Conference turris::cooks

    Time, tide and Popovers wait for no man.
    
    I'm an emigre Yorkshireman who's been living in the U.S. for many
    years.  As far as I know a Popover batter is identical to Yorkshire
    Pudding.  The only difference is that Popovers are baked in muffin pans
    and Yorkshire Pudding is baked in a baking pan.
    
    Anyway here's the recipe I use for either/both.
    
    1  Cup Flour
    2  Eggs
    1  Cup Milk
    Pinch of Salt if you insist and you don't care about sodium as well
    as cholesterol.
                                 
    This will make enough for an 11 X 7 inch baking pan or about 10
    popovers.
    
    It works best if you ensure that the eggs and milk are at room
    temperature before you start.  Then place the flour in a bowl, add
    the eggs and mix.  Then gradually add the milk and beat with a fork
    until there are no lumps. Let the batter sit for about 1/2 hour
    before baking.   
    
    Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Oil muffin pans or for Yorkshire
    Pudding place about 2 Tbsps of cooking oil in the baking pan.  Place
    in oven to bring oil and pan up to temperature.  Then remove pan
    and pour in the batter.  Return the pan to the oven as quickly as
    possible and whatever you do resist the temptation to open the oven
    door until cooking is complete.  I just put the oven light on and
    watch the "miracle" through the door's glass panel.  It's real
    difficult to tell you how long to cook it due to differences in oven
    thermostats but the batter will rise and you should remove the pan and
    serve when the Popover/Pudding is a deep golden brown.  Don't overcook!

Re .3:

Can you  estimate  the time for a Yorkshire Pudding? Our oven doesn't have a
window...

    I hate to do this due to the differences in ovens.  For example
    my Betty Crocker cookbook calls for 35-40 mins at 425 degrees but
    my oven would produce a "burnt offering" after this amount of time
    so I cut it back to about 25 minutes only.
    
    Regards,
    
    Jack
    
    P.S.  Even though I cautioned against opening the door ( and it's
    still better when you don't) the most critical time is the first
    20 mins.  After that you might risk a very, very, quick peek.  You
    can always cook a little more while it's difficult to "uncook" it.
    

    While the cooking time is important, I've found the most important step
    is heating the oil/butter/drippings you choose, and to ensure there are
    enough of them to generously coat the pan/tins you are using.  By
    heating the fat first, it makes the batter "puff", then it's a matter
    of baking long enough to ensure the puff stays up.  We eat both
    popovers and Yorkshire pudding regularly, and have had consistent
    results.  The few times we failed to heat the fat to temp, we had very
    flat, although still tasty, results.
    
    Sarah
    

  We use a cast-iron popover pan.  I was under the impression that the 
cast-iron pan didn't need to be preheated first, the way other popover
cook mediums might.  However, from the prevoius notes on getting the 
fat up to temp, I question our method.  Any comments?

--Sharon

    I make popovers very often. I find that they do warm up well. I've
    taken popovers that were hours old (and room temperature) and popped
    them back into the oven to warm up and they are fantastic. The outside
    is nice and crispy and the inside warm.
    
    I usually heat up the pan while the oven heats up. I like to let the
    oven heat up for a long time (20-25 minutes, electric oven) so that it
    is nice and hot and the pizza stone that is always in the oven is
    radiating heat. I figure I save a little energy since the pan is
    warming up while the oven is, a pan that is radiating heat should cook
    a little faster.
    
    The recipe I use is listed in a previous note except for the oven
    temperature. I start at 425 degrees and turn it down to 350 after
    10 minutes. Mine usually cook for about 34-40 minutes, I make 
    big popovers, 8 to a recipe.
    
    When I grease the pan, I melt butter in the microwave and coat the
    hot pan with a basting brush. It usually steams as I do this. Sometimes
    my popovers pop more then others, my guess is that the oven temperature
    fluctuates and that causes the difference is size.
    
    I really don't trust the temperture of the oven. I have an oven
    thermometer and don't believe that either. So I got another
    thermometer. It's so much fun, now I have 2 thermometers that sometime
    read the same temperature and sometime are different by anywhere to 50
    degrees, It's so much fun I can't bring myself to getting another
    thermometer to see what the third one would read!

    2 C FLOUR
    2 C MILK
    4 EGGS
    1 t SALT
    
    BEAT INGREDIENTS TOGETHER.  PRE-HEAT OVEN TO 500.  GREASE MUFFIN
    TINS WITH OIL AND HEAT IN OVEN TIL HOT.  REMOVE AND FILL 1/2-2/3
    FULL WITH BATTER AND RETURN TO OVEN.  BAKE 15 MINUTES, THEN TURN
    OVEN DOWN TO 375 AND BAKE ANOTHER 10 MINUTES.  DO NOT OPEN OVEN
    DOOR DURING BAKING TIME.
    
    MAKES: 12-16 LG POPOVERS
    

    Recipe from Anthony's Pier 4 in Boston.  I can not comment as I've
    never made them.
    
       11 eggs
    3 1/2 cups milk
    2 1/2 cups flour
          pinch of salt
    
    Beat eggs, add milk, add flour and salt.  Mix until smooth in texture.
    Fill greased muffin tins (custard cups) 2/3-full (grease tins with
    mixture of 1 part flour and 2 parts shortening.)
    
    Baking time:  45-60 minutes at 350
    
    Yield:        2 dozen