Steaming a pudding

[MrsWembley]

So, I've made the Nigel Slater one and he wants it steamed for 3&1/2 hours.

However, damp problems in our flat were a prime concern to my DP (and, tbf, me too) so his mother said she'd lend us her pressure cooker. The booklet that came with it has instructions on steaming puddings by weight and doing the 1&1/2 litre sized pudding that Nigel wanted was too big, so we've split it into two, which come in nicely at just under 2lb in weight each.

Now the booklet says that pressure cooking should reduce cooking times by a third but the pudding instructions say to cook for 3 hours. If Nigel wants it done for 3&1/2 hours, and the pudding is smaller too, what should we do?

And does it really matter if it is steamed for too long?

I've just steamed a load of Xmas puds in our slow cookers - would that be another way around your problem? Most of the steam condenses on the lid and drips back into the crock pot, so it's not too much of a problem with steaming up the kitchen.

Ah, I should have added, we've started steaming...

Don't have a slow cooker, either.

It won't make a lot of difference to the pudding - steam it for a couple of hours and it should be fine. I usually do ours (in a saucepan with simmering water half way up the sides) for about 6ish hours, but one year I forgot one of them which was in the slow cooker and it had a good 10 hours and was none the worse! Probably better to be a bit over than under, but Christmas puddings are pretty forgiving - it's not an exact science!

Cant it just be microwaved?

It does the same job as steaming in far less time in my experience..

As I understand it, you can microwave them to warm them up again but the initial cooking has to be steamed.

It's nice to know that they are forgiving, thank-you

Most Christmas puddings need steaming for around 8 hours normally, and a pressure cooker would cut that down to about 3 hours. If Nigel's original recipe says 3hrs, you'd probably get away with 1.5 hrs in the PC. I'd be suspicious of any pud that only needed 3 hrs of normal steaming though

One of the reasons I chose to do Nigel's was the 3 hour steaming time, rather than the 8 that Delia's wanted!

I am using a old family recipe and it requires 7.5hrs of steaming. When I was given it by the matriarch that had produced all the puddings since the year dot, I added a handwritten note to the effect that it was a nice idea but I couldn't be bothered with the umpteen hours of steaming. Years later & I have found a way around it that means I can set them going & get on with my day.

Here we go a MICROWAVE CHRISTMAS PUDDING RECIPE takes 10 minutes on medium power (700 watts), serves four and tastes better if left for two weeks and reheated on the day.

I really cant be bothered to steam a pudding for so many hours but I need a nice gluten free one and I like cooking so I might give this recipe a try with gluten free flour as the shop bought one was expensive and not that nice that I got last year.

Does Nigel's recipe have any raising agents? If it does, steam normally for a bit first otherwise they won't work against the pressure in a PC. Have no idea how to adjust the rest of times, sorry!

Good god, Free, that seems to go against everything I have ever been taught! If you do it, let us know if it works, please

Actually, yes, SF flour and yes, the booklet said to give it a half an hour simmer before setting the thingy.

(Disclaimer: never used a pressure cooker before and don't know any technical jargon...)

MIL tried a microwave Xmas pudding a few years ago, more as an experiment than anything. She was very open to feedback. We all agreed it was perfectly edible, certainly no worse than supermarket pudding, but not up to her usual high standards. If there was anything I could put my finger on, it was the lack of depth of flavour you get from a slower steamed pudding.

MrsWembley* - my thinking is microwaving is just very intense steaming.

Its the leaving for two weeks that develops flavour.

I will try it next weekend and start a new thread in a couple of weeks to coincide with the time everyone gets desperate as they left it too late.

I bet every single one of the Nigella, Nigel Slater, Delia et al recipes could be done very successfully in a microwave. Its just that Christmas pud was invented before microwave so everybody still thinks they have to be steamed.

I make all my steamed puds in microwaves. Nobody can work out how I can make a treacle pud in the same time as it takes to clear the main course plates.

I once had a cake type thing cooked for me in a microwave and it tasted lovely... at first! After it had cooled down properly it went really tough and chewy.

I use a Good Housekeeping recipe which 'steams' the pud in a bain-marie in the oven for several hours.

Then I re-heat it in the slow-cooker on Christmas Day - it's very forgiving as it doesn't need watching.

Thank-you all for the advice! Did them for three hours in the end. They seem fine

So, done the cake, done the pudding, done the braised red cabbage - roll on Christmas!