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How do you make Yorkshire Puddings rise reliably?

This question was recently answered with an answer that reads:

I use one cup plain flour, 3/4 cup of milk, 2 eggs, salt & pepper, then approx 3/4 cup water depends consistency of batter, use hand whisk, leave to stand at least hour, heat tin with lard until smoking (I use 12 tray but works bigger tins too) this recipe works brilliant everybody loves them, about 200 oven approx 20 mins.

What of it is method related is covered more than adequately in existing answers:

  • "leave to stand at least hour" (let batter rest)
  • "heat tin with lard until smoking" (preheat the pan)

and the explanation in the answer for why it works is... non-existent.

I'll admit that the question itself is a bit broad and sort of invites the "what's a recipe for Yorkshire Puddings that works?"... particularly since they don't say what their current process is, only that it doesn't work.

Has anyone got a foolproof method for Yorkshire Puddings? With the recipe I have they never seem to rise properly.

So, what should be done about this type of question and the recipe-style answers?

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The example would be adequate -- not great but adequate -- if posted as the first answer. Posted several years later it's a duplicate of existing answers and not a very good one. It's well-intentioned, unlike copy-pasting existing good answers in the hopes of picking up some rep (which I've seen on other sites in the network).

The lack of malice (and the new user in this case as in many similar cases) says to me we should be gentle -- downvote until they're the lowest-rated answer and no further. Once downvoted they're at the bottom of the page in the default sort order, where they don't do any harm. I don't think we should delete them unless there are other issues; this example in particular actually tells the reader what to do in a way that some will find helpful, while others of us would prefer the longer read and understanding.

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  • Do you think it's friendlier to get downvotes or deletion with an explanatory note?
    – Cascabel Mod
    Mar 15, 2018 at 4:00
  • @Cascabel the note makes a big difference, but downvotes allow the user to rework the post while deletion doesn't (or rather it's harder to do so and off-putting). Normally -1 is enough to put a post at the bottom ayway
    – Chris H
    Mar 15, 2018 at 6:46
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    Hm, interestingly, it's often easier to undo deletion than it is to undo downvotes :) But it's unfortunately rare for users to improve posts like this, so maybe that part is a moot point. I tend to think what matters most is what we produce for future readers, anyways, so I think the important part of your answer is that you think it does no harm to have an iffy answer (or a bunch of them) down at the bottom.
    – Cascabel Mod
    Mar 15, 2018 at 17:51
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    So, I think I agree with this, with a few caveats. First, I wouldn't fret about exact number of downvotes; people who think it's not useful are free to downvote regardless of the current score. Second, explanatory comments with those downvotes would be really nice. Finally, in cases where there are already a rather large number of answers, I would be tempted to apply a higher bar, and delete answers that don't really clearly answer the question, instead of just ones that definitely don't answer at all.
    – Cascabel Mod
    Mar 16, 2018 at 23:54
  • @Cascabel all good points. Especially with new users I don't like to downvote too much, but that's just because it feels mean. I don't downvote much anyway.
    – Chris H
    Mar 17, 2018 at 7:50

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