Hollandaise The Easy Way ...... sous vide

[Owly055]

I made eggs benedict for breakfast today, and making the hollandaise is always a headache that requires constant attention to get it just right. My hollandaise sauce is not quite standard, as I always add cayenne and turmeric, which gives it a bright yellow color, and a flavor that is less bland. I also sometimes brew up a "half breed" version that has far less egg and butter, and is in fact just a white sauce with some egg yoke, spices, and lemon juice. Tastes just as good, but isn't as rich.

Today I decided to make a full rich hollandaise but try to do it the easy way. I used 6 egg yokes, and a full stick of butter, along with about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and my usual spices. I whisked the egg yokes up with the spices and salt and cream, and cut the butter up into chunks, pouring the works into a pint canning jar, and putting it into the sous vide at 147F. 145 just barely begins thickening yokes, and 150 makes them pretty firm. I wanted it somewhere in between. It stayed in for half an hour, then I brought it out and whisked the melted butter into the egg mixture and added about a tablespoon of lemon juice and whisked that in also. I then returned it to the jar for an additional 15 minutes.
The result was beautiful.... perfect consistency. I used a little bit of it, but put the remainder in the fridge for another day.

I chose the times and temps without any real guidelines. Cooled it's almost custard thickness......... but not quite. Stick a spoon into it and it will heal very slowly, warm it pours like a thick gravy. Next time I want hollandaise, I'll just drop the jar in the sous vide for a short time at 145, and pour off what I want, and put it back in the fridge.

Next batch will use curry powder. I don't carry curry powder on hand, as I do my curries from fresh ground spices, and fresh grated ginger root, and turmeric, and fresh garlic.

H.W.

 

[doomy86]

Wow, that sounds delicious. What kind of sous vide are you using?

 

[Owly055]

Wow, that sounds delicious. What kind of sous vide are you using?

I use the Annova...........

There is no end to what one can use these things for, though I've abandoned the Annova for mashing.

I've reached the conclusion that simple is best in brewing.... brew in a bag, a stainless steel stock pot wrapped in foam sitting on top of the range with the oven on below. Every complexity I've introduced into brewing so far, I've abandoned for simplicity.

H.W.

 

[doomy86]

I use the Annova...........

There is no end to what one can use these things for, though I've abandoned the Annova for mashing.

I've reached the conclusion that simple is best in brewing.... brew in a bag, a stainless steel stock pot wrapped in foam sitting on top of the range with the oven on below. Every complexity I've introduced into brewing so far, I've abandoned for simplicity.

H.W.

Very true, i am also a minimalist in brewing. BIAB is wonderfull, i use an induction stovetop for heating, no worries about burnt isolation. The only complex system must be the brewpi controller i use for my fermentation fridge.

 

[Owly055]

Very true, i am also a minimalist in brewing. BIAB is wonderfull, i use an induction stovetop for heating, no worries about burnt isolation. The only complex system must be the brewpi controller i use for my fermentation fridge.

I don't even go that far..... I have two fermentation environments. The house and the pumphouse. In summer the house gets too hot, so I use the pump house which stays in the 60's. I'm not interested in replicating beers precisely.......not even slightly, but I am interested in not having fusels and higher alcohols. My Fast Ferment is not very portable, so I have purchased a yeast that it good up to 100F Kveik yeast. In summer I'll live with that and Belle Saison which produces some interesting flavors brewed at higher temps. Kveik is pretty ideal for brewing while voyaging, so I'd like to become familiar with it.

H.W.

 

[zachattack]

I would certainly call hollandaise sauce with cream a bit more than "not quite standard"

This is the way I've always done traditional hollandaise. It's really incredibly easy.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/04/foolproof-2-minute-hollandaise-recipe.html

 

[bob1852]

I've enjoyed making one pot sous vide eggs benedict.

Poaching eggs, making hollandaise, and heating up ham (well, homecured and smoked Canadian bacon) all in one sous vide pot..

 

[Owly055]

I would certainly call hollandaise sauce with cream a bit more than "not quite standard"

This is the way I've always done traditional hollandaise. It's really incredibly easy.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/04/foolproof-2-minute-hollandaise-recipe.html

Hollandaise has a lot of variability. Your recipe for example has proportions of butter to egg that are far different from some. I don't think there really is any "standard" anymore if there ever was.

H.W.

 

[Temptd2]

Oh yum, what a great idea! I'm gonna give this a try.

I make hollandaise in my Vitamix, usually, but I can see where this method, along with AZ IPA's cooking of the eggs and heating of the ham, would be a stellar use of the sous vide.

 

[petey_c]

I don't have the time to f with making hollandaise/bernaise from scratch. I cheat and use Knorr, sometimes using a little more cayenne and/or tarragon. I love those sauces despite their artery clogging abilities.