The Real Reason Your Popovers Keep Deflating

Popovers are a delightfully airy and light bread according to King Arthur Baking, which you probably already know and love if you're trying to make them yourself. But this delicious bread roll can be quite difficult and finicky to make if you aren't careful. A number of techniques can help you succeed, and a number of things can go seriously wrong. Though you might be convinced you need to have a popover pan to make perfect popovers, this actually isn't necessary — and it likely isn't the culprit behind their deflation. 

You can, in fact, use a muffin pan or ramekins to make popovers successfully. Runway Chef states that it's simply a matter of changing the amount of batter you pour into each tin. Your popovers could be deflating for a couple of other reasons. One factor that can cause them to fall after coming out of the oven is if you open the oven door while they're still baking to check on them (via Kitchen Joy), but there's another mistake you're making that can also be the reason your popovers keep deflating.

The main reason your popovers stand tall then tend to fall after coming out of the oven is under-baking the bread. Preheating your pan will help the batter rise higher, and heating the milk in the popover batter can help the tops get crisper as well as keep them from deflating; but you really need to let the popovers bake a few extra minutes to prevent the tops from falling once they come out of the oven (via Runway Chef).

According to The Boston Globe, popovers that are under-baked retain too much steam inside the bread. This steam helps them puff up beautifully when baking, but if the bread is removed before the steam has time to cook out it will condense again. This is why you see popovers fall even after you think they're done. So to keep your popovers standing tall, just give them a little extra time in the oven.