# What happend to my creme brulee? It is kind of grainy and not so smooth



## wwebb37

I just made a creme brulee , and right now I got it in the fridge to set overnight. As I cooked it the recipe called for 300 degrees and 30 minutes, but after that time I noticed it was still runny so I bumped the temp to 325 and cooked for another 20 min. The top was sort of dark but not black it had a crust on the top which I know is wrong. It took a spoon to it and noticed it looked sort of like polenta. Is this cooked eggs? Is it still edible? Here is the recipe I usedf for 2 servings. Since my cooking dish was large I put 2 servings in one dish

2 1/2 egg yolk (I used 3 egg yolks)

1 cup cream

3 tblsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla

I added a third egg yolk once the custard base was made, I heated the custard base and tempered a 3rd yolk.


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## chefross

Your ratio sounds correct. My guess is what did you in was raising the temperature up to 325. The mixture curdled from too hot and too long.

Try baking at a lower temperature and using a water bath to maintain even baking.


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## djoko verona

High temperature...does that usually 
Try this recipe 
325 ml havy cream
125 ml milk
6 egg yolks
150 gr sugar

Bring the milk and havy cream to a boil point ..leave it to cool for 5-10 min ...in a meantime mix the eggyolk and sugar with wisk 
Pour the milk into the egg mixture and mix slowly to combine everything.. 
Yield 6 servings
Make a water bath and put the temperature 300 f is working fine for me ... And check after 20 -25 min should be ready


Enjoy


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## phatch

It sounds overcooked. Certainly it's safe to eat, but just not as pleasant.


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## mocoondo

These recipes don't sound right.  The first one the ratios don't seem right.  The second one doesn't even have any vanilla in it.

I do my Creme Brulee as follows:

Preheat oven to 300°F

3c heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Bring to a boil in a saucepan, stirring very frequently, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Beat 6 egg yolks in your mixer until creamy (it will form peaks when it is right).  Takes about 5 minutes on high with my Kitchenaid.

Reduce the speed on the mixer and slowly add in approx. 3/4 cup granulated sugar until well mixed. 

Now the hard part: 

Remove the simmering cream from the heat, strain through a sieve into a measuring cup.  Let cool for a couple minutes. 

Slowly add in the hot cream into the egg/sugar mixture with the mixer stirring it through.  SLOWLY is the key here.  You want to temper the mixture, not cook the eggs. 

Once you have all the cream mixed in with the eggs, mix until completely blended.

Now you have your custard.  This recipe will fill six 7oz ramekins. 

Boil a pot of water.

In a baking dish, arrange your ramekins and then fill the dish with hot water until it comes about half way up your ramekins.

Put them down in the 300 oven for about an hour, checking them regularly after about 45 minutes.  You want to see your custards just barely "jiggle" in the middle and then it is time to pull them.

Allow to cool and then refrigerate, ideally for 24 hours. 

Granulated sugar on the top and then flame with your torch until it gets golden brown.

Into the freezer for a minute or two to harden the crust. 

Serve immediately.

If you do this right, you will have about the most perfect creme brulee you've ever tasted.

You can scale this recipe up or down to fit your needs.


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## margcata

There is an older thread, where Member Professional Chef & Pastry Chef, Petals and Coco ( petalsandcoco)  provides her lovely recipe.

The older thread is titled: Why is My Créme Brulée very runny ?

The classic recipe contains: cream, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla and is prepared in Ramekins.

Hope this assists.


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## cobes

You don't seem to have any clear answers. I'm not going to give out my recipe because the recipe wasn't the problem. When baking any custard you need a water bath. Period. What more than likely happened was over cooking. But even if baked correctly you can still receive a grainy texture if you didn't chinois the base before you dished them and baked them. Another thing you must do to all custards. When you are cooking your yolks it's almost impossible to do it with out getting the tiniest bit of curdle happening. 

A chinois will be your best friend if you let it...


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## soesje

if its grainy and not smooth my first idea would be that you should check the custard recipe.

if the recipe is okay, then maybe cooked too hot/ long aka, eggs have curdled.

if it was grainy BEFORE you put it in the oven, then start looking here.

if it happens next time again at this point, put custard through chinois/ sieve.

if AFTER the oven, then baked too hot/ long

it might be true that when baking custards water baths are needed, but you can still do it without.

I do that sometimes, no problem, needs a bit more attention.

the water also keeps the custards more moist, so custards baked without a water bath are firmer.

then its also possible to steam your custards if your oven has a steam function, instead of the water bath.

before doing so, cover surface of custard tightly with saran wrap (shrink wrap).


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