Why are my Yorkshire puddings shit?

[WhatIsTheCharge]

As the title says.

When my mum makes Yorkshire puddings, they puff up just right, crispy and brown on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Just perfect yorkies.

I use the exact same recipe - I weigh everything with digital scales every time. Use the same type of fat in the tin, cook at the same temperature, never open the oven door once they are in…..and mine are just shit. They either don’t puff up at all or they puff up the wrong way and come out like cupcakes 🤨
What am I doing wrong?!

I make mine in the airfyer...come out super puffy!

That's totally it. An American friend of mine brought some US cake mixes over here once, and the instructions on the back included notes on what you had to do if you lived at altitude. Add more raising agent I think - baking powder possibly.

Also consider what your tin is made of. A solid heavy tin will cook differently to a thin one for instance, even if the oven temperature is the same.

As a previous person said, add a splash of cold water to the mixture - jamie oliver recipe is massive every time

I’ve got a non-stick muffin tin with quite deep holes.

I’ve told DH and my eldest DC that next weekend we are going to have a Yorkshire pudding production line in the kitchen with various methods, recipes, temperatures, testing times etc that have been suggested here and see what turns out the best.
No one can accuse me of not being committed 😂

This is your problem. Non stick. It won't get hot enough or hold the heat long enough. As I said upthread, you need old fashioned, heavy, metal pans. Jamie Oliver recommends not washing them but reather just wiping them out between uses so they become more and more effective as they're seasoned.

Is your American flour the same as your mum uses in UK?

1. Mary Berry recipe (extra egg)
2. Check the actual temperature of your oven with a proper oven thermometer - mine bakes 20° HIGHER than marked!

Those 2 things mean I now do the most amazing Yorkies, even better if you can run to affording the best baking trays IMHO
www.silverwood-bakeware.com/collections/yorkshire-pudding-trays

Blend your eggs and milk and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes. Then add (slightly salted and peppered) flour and blend again. Then add a bit of cold water and stir with a spoon ensuring it makes a clip clip sound. Then spoon into hot oil and cook for 20 minutes

perfect every time. My family is from Yorkshire, so a bad pudding would be social death. The cold water and clip clop sound handed down through the generations so must be done.

Deep sided ancient metal tin inherited from my dad. Beef dripping for the fat.
I’d never do individual Yorkshires- it should be one giant pud that you just tear pieces off.

This!!! I half the recipe as there are only 3 of us So I make 6. 100ml milk, 2 eggs, 70g of plain flour. Yes I do put the tin in the oven before I pour in the batter but apart from that I don’t do anything else special. This recipe works every single time.

Did you whisk it just before putting it in the oven? I mix it, chuck it in the oven, and then whisk it again immediately before pouring it into the fat.

Noted!
We move house in just over a month, so I’ll invest in a different tin for my new kitchen

Good Food recipe here too,
I put mine in the fridge and let it stand about half an hour at room temp .
I have some heavy shallow tins from Procook , the full recipe does 10 nicely ( I have a 6+4 set of tins)

salt , white pepper, sunflower oil and watch through the glass door .as they rise

Next time your mum is visiting you (maybe after you move house), get her to make Yorkshires with your oven and your equipment, and see if she can succeed.

Yes, this. Plain not self raising. Sounds mad but it's true.

This is the recipe I use too, never fails!

Absolute rubbish.. I use bbc good food website recipe, and use silicone non stick muffin tins, and they rise up loads and come out absolutely massive!!

I use olive oil, not lard.

Deep muffins tins, veg oil that is sizzling.
To make 12 I follow a Hairy Biker recipe I saw years ago. 6 eggs , 12 tablespoons of plain flour. 2/3 Milk and 1/3 to the consistency of double cream ( actually think the water thing might have been another chef but it works!!) splash of vinegar- don’t know why but it works
in the fridge for at least an hour

I wish I knew the secret. I've never managed decent Yorkshire puddings. I've just learned to accept it and embrace Aunt Bessie's.

I also cannot soft boil an egg. Tried poaching eggs in a pan of water for lunch today. Yeah - they went in the bin!

I use the Mary Berry recipe - I add half the milk and mix, leave to stand for a bit and then add the rest of the milk and mix again just before pouring into the tin. Sunflower oil (not loads though) in a 4 hole tin, heated well first. They come out enormous.

DM had an old enamelled rectangular tin that made a big slab of pudding.

Bollocks

Ivd never used anything but non-stick - and I’ve never had a problem with yorkies.

I struggled until I tried James Martin's recipe- 8 eggs, 8 ounces of flour and a pint of milk (Although I halve it as I'm not made of money) and hot oil as pp have said. Never fails and I'm now designated yorkie maker at family gatherings 😆

I agree that getting a heavy deep muffin tin was a game changer for me, and leaving them longer than you think is needed, to avoid them deflating.
But I’ve managed previously with old thinner tins, and even made them in the air fryer in individual ramekins.
My mum used to use lard, or Pura(no idea if this is still a thing-solidified white blocks of fat or vegetable oil?).

I sometimes think it’s also the quality of the flower, and how fresh it is. I never knew that was a thing, but in the pandemic, when flour was scarce, I managed to buy some from the baker’s. The bread was huge!

It's definitely the altitude - you'll need to experiment

I posted here last christmas asking for advice on yorkshire puddings. Someone said to put a pinch of baking powder in to make them super crispy - worked like a dream.