Baking - physics question

D

Daevion

New member
I made a baked raspberry "pudding" (I'm guessing that's in the British
sense of the word, since I suspect there wasn't really supposed to be
any liquid.) The raspberry mixture at the bottom was 2 cups
raspberries and 1 cup jam and the top part was flour, sugar, 8 egg
yolks, 6 oz. butter, lemon juice, vanilla, and baking powder.

It said to use a 9-inch round pan, but since I was afraid it would
drip over, I put a cookie sheet underneath it. The recipe said to bake
it for 40 minutes, after which you use the toothpick test. It
definitely wasn't ready, so I baked it another 10 minutes and tried
again. The toothpick seemed dry this time (and the recipe said "be
careful not to overbake") but the center was definitely underdone. (I
should have used a wide butter knife, not a skinny toothpick!)
Luckily, the people I served it to (most of whom were strangers)
seemed to love it.

My question is: Did the cookie sheet, in all likelihood, slow down the
baking process? Should I just tolerate a couple of drips to make sure
it bakes evenly? Thank you.

Lenona.
 
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:20:46 -0800 (PST), Lenona
wrote:


YES! Didn't so much slow it down as prevent heat from reaching the
bottom... eventually the top would have burned yet the bottom would
remain uncooked.
 
On Feb 14, 7:20?am, Lenona wrote:


Yes, you blocked the flow of heated air around the baking dish.
Putting a square of aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven should
catch drips without impeding airflow.
 
On Feb 14, 8:05?am, Lenona wrote:

Shoot, I just read that Reynolds advises against that. They say to put
a piece of aluminum foil, an inch or two larger than the pan, on a
lower oven rack.
 
On 14/02/2011 10:20 AM, Lenona wrote:

I don't think that the cookie sheet underneath would do anything. I
always use one under fruit pies and it never seems to affect cooking
time. I have put the pies directly on pans and I have put them on a rack
below the pie.
Oven temperatures and ingredients vary. You cannot expect baked goods
to always be cooked in the exact time every time. That is why you test them.
 
"Lenona" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Yes

Should I just tolerate a couple of drips to make sure it bakes evenly?


No pl,ace a piece of foil on the bottom of the oven below the 9" pan.

Dimitri
 
Dave Smith wrote:


I agree with this Dave. I think the idea of putting foil on the oven
bottom is worthless, as the dripped bits will heat, burn and smoke on
the bottom just as if the foil weren't there. A pan under the baking
dish doesn't seem to have that problem. I am careful to not use so large
a pan that I block the circulation of the oven though.
 
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:17:30 -0800 (PST) in rec.food.cooking,
spamtrap1888 wrote,

That's what I would do, or put the cookie sheet there. The owner's
manual for my oven warns not to cover the bottom of the oven with
anything. Some other oven is probably different. I don't know if a
drip catcher that covers only a part of the oven floor is OK or not,
but on a lower rack it should be fine.
 
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:20:46 -0800 (PST), Lenona
wrote:

As far as finished product, the result is between cake and American
pudding. I've made a couple lately and they are wonderful.

Would you please post the entire recipe or a link to it?

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:31:18 -0800, David Harmon
wrote:


Folks who know how in the kitchen do not over fill pans. duh
Be well assured that the dumbos who repeatedly overload
their same pans repeatedly overload their same credit cards.
 
On Feb 14, 11:55?pm, sf wrote:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...2A15750C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Cond? Nast Cafeteria's Raspberry Pudding

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

1 cup raspberry jam

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

8 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup milk.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the raspberries with the jam
and place in the bottom of a greased 9-inch round cake pan.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for 30 seconds.
Gradually beat in the sugar. Beat on high 3 to 4 minutes, until light
and fluffy. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks, vanilla and lemon juice on
high until they are thick and pale yellow. Beat into the butter,
scraping the sides often. Stir in the flour mixture in 3 parts,
alternating with the milk.

5. Pour the batter over the berries. Bake until a toothpick inserted
into the center comes out without batter on it, about 40 minutes. (Be
careful not to overbake.) Serve warm, so that the center melts a bit
when you cut the pudding.

Yield: 8 servings.



And here's a not-so-similar recipe that still sounds great:

http://messycook.blogspot.com/2011/02/lovin-spoonfuls-warm-raspberry.html


Lenona.
 
On Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:29:54 -0800 (PST), Lenona
wrote:


Thanks, saved. Lately, I've made two different chocolate puddings and
a lemon thingie that could be called "pudding" too... time to branch
out. I like them a lot!

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On 2/14/2011 5:20 AM, Lenona wrote:

I think the cookie sheet increased the heat flow to the bottom of the
pan. It very well could have blocked the convection of heat to the top
of the pudding but I doubt that's much of a factor.

OTOH, recipes always seem to give times that tend to underbake things.
Sometimes they're wildly off. If you're worried about spills onto your
oven, a cookie sheet is a good idea. Your best bet is to adjust your
baking time and the way you test for doneness.
 
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