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I've been using this recipe but I can't get the centers cooked without burning the outside. Does anyone have any suggestions? What am I missing?

I cook the muffins in a 10-inch skillet on a gas stove over medium heat.

Here are the techniques I've tried:

  1. first time, heat was too high, and the outside began to burn. Turned it down, flipped it, and cooked the other side for 6 minutes. Mushy inside.

  2. lower heat. Cooked each side for 8 minutes. Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.

  3. still lower heat. Cooked each side for 10 minutes. Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.

  4. same heat as 3; online suggestion was to finish in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Outside edges were crisp instead of soft. Mushy inside.

  5. still lower heat. Cooked one side for 6 minutes, flipped, cooked for 6 minutes, flipped, 6 minutes, flipped, 6 minutes. (total 12 minutes per side). Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.

When I say "mushy" I mean that it's undercooked in the middle.

In all cases, I let the muffins cool completely before I cut them open, to use the residual heat to finish cooking.

I've been broiling them after cutting them open, and we really like the flavor. But cutting each muffin open and toasting it immediately after griddling just isn't right. <g>

Pete Becker
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    Have you tried rolling them thinner? As a test? – FuzzyChef Nov 26 '18 at 18:24
  • Also, how much are they rising during the proofing step? – FuzzyChef Nov 26 '18 at 18:25
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    @FuzzyChef -- here's an embarrassing thing: I don't really have rolling and cutting under control, so there's a lot of variation in thickness. Even the thinnest ones, though, don't cook through. But I'll try making some even thinner and see what I get. – Pete Becker Nov 26 '18 at 18:29
  • Yah, I'm fishing because nothing comes to mind with your instructions on why it wouldn't cook through. If nothing else, finishing it in the oven should do the trick. So my first thought is density/thickness. – FuzzyChef Nov 26 '18 at 18:30
  • @FuzzyChef -- the first couple of times I let the proofing go several hours, and the dough was probably tripled in size. Knocked down easily. For later batches I shortened it, and tried to go more toward just doubling. – Pete Becker Nov 26 '18 at 18:31
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    I mean the proofing after you roll & cut. There's a 2nd proof there. – FuzzyChef Nov 26 '18 at 18:32
  • @FuzzyChef -- so, density: I end up using just a bit less milk than the recipe says, and that gets me a dough that's easy to work. With more milk it's too sticky. – Pete Becker Nov 26 '18 at 18:32
  • Shall we move this to chat? – FuzzyChef Nov 26 '18 at 18:33
  • @FuzzyChef -- the second proof rises to about twice the original thickness, with more rise when it's on the griddle. – Pete Becker Nov 26 '18 at 18:33
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/86242/discussion-between-pete-becker-and-fuzzychef). – Pete Becker Nov 26 '18 at 18:33
  • Could this be a difference in expectation of texture between an America English muffin and a muffin made to an English recipe? – Spagirl Nov 27 '18 at 07:57
  • @Spagirl -- this wasn't a difference in texture; it was mushy inside, i.e., not cooked all the way through. My theory (see my answer) is that I was making the dough too dry, so it didn't conduct heat well enough to cook through. With a bit more milk the problem went away. At least, it did this time... – Pete Becker Nov 27 '18 at 14:49

1 Answers1

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After a discussion in chat with @FuzzyChef I decided that I was trying too hard to keep the dough dry. I wasn't using all of the milk (just a bit left over) and struggled a bit to get all the flour incorporated into the dough. Using all the milk made the dough more sticky, so it required more careful handling, but the result came out just fine. (I also bought a new griddle and an infrared thermometer, so I have new toys to play with)

Pete Becker
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