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creme brulee won't set up

post #1 of 20
7/30/06 at 10:29am
Thread Starter 
I have been using the same creme brulee recipe for years
8 egg Yolks
1/3 C Sugar
16 oz heavy whipping cream
1 t. vanilla
Bake in waterbath (abt 1/2 inch) for 50 min @ 300 degrees

Previously I used an electric oven and it turned out perferct. Now I am using a gas oven and it is liquidy. What do I need to do to get this to work?
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post #2 of 20
7/30/06 at 10:39am
well ya got plenty of yolks ;)-keep on cooking, toss a thermometer in the oven to see if its calibrated and adjust from there, up the oven. It will set with that many yolks(not splashing any of the water into the ramekins?).

Ya heating the cream? tempering the eggs properly? baking from cold or hot?
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post #3 of 20
7/30/06 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
everything is cool when it is prepared. No water has gotten in the ramekins. I have been very careful about that
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post #4 of 20
7/30/06 at 11:45am
it will set-turn up the oven. Only time i've seen em not set was when the oven was too low for an extended period-not a food scientist but a guess is that the proteins wouldn't coagulate and were denatured by the extended slow heat.

p.s. try the classic technique
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post #5 of 20
7/30/06 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
what is the "classic technique"
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post #6 of 20
7/30/06 at 2:12pm
Perhaps you should approach it like a stove top stirred custard.If not, be sure you beat your eggs to the ribbon stage with your sugar.If you just blend the ingredients you show on your recipe you would not have established a homogeneous base.

Edit to add.There is a plethora of talented pastry chefs on Cheftalk that I'm sure could lend further and finer details.
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post #7 of 20
7/30/06 at 4:25pm

Ah, the elusive custard...

Creme brulee -

separate 40 yolks

Mix 1 gallon cream
2 c sugar
scald cream and sugar - temper beaten yolks into cream mixture.

add 2 T vanilla

add 1/2 c liquor if desired

bake 350 30-45 minutes in water bath (about 1" from lip of ramekin) until just jiggly. Check often after about 30 minutes.

Works every time. You can cut the recipe with no problems.

Of course then you're left with decisions about what types of merangue to make... :lips:

April
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post #8 of 20
7/30/06 at 4:41pm
That's almost 180 oz, and you say you can cut the recipe with no problem. With all due respect, when we try to teach on this site we need to be very specific within reason. Baking and pastry arts cannot always be scaled up or down verbatim. Can you please write this recipe to yield 6, 4 oz brulee's

Thanks
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post #9 of 20
7/30/06 at 5:13pm
It seems that perhaps the recipe is not the problem if it's always turned out. Think about it, only one parameter has changed in your recipe and that's switching from electric to gas. That would lead me to believe that one of your ovens needs to be calibrated. I'm guessing that your electric was running high Ex. you think it's 300ºF but it is actually at 330ºF that right there would do it.
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post #10 of 20
7/30/06 at 5:46pm
Well I must agree with Chrose. and also CapeChef.
April, the recipe looks a little funny. I'm pretty sure there is not enough sugar . Maybe it's a quart?or 2# sugar?
Just wondering, not being criticle.
pan
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post #11 of 20
7/30/06 at 6:22pm
Also, for clarification. The sugar should be whipped with the eggs, not scalded with the cream. Yes?
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post #12 of 20
7/30/06 at 6:39pm
Well, Sometimes in a formula, we will put a percentage of the sugar into the milk or cream to to widen the period of time from, scald to burn. Anywhere from 25-50 percent.
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post #13 of 20
7/30/06 at 9:13pm
I agree, check your oven, and if you have a probe thermometer check the core temp of your product.
You may just have to be patient and give the brulees a little more time.
Depending on the rational oven we use, our baking times can vary by at least 1/2 an hour, just use your good judgement and skill.
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post #14 of 20
7/31/06 at 4:00am

Merangue...as in what to do with the whites you don't use in the brulee...?

(kind of a problem if you're collecting a lot of whites with no lemon pies in sight...)

Actually my recipe is not a whole lot different from Tiffs when you multiply (or divide) by 5.

It's not that big of a deal. It's one of many variations and I was just mentioning that mine seems to always work, divided or not. (as long as you don't forget to check it) I just naturally kind of assume people use their calculator. The liquor addition is nice too. Respectfully speaking I don't know of many instances where there would be a call for only 6 creme brulee. (well, private or personal chef maybe...) You can divide it by half or 1/4 and any remaining custard mix can be saved for 2 or 3 days. I've heard you can make ice cream with it, but I dunno. Haven't tried it.

Oh, btw: 2c 3.2 oz c/6 y/ 1/3 c s. (+ 'bout a half tsp of vanilla) Oh, and a nice variation is to put a tsp of ganache or caramel sauce in the bottom before you fill and bake. Wanted to experiment with different fruit coulis at some point.

A...:rolleyes:
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post #15 of 20
7/31/06 at 2:53pm

Eggs get whipped with sugar for Pastry Cream...

I suppose it could be argued that it should be done a certain way and 'shouldn't' work, but I learned this method and it always works.

Beats me. :p

April
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post #16 of 20
7/31/06 at 8:17pm
You're not making a meringue nor are you trying to get the eggs to a ribbony consistency so adding the sugar to the milk should have no real difference to adding the sugar to the eggs (I do it the first way too :) ). However, it would not be the first time I'm wrong if it weren't the case :).
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post #17 of 20
7/31/06 at 8:46pm
best way is to beat the eggs with sugar till ribbon stage....temper with hot cream and pour back the mixture to the cream....cook the custard till holds on th back on the spoon and bake at 130 Deg C for 45 mts on a water batch. (add vanilla and lime zest in the yolks)
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post #18 of 20
8/11/06 at 11:36pm

the only problems is the temperature...

the recipe looks fine to me. and you were using it all the time so it IS ok.
but the mix has to coagulate. and it does only at a certain temperature. no if's or but's. it does not matter if you whip the crean, stir the eggs, or shake the sugar....
and if you use a big sheet pan that covers the baking 'area' completely, yo u will have very little top heat. and , just maybe' try to bake the creme brulee longer?
and the best advise of course: check the temperature. electric heats from the top and bottom, gas only from the bottom.
it will work out after a few tries and errors.
happy cooking!
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post #19 of 20
8/28/06 at 9:41pm
a trick i use for brulees, which seems to work all of the time, is to leave 4 egg whites in the mix per 30 egg yolks. The protein in the whites help the custard to set, and at the level that they are in the mix, are virtually undetectable.

Another reason why the mixture may be slow in cooking, could be that the water level in the bain marie might be too high. Try less water in the bain (i.e. water up to half way of the ramikin)

Good luck.
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post #20 of 20
8/29/06 at 9:39am

Leftovers

We always used our leftover egg whites to make financier for mignardise.

The place I'm at now uses leftover brulee mix and/or "scraps" in a tart filling. It's almond cream-esque.

Incidentally, I agree with the oven theory as to why your brulee aren't setting. Since you're mixing everything cold a few setting issues are avoided, and if the recipe has worked for you in the past I can't imagine what other factors might be interfering. Have you changed vendors for your cream? There might be additives that weren't in what you were using before or vice versa (we had a similar issue with cream cheese in a tart filling). Ditto eggs if you are using Easy Eggs.
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