my playdo didnt work!!

[breaghsmum]

i used this recipe i got on internet:

1 cup of salt
2 cups of plain flour
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
4 teaspoons of cream of tartar

place all ing in a pan and heat gently untill it forms a lump and leaves the sides of the pan.

i did all this and it just burnt itself onto the bottom of pan which i think i'll hve to throw out now.

what have i done wrong?

too hot? Did you stir it?

You cant leave it in the pan. you have to stir until your arm feels like it is about to fall off then pick it out of the saucepan without giving yourself 3rd degree burns. Put in on your flour covered beanch and knead like dough until nice and warm and not sticky anymore.
Put a good layer of salt in the pan and a bit of water then set on low heat on the stove and let it boil away. This will help to clean the pot.

that'll be it then. i didnt stir it. i stupidly thought it would miraculously transform. thanks

Or use biological washing powder to soak the pan

Ha! not wishing to laugh but the image of playdo just 'transforming' is good! . Have another go as that recipe is a good one and does work. It's weird, you'll be stirring away and it looks like lumpy porridge then all of a sudden it kind of comes away from the walls of the pan and is a shiny lump of playdo. I always add my food colouring in with the cooking process as it can stain your worktop if you knead it in afterwards.

i was laughing at myself when i realised id just stood watching it for 20 minutes waiting for the change to happen!!

You really need to keep stirring it, and not cook at too high a temperature. I suspect that one or both of these reasons might be to blame. Don't give up! It's so much nicer than bought stuff, as they can have it warm, and you can put things in it like rice for extra texture, plus you don't feel guilty about throwing it away when it gets manky.

I use this recipe which doesn't require cooking. It was given to me by the local surestart play-group

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
2Tbs cooking oil
1 to 1 1/2 cups cold water
food colouring

Mix flour, salt, and oil. Add food colouring to water and gradually add to flour mixture. Knead.

Store in a plastic bag in the fridge.

To be honest, I make a quarter of this mixture most weeks for my dd and it usually lasts about a week. She loves it .

thanks kiwi, that one sounds more suited to my abilities. lol

oh kiwibella!
I didn't know there was a no cook method! I am just too lazy to cook it! I usually make salt dough on rainy days with the kids, but it would be nice to have something that isn't meant to dry out! I colour salt dough with acrylic paint... can I do that with this do you reckon?

I was hoping to find this in the archive somewhere and here it is close to the top!
kiwi we also did it at sure start centre and I couldn't remember how to make it.
How long can I store it in the fridge for?
Is this the one that if we actually make something we can bake it in oven so we can keep it?
Can I use any paint to decorate?

Oh, and can I use olive oil instead of cooking oil? Or are they the same thing? Can you tell I am slightly un-domesticated?

I'm sure they didn't use oil when we did it at the sure start centre though.

I am tempted to try the cooking option, does that stuff last longer?

Being a nursery nurse ive lost track the amount of times ive made playdough.

Try making playdough and kneading glitter and small shaped sequins into it at the end..

Black Space playdough
Red Christmas Playdough
Yellow Easter playdough

Add vanilla essence to make it smelly too

Somemightsay- Last for a couple of weeks in the fridge in a sealed tub before going crunchy.

Cant bake this one... I think your thinking of Salt dough.- Different recipe. That can be baked then painted to make things.

my dough usually lasts about a week. I only make 1/4 of that recipe which is more than enough for my wee girl.

I'll try the vanilla essence trick! We often put glitter in. The whole making of the dough is enjoyable. I usually put the ingredients in a big bowl and we mix it and knead it too.

Have fun