Busting Soufflé Myths
A soufflé can be daunting to take on in the home kitchen, an enigmatic beast of a recipe, but much of that has to do with the myths that have been propagated over the years. Read on to learn the truth.
Myth: Soufflés collapse from loud noises or sudden jolts of movement.
Reality: Steam will keep a hot soufflé fully inflated. No loud noise or slamming of the oven door can change that.
Myth: Egg whites must be gently folded into the base.
Reality: Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks will have ample structure to handle aggressive beating, even in a stand mixer.
Myth: Checking doneness will make soufflés collapse.
Reality: A soufflé is not a balloon; it’s a matrix of very fine bubbles. No amount of poking with the tip of a thermometer can pop enough of them to cause it to fall.
Myth: You can’t make a fallen soufflé rise again.
Reality: Yes, your soufflé will fall after it’s been out of the oven for about 5 minutes. But returning it to a 350-degree oven will convert the water back into steam and reinflate it. The reinflated soufflé will lose about ½ inch of height.
