fluffy matzoh balls?

With Passover coming up I was wondering if anyone could help me with these (I know it's a long shot). The basic recipe is matzoh meal, eggs and oil - that I know. But whenever I make them they either come out hard hard as cannon balls or so soft they desolve before they finish cooking. Anybody have any idea how the various ingredients affect the properties of the finished product?

Thanks,
Pinny

Fluffy matzoh balls? Isn't that an oxymoron? Maybe something here can help. matzoh balls
As long as they don't break teeth, I never eat less than 6.

Not along shot at all.

Use butter or (!) margarine if dairy needs to be avoided. Use selter for your liquid. Chill the mix fairly well before forming. Simmer--do not boil.

What sort of recipe are you using?

My most recent disaster was

3/4 c matzoh meal
3 eggs
1/4 c oil
1/2 c ice water

dash of: salt,pepper,garlic powder,onion powder

whisked everything together into a liquidy combination. chilled mixture for 30 minutes. after chilling the mixture thickened considerably. brought water with a bit of salt to boil (I was making these to add to already made soup). wet hands; formed balls; watched them fluff up beautifully; watched them desolve.

Maybe its because I let the water come to (and stay at) a rolling boil for 25 minutes.

Having the water (or soup) boiling when you first add the matzo balls is fine but then you want to partiall cover the pot and reduce the heat to about medium.

Give this a shot (note the different proportions of meal vs. egg vs. oil/fat vs. water):

4 eggs

5 T butter or margarine, melted--or oil

3/4 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

pnch white pepper

1/2 c finely minced fresh parsley (do not use dried)

1 T finely minced fresh sage or thyme leaves (or 1 t of either, dried, or a mix of both)

1 1/4 c matzo meal

1/2 c seltzer or club soda


Whisk the eggs till very frothy then add the melted fat or oil, the salt, black and white pepper, whisk briefly, then add the herbs and whisk briiefly to combine.

Gradually add the matzo meal then stir in the seltzer or club soda. Cover and chill till firm, at least 2 hours or up to 4 or 5.

Form with wet hands as you know. Cook as noted above (they can take as long as an hour for small ones). You can pull them out when done, draining well, and hold at room temp for a couple hours, reheating when needed, or you can let them cool then fridge them, covered, for a day. I wouldn't go longer though.

Gonna go pick up some parsley and try this for tongiht's supper. How big should I form the balls? Small (1") or large (1.5")?

Thanks!

Tried them out and boy, they came out great. In the future though, I'm gonna pass on the herbs. I'm a salt and pepper guy, the other stuff is too exotic for me.

I've never heard parsley, sage or thyme described as 'exotic', especially in matzo balls where herbs aren't uncommon, but if you've never had them that way or simply prefer s&p only then you can certainly drop the herbs. I was hoping you'd find the process and results in terms of texture appealing and since those elements seemed to work for you I'm pleased.