Until last night…
By now, most of you who are reading this know that I have a tendency toward the obsessive when it comes to certain things. Most of the time it shows up when I’m troubleshooting some tech problem — I simply must find a solution. But this trait can rear its head in other areas as well.
I don’t like to fail.
And I was a popover failure.
It has been eating me to the core. Oh, I have read every @#$%# damn thing there is to read about popovers and still mine refused to “pop.” I googled: “I am doing everything right and popovers won’t pop.”
For those less industrious than I who want to know what those “everything right” things are, here is a brief rundown to “guarantee” popover success:
- Preheat your popover pan
- NEVER open the oven door while baking
- Use room temperature ingredients
- Use the freshest eggs possible
I did all those things every single time. My eggs were laid the same day for crying out loud. Still, my popovers refused to rise.
Until last night…
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Why this sudden popover angst, you ask?
Because I asked for (and received) popover pans for my birthday. Years ago, I made popovers in my muffin pans, which are a larger size than most. I made them with no problems. This was pre-internet and I had no idea popovers were even considered temperamental. I might have had one or two issues, but I don’t remember it being a huge deal. The last several times I made them, using the same recipe, in the same pans they didn’t work. I gave up on popovers.
Fast forward to one month ago. I saw a picture of some insane popovers on food52.com right at the time my family was asking me for birthday ideas. Popover pans. The key to popover success. Done.
As soon as I got them, and with the help of my new chicken friends, I set about to blow Charlie’s mind with some wicked good popovers.
Nope. Middle age. Popover paunch. Popover pucks. “What changed from my younger years,” I asked myself. “Why won’t they rise?” …I googled until my fingers were raw.
“No. I am doing everything right, dammit!” I exclaimed. (Why can I not remember how to punctuate dialogue? I really don’t care enough to google that, mind you. My obsessive tendencies are apparently very narrow….)
I conducted various unscientific experiments. (my German Pancake is a lot like a popover and IT rises… this flour from Costco is strange… when I make bread I always need more water than recipes call for…) I thought long and hard about this…
Before I progress, I’d like to comment on a couple of the aforementioned items:
Strange flour from Costco. About a year ago, I was delighted to find Unbleached All Purpose flour at Costco that was not in 25 pound bags. I bought it and immediately found it to be strange. I talked to a couple friends who had also bought it and they, too, had issues with it. It was more like whole wheat than white, and yet the bag said nothing other than “All Purpose Unbleached White Flour.” This past week, my mom picked a few things up at Costco for me while she was there, flour being one of them. I assumed the flour I bought last year must have been a fluke. However, this new flour says “All Purpose Unbleached White with ‘Ultragrain‘.” Well at least they are now labeling it correctly. Turns out that this white flour contains 30% whole wheat. Which explains a lot. Not that whole wheat is bad — of course not. But it definitely does not behave the same way.
I need more water in my bread recipes. Over the years I’ve learned that when making bread using volume measurements vs weight, I need more water in my bread. I’m not food scientist, but I would venture to guess that our Minnesota flour is more dry due to our winters. I have always compensated by adding more water. Can anyone verify this? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
My German Pancake rises. The recipe for German Pancakes is very, very similar to popovers. It gets baked in a cast iron pan. I do nothing special for this recipe; I do not worry about room temp ingredients, I don’t preheat the pan… and it works. Why? Why why WHY? But I did notice that the batter is much runnier than all the popover recipes I have tried. Could this be the answer to my popover problem??
Which brings us to last night.
Finally. I had REAL All Purpose flour and not some hippy-ass ultra grain blend. I had four fresh eggs. I had a husband and son who were home to prevent me from eating all the popovers — for it seems to make no difference to my palate whether they rise or not…
I looked at my German Pancake recipe and three other recipes. The discrepancy in egg/milk/flour ratios across different recipes is pretty incredible. I sort of made my own up, trying hard to mimic the pancake recipe while making just the right amount for six popovers. And when I finished the math I realized my recipe was identical to the updated food52 recipe (did I mention that? oh, whoops! The first recipe that was posted was wrong and has been tweaked due to commenter complaints…). The only difference was that my recipe used 1/4 cup less flour. Here it is:
Jennie’s Popover Recipe for MINNESOTA Flour
- 1 cup flour
- 1 t salt
- 1 cup milk
- 4 medium (or 3 extra large) eggs
- 2 T melted butter
Put popover pan into oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
If possible, use room temperature ingredients. I never plan that far ahead, so I put the milk in the microwave for 1 minute on 50% power. If my eggs aren’t fresh out of the coop, I put them in hot water for about 10-15 min.
Whisk eggs and milk together in a large spouted measuring cup (I use an 8 cup pyrex). Measure 1 cup of flour and carefully stir salt into the flour which is still in the measuring cup (less things to wash people!). Gradually add the flour to the eggs & milk whisking constantly. Batter should be very runny and mostly smooth — think of the consistency of heavy cream. A few lumps are ok. Add melted butter and stir well.
When oven is heated, take pan out and spray with nonstick or grease with butter. (My popover pans are nonstick so I just used Pam. If yours are cast iron, use butter). Fill cups to just over halfway. Bake at 425 without opening the door for 20-25 minutes. Pray.
After they have popped and are done, slit the tops with a knife and either serve immediately or return to the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees to preserve the ‘pop.’
I am convinced that my failures were mostly due to the flour to egg to milk ratio. My batter was not runny enough. Nowhere online did I come across this as being a reason they did not pop. I read that the consistency should be “runny” and “like pancake batter,” but those descriptions are not very precise. I also believe that stupid Costco flour played a part, however I used that flour for the German Pancake and it worked just fine, so… If you are having problems with popovers not popping, try decreasing your flour or adding an egg if you have already tried all the other tricks and you are sure that, like me, you are doing everything right.
Susan says
I followed your recipe to the T and not only did they not rise, the tops came out white~!~~Yuck
Jenmenke says
@susan- so sorry to hear that. 🙁
I’m not a pro baker or food scientist by any stretch of the imagination – this is just what worked for me. :/
Desma hodson says
Hi, many years ago, my young son and i made popovers not really knowing what they were, but had the ingredients and it seemed easy. Lived on farm and was using a wood cookstove. They were huge and beautiful, but we thought we made a mistake, was expecting
Muffins, so we made them again. Same lovely popovers. Gave up and ate them anyway. Now i am trying on an ekectric stove and have pucks..
So will try again using
Your advice. Thank you.
Robin says
Yayyyyyyyy, it worked! I told my wife I felt like Don Quixote chasing my popover windmills! I did add an extra 1/8 cup cup of milk to get a thinner batter.
-Robin in Tennessee
Kelly Cunningham says
Your narrative of your failures mirrored my own almost exactly. And your recipe worked!!! I think you’re right it was the thickness of the batter that mattered mist. Thank you.
Lynda williams says
Does oven rack position matter? I’ve had much the same experience as you. I’ve been baking at the lowest position and get “muffin” results.
Carrie says
It’s like you were inside my mind when you wrote this! All the popover recipes I was finding ended up not poofing and the batter was so think. I used the same recipe I use for German pancakes and bam perfect popovers. I willl now go into a carb and butter coma!
Kathleen M DeGiule says
For the past two years my popovers have been perfect. It took a while…lots of trial and error (alot of error)…to get that way, but I was to the point that I could just throw them together in a heartbeat. Then suddenly no POP in my popovers. Devastation! I’m going to try them again tonight adding an extra egg. I am beside myself!
Pati says
Mine rose so nicely in the oven and I thought Yay! But when I took them out, them fell quickly even though I poked them right away, and the ones that did not fall where still quite doughy in the middle- not hollow. I wonder if I put too much batter in each cup? I had so much batter I didnt even use it all. Fail… again. 🙁
Antoinette Brillant says
Frankly I am “pop overed out” That horrible mushy texture, so thick , disgusting, uncooked, something is very wrong with that batter recipe, I think way too much flour of any kind? I still have not figure out witch one works best either by the way? I can make the perfect crepes, but these ” I refuse to pop properly things” are totally aggravating! Where is the fluffy part?
Jill says
I just found this after having success for years with popover–using both recipes of my mother’s from her 60’s cookbook and my own newer cookbooks. But, my last two batches haven’t popped. The difference (from what I can tell) is that between the batches earlier this year and now, I got a new package of flour. I am totally blaming the flour, but I am going to try adding the extra egg/milk to see if that works. Thank you!
Dan Grimes says
Thank you! I appreciate that you not only sought a solution to your popover woes, but also documented the methodology used to solve the problem. That documentation led me to your blog, mere hours after a major popover failure. I had an inkling that I had suffered two specific fail points. Temperature of the pan (I had pulled my hot pan out of oven, dropped in room temp butter, and then took a few minutes wrapping up my dough mix before finally pouring it in and getting pan back in oven), and dough consistency/ egg, milk, flour ratio(mine was thinner than pancake mix but still thicker than a crepe batter).
I kept pan in oven longer, and returned it to oven after buttering before pouring in the dough, and I thinned down the dough a bit! Problem solved❤
Thank you Jen!
Melina says
Your recipe worked! Same thing happened to me. I had been making for years and the last several, tried every recipe and trick, no popping over. So after reading your recipe, I used 4 eggs instead of three just to make sure they would pop up. Also, had every ingredient at room temp per your suggestion. Yay!!! My family was thrilled! We eat for breakfast with jam and whipped cream! Thank you for helping me solve this long standing popover dilemma. No more popover frustration!
Carol says
My popover pans are quite” seasoned” . For years my popovers were gorgeous. Lately not so much. Wondering if it’s time for new pans—- using cast iron now.
Parker Schlink says
I felt like you must have been watching me because I was have the exact same issues. But….I added an egg and ta daaaa perfectly popped popovers. Thank you!!!
Debbie says
Did you use whole milk? I have failed twice at other recipes. I’ll give this one a try! Thx
Jenmenke says
@Debbie: nope. Just regular 1% milk!
Paul says
I have been eating popovers from when my Mom made them in the early 70s. Always a favorite.
I would make them several times a year and from time to time they would fail. I could not figure out why. In fact I just went through a bunch of failures and it wad driving me crazy.
I found this , added the 4th egg, and presto, perfect popovers again.
THANK YOU!
Jenmenke says
I’m so happy this has helped so many people. It remains a total mystery as to why things changed in the first place, but… yay? 🤣
Exasperated says
I’m a perfectionist, not obsessed. 😉 I’ve made popovers in nothing but cast iron. I got a new-to-me pan before the plague and haven’t gotten a batch that’s not half popped & doughy in the middle. I use my gram’s 2-2-1 recipe in hotter-than-the-hammers-of-Hades pan. Small dab of bacon grease in the bottom, batter sizzles when poured. 425 for 20 minutes, 350 for 30 minutes. I think I’ll add another egg, making it 2-3-1, and see what happens.
Julia Swanson says
I’m a true popover failure!! It’s really bothering me! Just like you said…hockey pucks!! I’m going to try your recipe next time, even though today after failing once again, I said I’m never trying them again!!
Kerry King says
I had similar un-popped popovers…SO disappointing!
My success came with a change in flour. I use King Arthur’s unbleached flour. It has a higher protein content, which I think allows for a better ‘structure ‘. Bread flour has even higher protien. Might help with continued problems.
Andee McGuire says
Your recipe with the 4th egg is the most success I’ve had so far. Mine aren’t exactly hollow, but with your help, I’m on the right track. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Karen Evans-Timm says
Oh my gosh. I am just like you…obsessed with making popovers pop and eating them even if they don’t. My family recipe just doesn’t work for me.
Going o try again with your suggestions. pray.
robin jackson says
Hi!
Same goes for me years ago I made them ,always came out great , now I’ve tried two days in. Row and hockey pucks, my dough was thin , but I don’t think my oven gets hot enough, or stays hot enough. I have another oven I’ll try it!
Thanks Robin
Gail Joseph says
Thanks for the suggestions! I’d been making popovers successfully for years, then duds for the past two years. I followed your advice, plus used bread flour, and just had success!!
Meri says
I can’t wait to try again after a dismal failure yesterday. I used my Mom’s old metal pop-over pans (which worked beautifully for her countless times) and what a mess I made! They stuck even though I sprayed with Pam, and they were mushy and horrible inside. I ordered new non-stick pans and hope they work out.
Petra Cripe says
You are right! It HAS to be the FLOUR!
I am a popover fail & relentlessly kept trying & trying & couldn’t let it go.
I went to the General Store in MinneTonka, MN that has popovers as big as a child’s heD & they sell the mix! $9.95
I broke down & bought it.
Ingredients are only malted wheat flour, nonfat milk, sea salt.
Instructions say to put in a blender for 1 min, then in 400* heated pop over pan. Reduce temp immediately to 350* and bake for 50 min. Whola!!
Patti says
This recipe did the trick. After many failed attempts and different recipes this one worked! They turned out great. I agree with the room temperature ingredients and a hot oven. I’m keeping this one 😊