On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 192

softened again by placing the dish in a shallow pan of hot water for a minute or two before unmolding Crème brûlée (“burned cream”) is also a custard topped with caramel, but here the caramel should be hard enough to shatter when rapped with a spoon The trick is to harden and brown the sugar topping without overcooking the custard The standard modern method is to bake the custard and then chill it for several hours, so that the subsequent caramelizing step won’t overcook the egg proteins The hard crust is then made by coating the custard surface with granulated sugar, and then melting and browning the sugar, either with a propane torch or by placing the dish right under the broiler The dishes are sometimes immersed in an icewater bath to protect the custard from a second cooking From the time of its invention in the 17th century until early in the 20th, crème brûlée was a stirred cream, prepared on the stovetop by making a crème anglaise, pouring it into dishes, and caramelizing the sugar topping with a red-hot metal plate, or “salamander.” The Surprising Science of Water Baths Most cooks know that oven heat can be moderated with a water bath Though the oven may be at 350ºF, the liquid water can’t exceed 212ºF/100ºC, the temperature at which it boils and turns from liquid into vapor Less well known is the fact that the water temperature can vary over a range of 40ºF depending on the pan containing the water and whether it’s covered A pan of water is heated by the oven, but it’s simultaneously cooled as water molecules evaporate from the surface The actual water temperature is determined by the balance between heating of the water mass through the pan, and evaporative cooling at the water surface More heat accumulates ... water temperature can vary over a range of 40ºF depending on the pan containing the water and whether it’s covered A pan of water is heated by the oven, but it’s simultaneously cooled as water molecules evaporate from the surface The. ..prepared on the stovetop by making a crème anglaise, pouring it into dishes, and caramelizing the sugar topping with a red-hot metal plate, or “salamander.” The Surprising Science of Water Baths... bath Though the oven may be at 350ºF, the liquid water can’t exceed 212ºF/100ºC, the temperature at which it boils and turns from liquid into vapor Less well known is the fact that the water temperature can vary over a range of