Puddings in Tins

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 79, 27 December 1940, Page 46

Puddings in Tins

Dear Aunt Daisy, When heating puddings made in syrup tins, is it advisable to remove the lids? I once had an unpleasant experience when cooking puddings in tins. At that time I put the lids on to cook them, I am sending my son, who is in Suva, some Christmas puddings, and would like to know if I should tell him to remove the lids before re-heating. We will solder the lids on before posting.

V.R.

C.

(Wanganui).

The puddings must be re-heated in the tins with the lid still soldered on, just as we do with the Christmas puddings sold in the grocers’ shops, Other things besides puddings are re-heated in this way-condensed milk, for instance, which is thus caramelized; or baked beans; or beefsteak pudding; or sausages and tomatoes-all kinds of tasty things are bought in tins and heated by boiling for twenty minutes. The reason of your unpleasant experience — which I suppose was the bursting of the tin-was that you had allowed some air to get into the tin with the pudding, before you soldered on the lid. You must first cook the pudding with the lid on, in the. ordinary way, but the important thing is to. fit the lid on tightly and solder it down the instant you take it out of the pot, so that the steam keeps out any air. Then when the pudding cools and shrinks, a vacuum is created between it and the tin. When the pudding is re-heated, it swells up, and fills the tin again. Tell your son to open the syrup tins at the bottom after heating them, for the rim will prevent the pudding from turning out at the top.