Will's thread on English Muffins (https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/75272/after-brief-pause-english-muffins-are-back-track) reminded me that I hadn't baked any for quite a while, and gave me a few new ideas to try. And here we are.
One new idea was Moe C's use of small parchment paper squares under each muffin. They stay in place when the muffin is put onto the griddle. This worked perfectly. I was able to remove them after a few minutes of baking without much trouble.
The other idea came from Will:
Maurizio's method calls for a near collapse proof
I didn't go quite that far but I extended the proof far beyond what I usually would have. I expected to get more porosity, and that seems to have happened, though with smaller pores than I expected. I did get one big bubble that blew up and left a slightly misshaped muffin. I may overproof less next time to prevent that.
As for the flour mix, I have the remains of a bag of French T80. I posted earlier about how touchy this flour is about hydration, though it adds good flavor. Since then, I have been liking a 50-50 mix of this T80 with All Purpose. The mix makes the dough easier to work with and still adds a nice bit of flavor. Even better is adding some rye and sugar. This combination somehow works better than the sum of its parts. so why not try it for these muffins?
I used 20% starter, or 55g. My plan was to use 30% or 90g but I hadn't refreshed enough the night before.
Pixs, you say? Right, here you are:
The muffins are delicious and rich-tasting. With the extra long proof (nearly 4 hours), there is a slight tang, not enough to say "sour" but just a little perk for the tastebuds. I should have pressed the doughballs less, because they spread larger than I wanted during the long proof, making them a little thinner than I like. The muffins were scaled to 80g each. I used 270g of flour, and got 5 full sized and one slightly smaller muffins.
The muffins seem to split more easily than usual with a fork, maybe because they are more porous than usual inside.
I cooked them 6 minutes on a side, then 5 minutes in a 275 deg F/120C oven to finish cooking the insides.
TomP
Additionally, you have the fry phase down par!
: )
and the extra long proof is an interesting idea. Like you, I've never pushed muffins that far, to a "near collapse proof". Will try that out the next time, though for us crumpets have currently surpassed muffins on the breakfast ranking!
Crumpets - I have never been able to succeed making them. It's hard to know which I'd prefer when the English muffins are my own but the crumpets are store-bought, like Thomas's.
I make overnight SD/IDY crumpets, they are quite forgiving. More convenient than muffins in that they can be made immediately in the morning when you want to eat (no shaping and proofing etc). Let me try it out again one of these days and make the measurements.
They look great. Nice job. I had to go back to the 2023 post to refresh myself with the then discussion.
Cheers,
Gavin
Thanks, Gavin.