Friday, August 31, 2012

Play Dough Update

The recipe I previously posted for non-gooey homemade play dough is still my favorite thus far.  It has been over a week and the stuff is still as good as the day that I made it.  It has not dried out nor has it gotten all gooey and squishy like all the other recipes that I have tried.  This one is definitely a keeper!  The consistency and texture really is much like that of store bought Play Doh.  If you are looking for an easy play dough recipe, definitely give this a try. 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Non-gooey Homemade Play Dough

I don’t know how many homemade play dough recipes I have tried.  None of them have even come remotely close to resembling the store bought Play-Doh.  I’ve tried both cooking and non-cooking recipes and no matter what, the homemade stuff always turns out to be a gooey mess.  I think that maybe the homemade recipes are okay if you live in dry areas, but I have always lived in really humid places. Although some of the homemade play dough is okay initially, it doesn’t take long before it turns into a gooey mess.  Some websites say to just add more flour and knead it into the dough if it becomes to sticky. I just don’t even want to handle the gooey mess much less try to salvage it. 

The last batch of homemade stuff I made had to be scooped out of each container, and it was just gross.  I kept all my original Play-Doh containers so that I have containers in which to put the new homemade play dough.

So back to the original  problem…gooey dough.  I think I finally have a solution to non-gooey play dough.  This stuff actually resembles the store bought brand. At least it's the closest I've come.  The solution was so simple it was almost ridiculous.  Just add less water.  I make Chinese dumplings all the time and realized that the 2 cups of flour to 1 cup of water would probably be appropriate ratio for the play dough recipe as well. This ratio makes for a really nice pliable dough.

I didn't want to have to cook to make play dough so I really was wanting a non-cook recipe. The salt is important but I didn’t like the recipes that called for a ridiculous amount of salt (1 or more cups).  I think too much salt makes the texture of the play dough grainy.  That and I think it’s a waste of perfectly good salt. Overall, I am really liking this recipe.  There is no cooking involved and it's really simple.  Most people already have all the ingredients in their cupboards.

Non-Gooey Play Dough

2 cups flour
2 Tbs. Vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbs. Cream of Tartar
1 cup hot or warm water (I did not use boiling water)
Gel food coloring

I mixed all the dry ingredients together.  Then I drizzled the vegetable oil over the mixture.  After that I added about 3/4 cups of the water.  As I kneaded the dough, I added a little more water as needed.  You really shouldn’t need more than 1 cup of water.  The dough might seem a little stiff at first, but it should become more soft and pliable as you knead.  It also helps to let the dough sit for a couple of minutes before kneading again.  I used gel food coloring since the liquid food coloring just adds more moisture to the dough.

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I will try and remember to blog again in a month or so about how this play dough has held up.  So far it has been a couple of days and no gooey mess.  The kids have played with it a lot and so far so good.

If anyone has a recipe for homemade play dough that holds up well under humid conditions, I would love to try it out.  Until I can find a better substitute, I think this will be my recipe of choice.