Please help - trying to steam a Christmas Pudding
I'm in the middle of trying to steam a plum pudding. I don't have a large enough steamer . One recipe says place pudding bowl in pan of boiling water in 375 oven. I've done that but the water is now not boiling - my oven has not been working well so I am wondering whether the oven is, in fact, hot enough. I suppose my question is, should water be boiling in a 375 oven?
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This is probably to late to help you but you don't need to put it in the oven: Most Xmas Puddings these days come in plastic containers, often within string bags. Open the string bag enough to open the lid of the pudding, but leave the lid on, but ajar.
Find a large saucepan with a lid large enough to take the pudding and a saucer. Place the inverted saucer in the bottom of the pan (this so the pudding will be away from direct heat) balance the pudding on the saucer and fill the pan up to halfway up the pudding. Cover the saucepan and simmer low for 2-3 hours. CHECK WATER LEVEL CONSTANTLY. -
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todao
Dec 14, 2008 12:12 PM
The short answer is, No. You won't see water boiling in your 375 degree oven. Water boils (bubbles up) in a pot over direct heat because the hotter water in the bottom is converting to steam (water vapor) and is working its way to the top to escape the liquid water environment. Water in a water bath (hot oven) heats more evenly and converts to water vapor (steam) without the turmoil normally associated with a boiling pot of water. The water you use as a bath for plum puddings has to be boiling when you put it in the vessel into which you deposit the vessel containing the pudding.
You can pick up an oven thermometer for just a few dollars at most super markets that will do a pretty good job of verifying the temperature of your oven
