I hereby declare Crumpet Season open!

[TheKitchenWitch]

As (almost) every year around this time, I shall be making crumpets because I'm not in the UK and can't get them here (Germany) and I bloody love a crumpet for breakfast on a cold and foggy morning.
And as every year, I invite anyone who'd like to share recipes, tips, crumpet ring experiences (fnar fnar) to join me :D

I've given up on crumpet rings - even the very expensive ones don't stop the batter sticking and I end up battling to get my crumpets out (snigger).
Instead, I am using a pancake pan I got for Christmas last year. It's for making small american-style pancakes, or blinis, has 7 "holes" each of which is pretty much crumpet-sized.
So far I've been pleased with the results - they aren't as perfectly round as perhaps from a ring (there is some overspill), but they are easy to turn and cook beautifully, plus I can do seven at once.

The only thing (as ever) is I still haven't found the definitive recipe which gives me lots and lots of holes.

So, would anyone care to join me?

Ooh, just my kind of thread

I've had a number of attempts at crumpets over the years and I think I've perfected my technique. For stopping them sticking I use this stuff. It's really handy to have a jar in the fridge for general use, but it does work extremely well for crumpets. Not even a hint of stickage when used with my non-stick rings. I don't add the batter until the rings have heated up which I think helps.

My new favourite recipe is sourdough crumpets. It does help that I have a great sourdough starter on the go, but it is SO easy because I just feed the starter in the morning, leave it to bubble away during the day then mix 300g of it with 1/2 tsp of bicarb, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp runny honey. I reckon making them not too thick and cooking them really slowly makes for lots of holes on the top so that the top has a chance to dry out before the bottom burns. The holiest (holeyest?) ones I've made were the ones where I started them cooking them on a really low heat, promptly forgot about them for 10 minutes while I played a game of battleships with ds and only remembered them when they were dry on the top

Any other crumpet bakers out there?!

Oh I think you're right about v. low heat. I shall do that next time, really really really low heat so they are basically drying out rather than cooking.
I did another batch this morning as they are being eaten very quickly, despite the lack of holes :D

I've given up on the rings, even greasing them didn't work. I'm happy with the pancake pan, plus I get seven in one go, so for a regular batch of batter I only have to cook twice.

I've never tried sourdough crumpets - do they taste different? I don't have a starter at the moment, and am unlikely to have the time to get one going and feed it etc (ds2 is, ahem, "challenging") but I shall bear it in mind for next year.

They do taste a bit different, a little bit tangy like sourdough bread. I mainly like them because I barely have to do anything to make it into crumpet batter. Sourdough pancakes and waffles are also really good.

I might have to investigate the pancake pan - 7 in one go sounds appealing! Although I'd probably just eat 7 in one go

I made them last week and will probably do so again this weekend - lovely . I use the Delia recipe and a fab pan I bought last year - easy glide or something like that.

I do use rings, just the KitchenCraft egg rings .... and have no problem getting them out!

We are getting through rather a lot of them, it has to be said.

Does the Delia recipe add bicarb later?

It doesn't include bicarb, only yeast, flour, salt, sugar and milk.