Flapjack disaster

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Kxx

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
2
Location
Notts
Hi, I cook an old family recipe for flapjack. When I was a young girl we had a gas cooker,, my flapjacks were perfect. When I moved out I got an electric cooker my flapjacks just crumbled into a right mess. I then got a gas oven again and wow my flapjacks were perfect again. I now have an electric cooker and once again they are just crumbs. Why will they not cook properly in my electric oven. I thought it might be the moisture that is in a gas oven so I used some water in the bottom but it made no difference. Can anyone help?
 
Hello Kxx and Welcome to DC!

A little confused with your question. You interchange stove and oven so I'm not too sure where you are cooking them.

To me flapjacks are a pancake, cooked in a frying pan on a burner on top of the stove.

That being said.. I rather think you are not getting the same heat under your pan with your electric burner as you do with gas.

Your gas probably heats your pan faster as well, so maybe you're not waiting long enough for it to heat up?

Your pan is ready when a sprinkle of water from your finger tips bounce across the frying pan. So wait for your pan to heat but not so hot the water vapourizes!
 
Hello Kxx and Welcome to DC!

A little confused with your question. You interchange stove and oven so I'm not too sure where you are cooking them.

To me flapjacks are a pancake, cooked in a frying pan on a burner on top of the stove.

That being said.. I rather think you are not getting the same heat under your pan with your electric burner as you do with gas.

Your gas probably heats your pan faster as well, so maybe you're not waiting long enough for it to heat up?

Your pan is ready when a sprinkle of water from your finger tips bounce across the frying pan. So wait for your pan to heat but not so hot the water vapourizes!

My thoughts, exactly.
 
Google tells me that in the UK, a flapjack is much different than the pancakes we are used to in the US..

Flapjack
Oat bar
Description
In the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and Newfoundland a flapjack refers to a sweet, tray-baked oat bar, most commonly made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. In this context it is synonymous with muesli bar, cereal bar, or granola bar. Wikipedia
Ross
 

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It may be the oats most recipes call for quick-cooking oats (not instant or old-fashioned).

I would use an updated recipe or at least compare a couple of those recipes to the one that you are using.
 
two countries separated by a common kitchen.....

perfect!

Well, I sorta wondered with references to oven and moisture. So... I think you probably have the right of it and almost answered your own question. But I'm thinking you may have to put the moisture into the dough/batter itself as it didn't work by adding it to the cavity of the oven.

Does it call for eggs? Oil? try to increase or just plain add if not. If it only seems to work in a gas stove and not an electric I doubt it is the oats nor the recipe other than the moisture. Perhaps the level of heat? Or the length of time?
 
Hi thank you everyone for your answers. Yes I’m in the Uk so a flapjack is like an oat traybake usually including oats, butter, golden syrup and soft brown sugar. My recipe doesn’t have the golden syrup and is a bit of a softer chew. I cook them in the oven in a tray leave them to cool but not too much and then cut and take them out to finish cooling on a wire rack. When cooking on a gas oven I have used cheap rubbish oats to the most expensive whole organic rolled oats and no matter what it always works. I have tried different oats in an electric oven and every time I can’t get them out the tin, they crumble and stick and don’t form a block. I really don’t understand it!!!
My recipe is a ratio of 3oz butter and 3oz light soft brown sugar melted together in a saucepan but do not boil. Remove from heat I then stir in 4 oz of oats. Press it into a greased shallow tray (Swiss roll tin) and bake gas4 or 180c. 20-25 mins. I usually double the mix to fit in my tin or sometime treble but this does not affect the outcome in a gas oven. I’m just left scratching my head. The kids are moaning because they want my flapjacks. ��
 
That sounds almost identical to a recipe I make - Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease, or spray, or line with foil, an 8x8 pan. Then melt 1/2 c unsalted butter in a 2 qt saucepan over medium heat, stir in 1 c lt brown sugar, stirring until all sugar is dissolved, and no lumps are left. Off heat, stir in 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/8 tsp salt. Then stir in 2 c of quick oats. Turn into the pan, and press into the bottom, to level off. Bake for 25 min. on center rack. Cool, then cut around sides of pan, before turning out, and cutting into pieces.

I have made these so many times, that I I recited this from memory!

I remember when I made this with regular oats, they were very crumbly, and could not be turned out in one piece, much like the problem you describe.
 
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If the recipe didn't really change and the only difference was the oven, I'd say the oven temp is off. You can buy an inexpensive oven thermometer and verify the oven's set temp.

You can then have the oven serviced or compensate but setting different temps to get the reading you need for the flapjacks.
 
If the recipe didn't really change and the only difference was the oven, I'd say the oven temp is off. You can buy an inexpensive oven thermometer and verify the oven's set temp.

You can then have the oven serviced or compensate but setting different temps to get the reading you need for the flapjacks.

^^^This
 
I wonder if the electric oven may be convection. That would change how things cook too.

That would explain it being more dry. I wonder if it's called a convection oven on the other side of the pond. Maybe they call it "fan bake", like my toaster oven does.
 
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