Soufflés - any practical tips?

[Ceefer]

I do all the cooking in my house and mostly can half-ass manage anything I put my mind to but I'm not doing so well with soufflés. All the cookbooks say something like 'soufflés are so easy, just do them like this and you won't have any trouble....'

Well, my wife took a hankering for a soufflé recently so I made a broccoli and cheese one, following a recipe in one of good old Delia's first cookbooks. Followed the directions as best I could, all the whisking, soft peaks, folding, testing with a skewer while cooking etc. It looked OK when I took it out of the oven in that it had risen and was brown on top, but the middle wasn't cooked properly (sloppy). So, next time I cooked it a bit longer and it came out like a savoury meringue. Before I go for 'third time lucky' I thought I'd see if any of y'all have any good practical tips for getting it right. Also any soufflé recipes (not sweet) would be welcome.

[Nick]

Ok, here's a few tips for ya!

I don’t know about the soft peaks bit, in every soufflé I’ve ever made (sweet or savoury) I’ve always whisked my eggs to stiff peaks.

Be absolutely sure there is no fat on your beaters or in the bowl when you beat egg whites to stiff peaks. If any amount of fat is present, the whites will never become stiff.

If you place the bowl with you egg whites and your whisk blades into the freezer, then chill until the edge of the whites starts to freeze you get a much firmer, stiffer peak when the whites are whipped. It holds finer bubbles for longer too.

Souffles are made of two parts, the sauce and the beaten egg whites. For best results, cool the sauce before you fold in the egg whites. Hot sauces will deflate the whites quickly and your souffle will not rise as much.

When you begin making souffles, make sure that the egg whites are folded in gently but thoroughly. At first, it´s best to overfold a bit, so there aren´t streaks of egg whites in the finished product.

After the souffle mixture is in the prepared dish, use a spatula or knife to trace a circle one inch deep about one inch from the side of the dish. This will let the souffle rise more in the middle, making it look like a top hat.

Dessert souffles are usually baked at higher temperatures than savory souffles because they are more liquid. Play around with your oven temperatures OR cooking times, but not both at once. Everyone’s oven is different. My one at work runs AT LEAST 20 degrees cooler than my one at home, even when both are on the same fan setting!

Individual souffles are usually easier for the beginning cook to make successfully. Still, watch carefully while they are in the oven so they don´t overbake.

Souffles with a high fat content (cheese based) will be heavier in texture and won't rise as much as other souffles.

A properly cooked souffle should collapse about 5 minutes after it is taken from the oven. If it doesn't, its over cooked.

The center of the souffle should be JUST set with a consistency of thick(ish) custard.

Spiking a souffle a souffle to see if it is cooked in the middle is the worst thing you can do. To rise the souffle relies on the steam generated inside it to force the souffle mix upwards where it should set lightly due to the egg white. Spiking it creates a hole to let the steam out and the souffle will either collapse or not rise nearly as much as it should.

Hope this lot helps. I'll post a few recipes later, got a lot on right now though!

[Ceefer]

Thanks once again, Decks. Damn that Delia woman! I'm not following her advice any more.