Home made playdough

[Tinkywinks]

Hi, I've just made some playdough, exactly following the instructions written by an art teacher, but the mixture is too sticky. I'm not sure if it's because it's still a bit warm? Should I add more flour? Where did I go wrong? I hate it when you try and be wholesome and do things like this and it doesn't turn out right.

franny's the playdough expert. hopefully she'll be along soon. (sorry that i can't help)

you need to kneed it, it will become more elastic, like kneeding bread dough.

Give it a knead and let it cool down, then see how it is. It does improve once it's cool usually I have found.

Sprinkle with flour, knead it a bit and leave to cool down.

How did you make it? (ie, what amounts of what)

LOL at Franny being the playdough expert!

Thanks everyone, I did kneed it for about 10 minutes. Maybe I'll kneed it a bit more. Or leave it. Or wait for Franny!

Possibly too much oil?

you called?

is it the sort you cook?
I'll go and get my favourite recipe for you, but if this was a cooking type, then I am guessing you did not cook it quite long enough. If it is a no-cook type, IMO they usually ARE quite sticky

3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
2 tbsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water
Pour all ingredients into a large pan. Add food colouring, fragrance (eg lemon oil, vanilla essence) and glitter if wanted. Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead the playdough until the texture matches playdough.

I haven't known anyone have trouble with this one except the MNer who used tartare sauce instead of cream of tartar

I cooked some this week in a wok frying pan and it made it SO fast to cook, so that is my tip for the week

Do you need anything other than soapy water to clean the pan afterwards?

not IME
it looks like it won't shift but it does

Oh, just realised...I also used tartare sauce!!! Maybe that's the problem! I couldn't find cream of tartar in Sainsburys.
Hold on....am I being really thick? Are tartare sauce and cream of tartar ENTIRELY different things?

Thanks for the recipe Franny, my receipe was practically the same but it was a no cook one. How long do you cook for and do you have to knead it while it's warm or can you wait til it's cold? I'm getting into details now because this was my 3rd failed attempt and even my son has lost faith in me now.

oh god sorry but LOL
I thought it was funny enough when the first poor MNer did it
sorry but cream of tartar is some weird baking powder stuff that you find in the cooking section

you just cook until it gets thick and starts to pull away from the edge - usually about 5 mins or so the way I do it? However as mentioned if you do it in a large flat pan it is quicker, or you can use hot water to start with as I understand that speeds things up also

I knead it when warm as it feels lovely
it only needs a quick squeeze IMO - mine sometimes has the odd lump in but my ds is not fussy about it

You should have seen me picking all the bits of gherkins and capers out of the playdough! And it really stinks!
Well I don't know who named what first, but calling two different things very similiar names is a bit of a bad joke and not fair on divvy mums like me!

Thanks Franny, I am now enlightened. I'm not giving up. I will make playdough. And succeed. (cue Rocky music)

I have informed the other tartare sauce user so you can start your own stinky playdough clique

Franny how long does it last for?

I have never had any go off
it eventually goes a bit stale
and in between uses the salt may rise to the surface and give a whitish bloom which you can knead in again

we normally make a new batch every month or two, just because it is fun

Oh dear...LOL at the stinky playdoh. Yep, you can use boiling water out of the kettle and it's soooo quick - my fave recipe asks for boiling water (its in MN recipes, in toddlers section I think)

If you keep it in the fridge at lasts until it gets all hairy and crumby and salty and you need to chuck it (months, at least).

Good luck with your next batch. Once you crack it, you'll love it.

Ah, Tinkywinks, let me crush you to my bosom, for I have also used a fish condiment in my playdough. As I said in my defence at the time, the woman in Waitrose swore BLIND that tartare sauce and cream of tartar were the same thing, and when an employee of the John Lewis Partnership speaks, I listen.

If it makes you feel any better, my next batch was proper stuff and my youngest is now a right playdough fiend (whereas both DSs started crying when I tried to force them to play with my original effort).

Thanks also to Franny for delicately not outing me by name...

So glad I stumbled on this tonight. Thursday is our staying at home day and, after much procrastinating, I am all set to make home made playdough tomorrow with, you guessed it, tartare sauce. Back to Morrisons I go tommorow morning ............

That really made my day! Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I guess if you'd never heard of Cream of Tartar it's an easy mistake to make!
This is what you're looking for!

well you know me, wonky, the soul of tact

can I add the fantastic version that SoupDragon gave me which is to add cocoa powder to your mix? It makes the playdough chocolatey brown and it smells DELICIOUS

erm, don't they try to eat it when it smells good? (and looks like chocolate??)

oh almost certainly yes

what age group are we talking here? Under 2s tend to eat it whatever, really

it is still very salty which may put them off, but just spurs some on
I would accept them getting the odd taste anyway