So, I'm steaming my Christmas pud...

[GunpowderDragonsAndSoup]

... and I've made it half the sizeof the recipe. The full size takes 4 hours to steam - do I steam a half sized pud for 2 hours?

I think probably you do.

But am not 100% sure.

Best thing to do would be to do one for 2 hours, then send it to me, I will eat it and tell you if it was done properly or not.

You will then know how long to do your real one for.

(nice name, btw )

You will probably need to steam it for a little longer than two hours. Maybe 2 and 1/4. Its one of those strange things small things have less mass and weight and therefore take slightly longer to cook! HTMS?

Steaming your christmas pud???

Hats off to you for that - never even considered trying to make my own....

Ta. I should remember - I did it last year too. After making the full amount the year before and discovering at the end of the recipe that it served 12 adults

flashboombangzooki, I feel obliged to make some sort of an effort since my mother cooks Christmas dinner for 13. It eases my conscience somewhat.

I thought it was probably slightly longer than half the time. And no, Squonk, I'm not sending it to you to test. (I think there are a few Gunpowders hanging about MN at the moment!)

TBH the duration of steaming all seems a bit random = some places 2hrs some7hrs.

I would give them 4hrs - won;t do any harm.

The one I made lasy week fitted into a 2 pint pudding bowl and needed 8 hours steaming. Hope this helps.

I would steam it for at least 3 hours and 4 if possible. The puddings seem to be better when you steam them longer than the time given in the recipe book.

It does get steamed for a good 2 hours or so on Christmas day too.

This isn't a traditional suet pud BTW. And I've no idea how many pints my basin holds (its too late to fill it and see too, given that it's got a half steamed pud in it). It's exactly the right size for half-a-portion of Nigella's nonconformist Christmas pud though.

Gunpowder - I would also go for slightly more than half the cooking time for a half size pud. It's pretty hard to over-steam these things, so err on the side of generosity.

I made 5 Christmas puds this year - two full size, and 3 mini ones to give away as presents! I feel an immense sense of satisfaction whenever I think of the line of puddings stashed in our cellar!

I would steam it for 3-4hrs...too little is worse than too much.

Yum Yum.

I get a huge sense of satisfaction from making it too actually. And it's soooo easy but people are always impressed!

It's about halfway through its third hour now.