Tips Toward Souffle Success

How to Separate an Egg

* Have three bowls set up. One for the yolks, one for the whites and another for collecting the whites one at a time. Add each white separately to the bowl that will hold all of the whites. If you work with only two bowls, you set yourself up for accidentally breaking the yolk of your eighth egg and ruining the seven you’ve already separated.

* Use your hands. The traditional way of passing the yolk from one shell-half to the other often brings yolk and sharp edges together, leading to disaster. Crack the egg, then pour the yolk into the palm of your hand over your egg white bowl, letting the whites slip away from the yolk through your fingers. A variation on this method is to carefully crack the egg into a bowl (being sure not to break the yolk), then lift the yolk out of the whites with your fingers cupped under the yolk. Be sure to wash your hands with soap and hot water after handling eggs and egg shells.

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How to Beat Egg Whites

* Keep the bowl and beaters clean. The bowl for egg whites must be completely clean and dry. This goes for the beaters and other utensils as well. The slightest bit of grease or oil can prevent the formation of air pockets, and you want lots of them because it’s the heat-induced expansion of the air pockets that causes the souffle to rise. Fats can at the least greatly reduce, if not completely deplete, the volume you potentially can achieve.

* Keep the beat slow and steady. It is true that beating egg whites by hand in a copper bowl gets the most volume out of your whites. But this is not necessary. You can make a perfectly great souffle using your electric beaters in a stainless steel bowl. The important thing is to not beat them too quickly. A medium speed may take a bit longer, but not only will you get better results, you will also have a better chance of avoiding over-beating the egg whites. It works well to beat the egg whites at medium speed until they form soft peaks, then turn up the speed to fast, keeping a close eye on everything. It should take only three to five minutes to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.

* Sighting the peaks. Softly beaten egg whites will flop over when the beaters are lifted from the bowl. Over-beaten egg whites will clump up. What you are going for in souffles is the stiffly beaten egg white, which will stand at attention when the beaters are lifted from the bowl but still look soft and smooth.

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How to Fold the Base Into the Egg Whites

* Always fold one quarter of the whites into the base first. This will help to lighten the base, resulting in a lighter souffle. Once the first one-quarter is mixed in, add the rest of the whites.

Folding means that instead of stirring, you take a rubber spatula and lift from the bottom, follow the edge of the bowl, and turn gently over toward the center of the bowl. Turn the bowl and repeat until the ingredients are mixed. It is important not to over-mix.

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How to Transfer Batter to the Souffle Dish

* Always spoon--don’t pour--the filling into the dish. Pouring can result in loss of volume.

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The Big Bang Theory

* Don’t open the door of the oven during the first half of the baking time. When you do eventually open the oven, do it gently.