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and Yorkshire Puddings.

One week I make beauties the next week they're terrible. What's with that :wah:

Seal on your over door's gone.

Nah, that would ruin the yorkies but not the dumplins - come to think of it, there's not much that will ruin dumplins.

Define terrible

Betty Boop;1389932 wrote: and Yorkshire Puddings.

One week I make beauties the next week they're terrible. What's with that :wah:


Well, it's a bit like scrabble (though not at all like scrabble)...sometimes I play a mean game and at other times I can barely make a two letter word.

That's my take on it, anyway...dumplings, yorkshires, scrabble...one and the same.

Dumplings are the one thing you really have to get the measurements exact or as you have found, one time they are great, next not so great.

You need exactly half the suet to your flour. 4 oz flour and 2 oz suet as the basics.

Dumpling mixture Is probably the only thing I ever weigh exactly.

Also It's very Important to never knead the mixture or they will go hard.... jut very lightly fork the water In to make the dough and when It's formed, very briefly handle the dough to roll Into balls..... then.... leave for 20 minutes to prove before adding to stews etc.

oscar;1389935 wrote: Dumplings are the one thing you really have to get the measurements exact or as you have found, one time they are great, next not so great.

You need exactly half the suet to your flour. 4 oz flour and 2 oz suet as the basics.

Dumpling mixture Is probably the only thing I ever weigh exactly.

Also It's very Important to never knead the mixture or they will go hard.... jut very lightly fork the water In to make the dough and when It's formed, very briefly handle the dough to roll Into balls..... then.... leave for 20 minutes to prove before adding to stews etc.


Thank you - another hole in my education filled.

oscar;1389935 wrote:

Also It's very Important to never knead the mixture or they will go hard.... jut very lightly fork the water In to make the dough and when It's formed, very briefly handle the dough to roll Into balls..... then.... leave for 20 minutes to prove before adding to stews etc.


You know how to turn a bloke on don't you.....

Bryn Mawr;1389933 wrote: Seal on your over door's gone.

Nah, that would ruin the yorkies but not the dumplins - come to think of it, there's not much that will ruin dumplins.

Define terrible


Last week the dumplings were light and fluffy this week they were solid, did exactly the same thing as I always do.

oscar;1389935 wrote: Dumplings are the one thing you really have to get the measurements exact or as you have found, one time they are great, next not so great.

You need exactly half the suet to your flour. 4 oz flour and 2 oz suet as the basics.

Dumpling mixture Is probably the only thing I ever weigh exactly.

Also It's very Important to never knead the mixture or they will go hard.... jut very lightly fork the water In to make the dough and when It's formed, very briefly handle the dough to roll Into balls..... then.... leave for 20 minutes to prove before adding to stews etc.


Always weigh out for dumplings, never for yorkshires. Always make them before they're needed and am always careful not to over work them, yup learnt all that in school :wah:

I have an added pressure in that I'm always working with wheat and gluten free flours too, getting there slowly, I perfected scones over the weekend.

The weather conditions can have a dramatic affect on how baked products turn out.

LarsMac;1389986 wrote: The weather conditions can have a dramatic affect on how baked products turn out.


Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!

Bryn Mawr;1389998 wrote: Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not!


said like a true Englishman :wah:

must be a bad storm coming, there is a huuuuuge tanker parked in the bay, never seen one so big :wah:

Betty Boop;1390000 wrote: said like a true Englishman :wah:

must be a bad storm coming, there is a huuuuuge tanker parked in the bay, never seen one so big :wah:


They certainly wouldn't be sitting there drinking tea - best batten down he hatches, there's a northerly gale on its way.

Bryn Mawr;1390026 wrote: They certainly wouldn't be sitting there drinking tea - best batten down he hatches, there's a northerly gale on its way.


The wind is gusting out there now, just started hearing it over the last hour. Who needs weather forecasts, just watch the boats in the bay! Actually I've just realised I watched lots of beamers head in through the gaps today, the harbour is full. Should have realised they were all headed home for a reason.

Betty Boop;1389971 wrote: Always weigh out for dumplings, never for yorkshires. Always make them before they're needed and am always careful not to over work them, yup learnt all that in school :wah:

I have an added pressure in that I'm always working with wheat and gluten free flours too, getting there slowly, I perfected scones over the weekend.


How do you do your Yorkshire's ?

oscar;1390076 wrote: How do you do your Yorkshire's ?


chuck it all in a bowl and whisk lol leave it in the fridge for an hour or so.

I've tried recipes, I've tried one egg, two eggs, the best ones come out of the packet mix :wah:

home made chips tonight, they can't go wrong surely...

Betty Boop;1390144 wrote: chuck it all in a bowl and whisk lol leave it in the fridge for an hour or so.

I've tried recipes, I've tried one egg, two eggs, the best ones come out of the packet mix :wah:


I whisk my egg and milk until It's frothy. Then I sift the flour twice to get air Into It. I add the flour little by little whisking as I go. Then I leave It to stand for an hour but never In the fridge.

The key Is having the oil absolutely smoking as you pour the batter In.......

Made wonderful dumplings for the last two weeks now.

Dumped the suet. I put a block of butter in the freezer on the morning of making stew, then when I want to prepare dumplings I add grated butter to flour and mix in cold water. Best dumplings ever, thank you Jamie Oliver!

And yorkshires, well now we have a Sainsbury in the area I can buy ready made wheat and gluten free ones, perfect every time :wah:

Betty Boop;1441645 wrote: Made wonderful dumplings for the last two weeks now.

Dumped the suet. I put a block of butter in the freezer on the morning of making stew, then when I want to prepare dumplings I add grated butter to flour and mix in cold water. Best dumplings ever, thank you Jamie Oliver!

And yorkshires, well now we have a Sainsbury in the area I can buy ready made wheat and gluten free ones, perfect every time :wah:


What a good idea...butter instead of suet!

The Sainsbury delivery chap said that falmouth Sainsbury is going to be bigger than the truro store after I'd asked him if they were still intending to open here.

theia;1441649 wrote: What a good idea...butter instead of suet!

The Sainsbury delivery chap said that falmouth Sainsbury is going to be bigger than the truro store after I'd asked him if they were still intending to open here.


Ours is huge, totally changes the way into town, some locals are fuming over it, no doubt you will get all the arguments over your way too and can imagine it will be big they need to compete with the huge Asda down there.

Oh, and the dumplings, you wouldn't believe how fluffy and light they are. Just like clouds, kids are impressed after years of bullets.

Betty Boop;1441645 wrote: Made wonderful dumplings for the last two weeks now.

Dumped the suet. I put a block of butter in the freezer on the morning of making stew, then when I want to prepare dumplings I add grated butter to flour and mix in cold water. Best dumplings ever, thank you Jamie Oliver!

And yorkshires, well now we have a Sainsbury in the area I can buy ready made wheat and gluten free ones, perfect every time :wah:


I've only ever used butter. I don't even know what suet is...

Would someone enlighten me?

fuzzywuzzy;1441684 wrote: I've only ever used butter. I don't even know what suet is...

Would someone enlighten me?


Suet is the hard fat taken from around the kidneys of beef. It is a very stable, and clean fat.

it makes a great frying fat. I like to fry potatoes and carrots in it.

Though you have to drain the food really well, because when it cools it's almost like eating candle wax.

Ummm, I don't want to be rude or insult but .......eeeewwwwwhhhhhh!!!! You cook veges in beef fat? Why not vegetable oil, or more importantly olive oil. Something tells me it would be a lot better for you . Or if it really has to be animal fat why not goose fat ?

fuzzywuzzy;1441717 wrote: Ummm, I don't want to be rude or insult but .......eeeewwwwwhhhhhh!!!! You cook veges in beef fat? Why not vegetable oil, or more importantly olive oil. Something tells me it would be a lot better for you . Or if it really has to be animal fat why not goose fat ?


Well Lars does, I don't. This is an olive oil house. Plenty of people still use beef dripping for frying and roasting though.

I remember my mum used to use 'Lard ?' on some occasions.

Betty Boop;1441727 wrote: Well Lars does, I don't. This is an olive oil house. Plenty of people still use beef dripping for frying and roasting though.


Chips cooked in lard...wonderful! Though I haven't had tasted them for years. I don't think they did us any harm because we only had them occasionally and it was in the days when there was little or nothing to eat in between meals.

yeah I htink that's why my mum used it

Theia I just looked it up .(cause I didn't know what lard was) Looks like it wont kill you . lol although it is higher in saturated fats.

Is Lard Healthy? - Ask Dr. Weil

fuzzywuzzy;1441733 wrote: yeah I htink that's why my mum used it

Theia I just looked it up .(cause I didn't know what lard was) Looks like it wont kill you . lol although it is higher in saturated fats.

Is Lard Healthy? - Ask Dr. Weil


I'm talking about the 50s here and a mum who kept foodstuff for years and years and not always in a fridge! The old and battered chip pan would be taken out, maybe once a week/fortnight, and the solidified lard from goodness knows how long ago was reused. Yet we were never suffered from upset tummies!

lol yeah I'm talking early seventies. Mum used to have a pot full of (god knows what) Lard? for exactly that . Kept at the bottom of the roasting cupboard.

You're right we never got sick. I think she changed it every couple of months.

My dad used to be the messy occasion/just harvested the vege garden/ pastry cook .

He used to make apple dumplings and pies and sauses and jams and chutneys. And then mum would clean the kitchen for two days afterwards.

Scones on the skittle, were to die for. They were flatter than mums' jam and cream scones baked in the oven but god they were nice. Like immediate hot bread.

Cant have a proper pudding without suet. Treacle pudding, spotted dick, jam roly-poly, plum duff, bacon and onion pudding, dumplings.

Food to line yer ribs with in the winter months

Loved beef dripping on toast as a kid - plenty of salt and pepper. Not had it for years

I was just thinking about that ....makes sense in a cold climate. So if I immigrate to Scotland I'm likely to get fat? lol lol

fuzzywuzzy;1441741 wrote: I was just thinking about that ....makes sense in a cold climate. So if I immigrate to Scotland I'm likely to get fat? lol lol


You're likely to get hardened arteries. They think chips are a salad item

Jamie Oliver proved that America actually did just that in their school cafaterias

I don't eat hot chips ...spose I'll starve.

Snowfire;1441740 wrote: Loved beef dripping on toast as a kid - plenty of salt and pepper. Not had it for years


and people say eeewwhhh to vegemite on toast..... .go figure lol lol lol

Dripping...blimey.....yes I remember that.......and fighting over who got first dibs at the jelly at the bottom.

Beef dripping......a bit 'grainy'....with it's own vegemite layer.

Where did all that natural fat go, don't seem to get it these days ?

fuzzywuzzy;1441717 wrote: Ummm, I don't want to be rude or insult but .......eeeewwwwwhhhhhh!!!! You cook veges in beef fat? Why not vegetable oil, or more importantly olive oil. Something tells me it would be a lot better for you . Or if it really has to be animal fat why not goose fat ?


IF you want properly fried potatoes, Fries here in the States, or Chips, in the UK, You need to use a good stable fat that does not break down when heated to proper frying temps.

And you want the grease hot enough that the food is quickly sealed so that the fat is not absorbed into the potatoes.

Olive Oil is fine for a nice saute, and vegetable oil is good to use in salad dressing, but there are very few good frying oils. Peanut oil works really well, as long as you don't have guests who might be allergic to peanuts.

Beef suet is the best, by far. IT can withstand very high heat and does not break down. And it takes very high heat to fry food without ending up with all that fat in your digestive tract.

Beef drippings are great for making gravy, but not for frying.

(It's 'chips' in Australia too Larsmac.) Fish is different though ...I believe it's Cod in UK but Flake (shark) in the lower parts of Aust. Do they do fish n chips in America? I never found a fish n chip shop. ahhh vinegar and chips those were the days

Blended /vegetable oil is fine for chips. Depends on what you do with them before hand as to how they taste when cooked. Goose fat for roasting potatoes. Peanut oil for stirfries and shallow frying of asian food.

I understand using a piece of bread for wiping the gravy from your plate but not beef dripping.

Different cultural norms I suppose.

Snowfire;1441740 wrote: Loved beef dripping on toast as a kid - plenty of salt and pepper. Not had it for years


Beef dripping on bread...sigh...nothing compares...beautiful.

But those were the days when mould was removed from the top of home made jam before the jam was eaten (or was that just my mum :-3) and when there were no sell by dates.

theia;1441765 wrote: Beef dripping on bread...sigh...nothing compares...beautiful.

But those were the days when mould was removed from the top of home made jam before the jam was eaten (or was that just my mum :-3) and when there were no sell by dates.


Funny you should say that. I just scraped layer of mold off the top of some home made Apple Butter for my toast this morning.

LarsMac;1441773 wrote: Funny you should say that. I just scraped layer of mold off the top of some home made Apple Butter for my toast this morning.


Funny you should say that.........I wouldn't know what Apple Butter was, but earlier this evening there was a bit about it on the TV.

And it's mould........don't you know?

I was discussing this thread last night with some friends (they're all older than me ) and one of them went and got his grandmothers old pot with a strainer in it. Told me how you poured the dripping through the strainer picked off all the crunchy bits and then you ran your bread over the strainer to wipe it clean . Then he smacked his lips remembering .......I had to laugh it was like he was remembering asking his mum if he could lick the chocolate from the cake bowl .... I would never have thought of putting that stuff I cook with, on bread .

Bruv;1441800 wrote: Funny you should say that.........I wouldn't know what Apple Butter was, but earlier this evening there was a bit about it on the TV.

And it's mould........don't you know?


you guys spell funny.

And their accents are outrageous!!!! :yh_rotfl

You should hear them say "vitamin"