I finally figured out why my hollandaise kept breaking after 9 years of cooking

Turns out I was adding the butter too fast even when I thought I was being slow, and it took a whole afternoon of wasting 2 dozen eggs to realize. Has anyone else had a basic technique trip them up for way longer than it should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily971mo ago

The butter speed thing is such a classic trap because you think you're being patient but you're really not. Hollandaise is basically a test of whether you can resist the urge to dump everything in at once. Another thing that got me for years was not realizing how much the temperature of my bowl mattered, if the bowl is too cold the butter just solidifies immediately no matter how slow you go. Same goes for egg whites and any kind of meringue, a tiny bit of yolk or grease and you're done for the whole batch. It's honestly humbling how many little things can go wrong with something that seems so simple on paper. Took me a solid 5 years to stop messing up simple pan sauces because I kept trying to rush the deglazing step.

taylor821mo ago

Did you try warming your bowl lightly before starting? I spent years wondering why my sauce kept separating, and once I started giving the bowl a quick warm up it made a huge difference for me. Also, get yourself an instant read thermometer, it takes the guesswork out of the temperature game.