[sbhopton]

Hi all! New to the community but hoping for some guidance. I've made wellingtons a bazillion times and they're generally excellent. I have the time, temp down etc but for the life of me, regardless of how I prepare them, the bottoms are almost always soggy. Any recommendations? Here's what I've experimented with to avoid this:

• Par baking the puff pastry for 5 minutes
• "Sealing" the pastry with a layer of mustard
• Using different kinds of meats to wrap (proscuitto, ham, mortadella)
• Making sure the duxelles is very dry (almost crispy)
• Baking on parchment on a wire rack
• Searing the bottom and then putting them in the oven to bake
• Baking them on a pre-heated cookie sheet to try to sear them
• Baking them in an X-LG muffin tin (disaster)

I'm hosting a 40 person supper club next week and I'd really like for these pork wellingtons to be perfect. I'm using pork loin wrapped in mortadella with a mushroom-apple-leek duxelles and dijon mustard. There is a vadouvan cream sauce to accompany with carrot puree and microgreens to garnish. Because I'm cooking out of my home kitchen (with is nice, but not commercial), I'm also making the wellington's individually but do not plan to cut them open (sad, I know, no showing off the inside) because I need them to stay hot and so the juices don't run and cause problems with the bottom there. I'm open to other ways of doing it though.

Any/all help appreciated!

 

[brianshaw]

Try using a crepe to wap the meat, like Gordon:

Traditional Beef Wellington

Try this traditional Beef Wellington recipe at home, guaranteed to impress your friends and family. Cook Gordon's recipe today.

www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com

 

[mike9]

In Ramsay's Christmas Beef Wellington he seasons then sears the meat then applies mustard while it's hot then lets it rest while he makes the duxelles. Then he lays out cling film, lays out the sliced meat and spreads it with the duxelles, wraps tightly in the cling and into the icebox to set. After that it's more cling then the pastry goes down and wraps the beef roll in the pastry tightly, apply egg wash decorate then bake. I've made this several times and have never had a soggy bottom on my puff. I painting the puff with the mustard is your mistake and making individual portions is a real PITA IMO.

Ramsay's Wellington

 

[chefross]

Having made hundreds of wellingtons in my career with chicken pork or filet I can help.

The main reason you have soggy bottoms is either they are under baked, or the puff pastry overlapped so much on the bottoms that they are too thick to cook through

 

[ItsMeAgain]

another potential, hiding in the bushes . . .

if the meat has been frozen, it will exude a lot of water as the heat causes it to contract.
the freezing ruptures the cells, and hence more water is 'more easily driven out' by the heat.

no thawing time or technique will defeat the 'frozen&rupture cells' issue.

 

[chefross]

another potential, hiding in the bushes . . .

if the meat has been frozen, it will exude a lot of water as the heat causes it to contract.
the freezing ruptures the cells, and hence more water is 'more easily driven out' by the heat.

no thawing time or technique will defeat the 'frozen & rupture cells' issue.

Been there. Found that out the hard way. To circumvent, we thaw the meat first before putting it in the pastry.

 

[MJF]

Always used crepes to wrap items like Wellington or large salmon, before the pastry. Make them on a sheetpan to have a long rectangle to work with. Can add interest also, ie a nherbal green layer.

 

[Dawa]

another potential, hiding in the bushes . . . if the meat has been frozen, it will exude a lot of water as the heat causes it to contract. the freezing ruptures the cells, and hence more water is 'more easily driven out' by the heat. no thawing time or technique will defeat the 'frozen&rupture cells' issue.

Too much steam is being created so maybe the poster needs more holes in the top to release the steam

 

[ItsMeAgain]

this is Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen (D.C. version) - the film wrapping & shaping really does "help"
DW asked for 'medium' and the response was "Gordon only does it one way. . ."