I certainly could be. I think I have two problems: how small should the pieces of butter be, and how firm? By the time I'm done, the butter pieces are about the consistency of soft modeling clay and, as I said, not quite as big as marbles. > On Aug 1, 2015, at 11:06 PM, Debbra Piening <[email protected]> wrote: > > I mix the dry ingredients, then lay the cold stick of butter on top and use > two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, checking with my hands > from time to time until I have the right consistency. I've never had a > problem doing it that way. I wonder if you could be handling the streusel a > bit too much. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Alex Hall via Cookinginthedark [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2015 8:46 PM > To: janbrown > Cc: [[email protected]] > Subject: Re: [CnD] I have a huge streusel problem > > Well, the melted butter recipe I tried today was new, so I'll stick to my > usual one. I mix the dry ingredients together--cinnamon, flour, and brown > sugar usually, but sometimes oats and/or other spices. I then remove a stick > of butter from the fridge and cut it into 20 or 24 pieces--little > cubes--which I put in the dry ingredients. Finally, I mix it all around with > my hands, squeezing the butter into smaller lumps as it softens enough to > allow this. I try to work as much of the dry stuff into the lumps as I can, > without melting them. By the end of it, I usually end up with buttery lumps > somewhat smaller than marbles, plus a ton of extra dry ingredient mixture > that has nothing with which to combine. Plus, my lumps are rather soft, and > even if I refrigerate the whole thing, it just never seems… right. >> On Aug 1, 2015, at 9:36 PM, janbrown <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I have never had this particular and I can't fathom why you are having it. >> The course crumbs thing is most important so you don't have isolated flour >> pockets. >> It is tough to know when you work it enough or too much. >> Use your hands and allow some coolness in the butter. >> Mix until good old course crumbs take shape. >> It ought to work. >> Can you describe precisely what you do? >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Aug 1, 2015, at 4:05 PM, Alex Hall via Cookinginthedark >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hey all, >>> Yet again, I tried to make a streusel topping, this time for some baked >>> pumpkin oatmeal. My sister made this recipe last week and it was perfect. I >>> made the same recipe, following the same instructions, and the oatmeal was >>> perfect. My topping, though, tasted like baked flour more than the brown >>> sugar/cinnamon/butter mix it should have. >>> >>> I've never once made a good streusel/crumb topping. I've tried with and >>> without flour, I've used cold or melted butter, I've tried with and without >>> oats, I've used different ratios… A streusel is supposed to have the >>> consistency of gravel, with the sugars and spices surrounding small bits of >>> butter (or clumped together with some flour, in the case of recipes using >>> melted butter) Those small pieces then crisp up in the oven and provide a >>> wonderful experience for the top of your oatmeal, coffee cake, muffins, >>> whatever.. Mine is always either way too chunky; so fine that it melts in >>> the oven; never crisps up; or (like today) tastes--and has the unpleasant >>> texture--of flour. I don't know what else to do, and no one has been able >>> to show me in person how to do this right. I'm to the point where i either >>> ask someone else to make my topping, or make it myself, knowing it'll be >>> anywhere between "tastes okay but doesn't have the texture of streusel" to >>> "tastes like baked flour and has no spice flavor at all". It's incredibly >>> frustrating, because other than this, I'm actually a good cook. For >>> whatever reason, streusel-like toppings are the one thing I simply cannot >>> master, though I've been trying for years. >>> >>> My question, then, is simple: how do you all do it, particularly those of >>> you for whom streusel works out well? I know it can be done by hand, >>> because I've never seen a streusel that comes out tasting great be prepared >>> in any kind of machine. I just don't know the procedure, and if I do, I'm >>> messing it up somewhere along the way. Maybe I'm mixing too long? Not long >>> enough? Working it too much? Is my butter too big? Should the cold butter >>> warm up enough so I can mold it or not (I've been told both yes and no on >>> that one)?. Thanks in advance. >>> >>> -- >>> Have a great day, >>> Alex Hall >>> [email protected] >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Cookinginthedark mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark >>> >>> > > > -- > Have a great day, > Alex Hall > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark > >
-- Have a great day, Alex Hall [email protected] _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
