[vanoose]

Hi there

I have moved house and haven't baked for a while, but my macarons (which I thought I'd finally mastered) are not happy! 

I am not sure if it's my technique that is rusty or we have an oven problem.

I have a fan oven, and have been preheating it to 150, then turning the dial to 130 once they go in and baking for 18mins. The tops are browning but the bottoms are sticky and I have hollow shells! They go on the middle shelf with an empty tray above them.

I have played around with the temp and timings. The hollowness of the shells improved and they didn't brown when I changed the temp to 120 but the tops wrinkled/sank so I assume that is too low for them to bake properly.

My questions are:
Is there something else that this could be other than the oven? 

Is it possible to bake at low temps without the wrinkling/sinking?

Is there any other way for them to not brown other than using the empty tray above idea as this isn't working? 

If it is the oven, then would an oven service be worth investigating or am I doomed to macaron sadness in the new house?! 

If it is not the oven (and instead something in my method/recipe) then is it possible to have problems like this even if your batter is the correct consistency? Or is that a pretty good sign that you are going to get a good batch if the oven is playing ball? 

Thanks so much

Vanessa

 

[c12h22o11]

Hey,

This sounds like a placement position. Have you tried placing your tray on a lower rack? It should alleviate the browning issue and bake the bottoms of your macarons. Other than that, are you sure you have your oven on the correct setting?

Do you use Italian or French meringue? This makes a difference in baking temperatures for macarons. I've never lowered the temperature of my ovens, whether at work or home, so I'm not quite sure about that.

Also, in regards to the feet sticking, it sounds as though you're underbaking, which once again could be because of oven placement. If this isn't the issue, try placing the baking paper/silpat mat onto a wet tea towel and wait for the macarons to cool fully, they should pop right off.

Have you changed anything in your recipe? It's hard to really make comment on your method or recipe without either being posted, but generally if both have worked with consistent success and you haven't changed your method then this shouldn't be the issue.

 

[flipflopgirl]

Try dropping the tray a few extra times then let sit until very very dry.

The first action will squeeze out any extra air and the second will "lock" the batter in place... removing any chance for remaining bubbles to consolidate and form hollow shells.

mimi

A dryer unbaked shell will lessen the chance that the fan will blow the product sideways.