Yorkshire puddings

[ravenbait]

That’s much cooler than the recipe we have. Mine is always inconveniently hotter than what I’d be finishing a roast / spuds at.

I prefer to do the hot part of a roast at the start, but unless you've got the oven whacked way up to 230, it would probably be fine. I find yorkshires relatively forgiving of such things.

Sam

[Regulator]

The batter should be made using a stout (or at a push, Newcastle Brown Ale) rather than milk.   

[L CC]

No.
Beer batter for coatings but not for puddings.

[pcolbeck]

The batter should be made using a stout (or at a push, Newcastle Brown Ale) rather than milk.   

Burn the heretic !

[Gattopardo]

The batter should be made using a stout (or at a push, Newcastle Brown Ale) rather than milk.   

Should it be Château de Chasselas?

No.
Beer batter for coatings but not for puddings.

You are right.   I'd go further and say that beer coating needs to be fried.

[citoyen]

The batter should be made using a stout (or at a push, Newcastle Brown Ale) rather than milk.   

Top trolling!

[Regulator]

The batter should be made using a stout (or at a push, Newcastle Brown Ale) rather than milk.   

Top trolling!

Not trolling at all.  I learned to make Yorkshire pudding when I lived in Leeds (working in a wet hostel).  The batter would be made with beer and cooked in a large deep baking tray - not in individual portions (that's a southern affectation).  And the fat had to be beef dripping - or lard at a push...

[ian]

I've never heard of beer in one.

Nothing special here – hot oven, prewarmed tray and oil, don't overfill with batter, and once they're in, leave them alone. I leave the batter to stand for 30 minutes or so, but I'm unconvinced it makes any difference. Anyway, it just works.

I wouldn't put Newcastle Brown Ale in anything, unless I really disliked it.

[perpetual dan]

That’s much cooler than the recipe we have. Mine is always inconveniently hotter than what I’d be finishing a roast / spuds at.

I prefer to do the hot part of a roast at the start, but unless you've got the oven whacked way up to 230, it would probably be fine. I find yorkshires relatively forgiving of such things.

Sam

I also start my roast with a sizzle, but well under 200 by the end.

The dairy book of home cooking says 220 for Yorkshires, so close! I’ll have to experiment. Purely for science, of course.

[mcshroom]

Getting the pan hot seems to be the important bit, and not making the mixture too eggy. I can't tell you exactly what quantities I use as my Yorkshire Puds/pancake mix is always thrown together more by looking at the resultant batter than measuring anything, which is how my Dad taught me to do it.

I'm usually finishing off roast potatoes, meat, stuffing and probably frozen parsnips, so somewhere in the 200^oC range, for roughly 20 mins.

PS: I can also tell you that grilling them in muffin tins makes a very tall tube YP, but will burn the top (I remember to double check which setting I've put the oven on now  ).

[Slave To The Viking]

Half-and-half water-and-milk rather than just milk, more egg than you'd think, don't open the oven too early or they'll sink. Everything else is superstition.

I used to be concerned about not getting the fat hot enough, but I've experimented and it makes little difference - it needs to be hot, but don't obsess over it. Too hot an oven - or too high a shelf - can scorch them though, when they inevitably balloon majestically. Old unwashed tins make no difference - I've used Grandma's old tins, I've used new ones from Sainsbury's, I've used a mate's loaf tin because he had nothing else - all absolutely fine.

3oz plain flour
2 eggs
2.5 oz milk
2.5 oz water

Whisk together, or use a blender. Or a fork like my Grandma did. Just make sure you've bashed the lumps out of it. Leave for hours if you like, in the fridge or at room temperature, or use as soon as the oven is hot. It honestly doesn't matter. Heat fat or oil in a tin in the oven, somewhere around Gas 6 or 7 (200°C - 220°C). Maybe hotter, but in that case use a thinner layer of batter and be prepared to hoik them out early, otherwise the outside will burn before the middle has set. I use pork fat as my cooking medium of choice, because I always save any fat from cooking pork, ham and bacon in a jar in the fridge, but vegetable oil works, so does olive oil, so does beef dripping - the flavour will be different but they all work. I've used butter successfully. Smoke point schmoke point. Pour your batter into your hot oil/fat, and bung 'em in the oven. That batter mixture will do two dinner plate sized puds (using sponge tins) or four saucer sized ones. I don't really do little ones - I'm sure you'll work it out though, if that's your thing. They'll probably take around 20 minutes, maybe a little less, maybe a little more, but I've used new fan ovens, conventional electrics and knackered old gas ovens with leaky door seals, and there's not a massive difference. Don't be suckered into thinking it needs to be kiln-like heat; super-hot does work if that's what your oven is already doing, but it needs more careful monitoring.

Trust me on the water, trust me on the eggs, trust me about not opening the door too early. I've played with all the variables, and these are the only ones which I have ever found to have had any effect.

Best of luck...