ROUND Knaidlach | Imamother

Sherri

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:18 am

I have beautiful round knaidlach (matzah balls) cooking right now, and want them to stay round.

How do I do that, once I take them out of the pot and lay them out they usually get a little flat on one side. (I hope I am explaining this well.)

Thanks.

greenfire

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:48 am

why would you take them out of the pot do they need a break ...

I usually put mine directly in the soup and they stay there for the duration ...

BennysMommy

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:49 am

greenfire wrote:

why would you take them out of the pot do they need a break ...

I usually put mine directly in the soup and they stay there for the duration ...

same here

Sherri

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:50 am

I cooked them in water and have my soup frozen.
Then I freeze the knaidlach too and defrost whatever I need whenever I need it.
I have my knaidlach out before I freeze them.

MiracleMama

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:53 am

greenfire wrote:

why would you take them out of the pot do they need a break ...

I usually put mine directly in the soup and they stay there for the duration ...

This is fine if you are serving the soup immediately. If not, they will cloud the soup. Still tasty, but not so attractive.

OP, I have no idea what the solution is. I don't make them often, but when I do I get a flat side too. The only thing I can think of that might help a little is to put them on something with some give - like set them on a bed of soft rice or some shredded lettuce? Maybe they will stay more round that way. But honestly, nobody ever complained to me about the flat side so I don't really worry about it.

greenfire

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 9:00 am

serve them flat side down ...

p.s. the matza ballies taste better if cooked in the soup ...

disclaimer - I do not make them every week to know ... and lately my ballies are in the vegetable soup I make ...

my mother makes hers in a separate pot - but adds some soup for flavour ... plus everyone fights over the matza balls if she doesn't have enough ...

Lady Godiva

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 4:10 pm

I've never heard of cooking matza balls in plain water. The soup gives them the flavor.

OP, why don't you let them cool off in the water and then freeze them, floating, cooled off in the water.

imasinger

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 4:16 pm

Someone suggested to me that I do mine in advance this way in order to free up some time on Fridays, but it seems like extra work to me. I make and freeze my soup, and then just make the matza balls on Friday afternoon and put them right into the soup.

We have them every week because it's one of the favorite Shabbos foods in our house. I know, not very healthy, right?

pinktichel

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 4:42 pm

Lady Godiva wrote:

I've never heard of cooking matza balls in plain water. The soup gives them the flavor.

OP, why don't you let them cool off in the water and then freeze them, floating, cooled off in the water.

I always boil my matzah balls separately. When they're done, I take them out with a slotted spoon and allow to cool in a container. If I've made them in the beginning of the week, I freeze them and put them into my soup while frozen. Otherwise, I pop them in the soup on Friday, when I reboil it and they puff up beautifully. They get plenty of flavor from being reboiled along with the soup.

MiracleMama

Thu, Oct 22 2009, 4:45 pm

Lady Godiva wrote:

I've never heard of cooking matza balls in plain water. The soup gives them the flavor.

OP, why don't you let them cool off in the water and then freeze them, floating, cooled off in the water.

I add seasoning to the matzo ball "batter" directly. Cooking them in the soup clouds the soup. This doesn't make the soup bad. It's just not the aesthetic ideal. Almost everyone I know cooks them in water, not soup.

Blueberry Muffin

Sun, Jan 10 2010, 4:06 pm

You can cook the knaidels and then transfer them into the chicken soup with a slotted spoon - this will keep the chicken soup from becoming cloudy and will keep the knaidels "well rounded."

I too dont make knaidels that often - but when I do, I freeze them individually on a baking sheet. Once frozen - I store them in a large zip-lock bag. This way the don't all stick together and I can take them out individually... as per needed per meal!

(Yup - I get flat bottoms as well...)

shanie5

Sun, Jan 10 2010, 11:51 pm

try freezing them in an egg carton-maybe that will help it keep its rounded shape. (though I am of the 'cook them in the soup on friday' people).

ra_mom

Sun, Jan 10 2010, 11:56 pm

has anyone ever tried freezing the round Matzah balls raw? and then plopping them into the soup to cook up on Erev Shabbos?
would that insure round Matzah balls?

Blueberry Muffin

Mon, Jan 11 2010, 8:09 am

shanie5 wrote:

try freezing them in an egg carton-maybe that will help it keep its rounded shape. (though

EXCELLENT IDEA!!!!

That's how to keep them round!!!

Blueberry Muffin

Mon, Jan 11 2010, 8:12 am

ra_mom wrote:

has anyone ever tried freezing the round Matzah balls raw? and then plopping them into the soup to cook up on Erev Shabbos?
would that insure round Matzah balls?

I'm not sure that this methos would work - The knaidel batter is not that thick to retain its shape. I would thing they would flatten out a bit and then become a mis-shaped blobish shape.

(it might work if you refrigerate the batter for a couple of hours and work really quickly.)

LuckyMum

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 3:53 am

If you let it cool in the water and then transfer it to a container with some water so that it stays floating, and then freeze - I would imagine it would retain its shape.

shanie5

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 11:10 pm

LuckyMum wrote:

If you let it cool in the water and then transfer it to a container with some water so that it stays floating, and then freeze - I would imagine it would retain its shape.

This would not work. once knaidlach stop boiling, they stop floating. You would get a blob of knaidlach in water.

freezing raw knaidlach is fine. the egg carton method should keep them round, and they will be great and fresh cooked after being frozen.