I sat these in a covered container on the counter overnight, then scooped by the sloppy serving-spoon full onto polenta covered parchment paper. Let sit for an hour while I got distracted, and then cooked on my griddle at ~350 for 4 min one side, 6 min the other to an internal temp of about 200 degrees. The outside is a bit tough, but these beauties split and toasted are so moist and delicious, especially with cream cheese and sliced olives!
So bloody good. It feels like you are making a hot mess that will never turn into an english muffin during the scoop and form stage. The precarious stage of flipping the blob onto the flattop with cornmeal flying around. But then, they start to flatten and then puff a bit. 5 minutes and flip, it's looking better, 5 more minutes and it IS a muffin. Split, toast and butter with the butter in the holes and the crunchy cornmeal on the outside. Wow. I did it. Should be easier the next time.
Overnight on counter. In the morning, I reshaped them and let them rest for 10 minutes before gridding. I want to know what science is happening during the 10 minute rest. What if I didn’t rest it for 10 and just cooked them after the reshape?
My sisters and I have been challenging each other with baking projects, and this week’s was making crumpets. I informed them that next on my list was making English muffins since I prefer those to crumpets and I open my email this morning and what do I find? A recipe for English muffins. You guys rock. Will be getting right on that.
Doesn’t active yeast need to be activated with warm liquid? Or will it bloom with just room temperature heat overnight?
I made these with slightly more flour (they kept their globular shape when scooped off...) It was whole spelt flour. Very happy with the result. I can't believe how easy they are to make.
Can you freeze these?
That’s the best part. Poke them with a fork all the way around and they are ready to freeze. I freeze them individually, take one or two out the night before breakfast (put in the fridge) and they are thawed and toaster ready in the morning. They seem to keep really well.
It will bloom quite vigorously. I made a double batch last night and apparently exceeded the bowl height.
I also found that using my silpat instead of parchment was easier. Still sticks when transferring but less wrestling with paper partially still stuck to the blob or burning on the grill. And no waste.
I’ve done the hour rest, 10 minute rest, and almost right away. So far I think the 24-hour bowl rise is the most important step in getting amazing dough, whereas the resting after forming seems to have much less impact (for me).
anyone try this with all purpose flour? I can't buy a bag of bread flour to save my life right now.
I used the conversion they posted in another article about turning any flour into bread flour. They've come out great both times I've made them.
Would using instant yeast affect the results?
I used KA AP. They turn out just fine. As Michael Symon says, don't let one ingredient stop you from making anything.
Hi - why do you poke holes before freezing? And I thought defrosting in the fridge is not good for bread products? I thought you were supposed to go from freezer to oven? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I add my active dry yeast to cold milk, salt and the rest of the ingredients. Mix with a spoon. Rest overnight on counter. They turned out fine! It works because they have many hours to activate???
I wish CS would respond to some of the questions.
No. I use it all the time. Instant just doesn't require sugar to activate
Keep some gluten on hand. Voila, always will have bread flour available!
Then you'd have to microwave them anyway so either way so long as they're frozen fresh no probs
Are you girdling them on parchment bits? Or just flipping/sliding the dough after the second rise (just using it to facilitate transfer onto cook surface)?
Edit: Starting them on parchment squares made for a easier transfer into the pan but got a different appearance.
These turned out really nice. I gave them a 24h countertop rise (in summer) which might've been too much as they were pungently sour. Still great, just not what I'm used to. I used ring molds; coated with oil and semolina. Also used semolina/durum for toasting. I think I prefer that to cornmeal.
Came out perfect first time. Will be repeating this often. Only wish they would post up a cinnamon raisin version. I preheated my baking steel to 350 degrees in the oven first then placed it on the gas gook top and held temp using a temp gun. Also used a Stove Guard mat on top of the steel for non stick results, put probably would work fine without it. Regardless best recipe I've tried for plain english muffins. I used the slow version, overnight in the fridge. Halfway through ferment I scriped only aound the sides, then clow corner lift with the scraper.. Let sit out for a couple hours next day. Used a size 20 server and got a perfect dozen from the recipe.
Hey Raymond! Happy to hear it came out well for you. If I were you I would try adding some cinnamon and raisons in step two. To get a bit more specific I would try 1-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (depending on how potent you want it) and 1/2 cup of roughly chopped Thompson raisins. I might even sub light brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Hope you give it a try and play around with inclusions. Though I'm giving you suggestions in volumetric be sure to record the weights when you add it so you can dial in the perfect cinnamon raison muffin for you!
Thanks! Will definitely give it a try!
An update on your recommendation. I did try it and everyone loved them. I used 1/2 cup chopped Thompson raisins. I did soak them after chopping pressing lightly in a sieve so that they wouldn't pull moisture out of the batter during mixing and cooking. I used 1 teaspoon this time of Viennese Cinnamon. They came out great. Highly recommend your adjustments. I might add just a bit more cinnamon next time.
Awesome Raymond, glad to hear it worked out for you! Good call on soaking the raisons, I didn't think of that. They look great and thanks for posting pictures.
