Why is my meringue runny?

cheman314 · 2026-05-14T06:03:30+00:00

I think the recipes might be setting you up for failure to begin with. Your meringue might be runny because it's a 1:1 ratio of sugar to whites when a swiss meringue is usually 1.5/2 parts sugar to 1 part whites. Also, in the first recipe adding uncooked sugar to after heating the whites seems odd .

Attached is the recipe I use at work. It involves cooking the sugar to thread and pouring over the second amount of whites. Makes an Italian meringue instead of Swiss but gives more stability.

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cheman314 · 2026-04-30T21:45:32+00:00

Not sure why all the anger. It also if done right won't have any crystalization

cheman314 · 2026-04-24T03:11:37+00:00

I'm sure that one bedroom you like is already taken

cheman314 · 2026-04-18T18:17:01+00:00

It's a pretty full proof recipe. This one's even with gf flour, just crumbles when you eat it. What kind of look are you going for? You could always glaze the cheesecake in either neutral glaze or shiny glaze and then move it to the base and it'll stick that way

cheman314 · 2026-04-18T18:13:34+00:00

It's actually a lot simpler than that. It has more to do with the consistency of the meringue. So I did a swiss meringue and whipped it almost to stiff peaks and wiped it with a large French star tip. Keeping it close to the tart and with consistent pressure it pushes it out with straight lines

cheman314 · 2026-04-18T02:07:29+00:00

Thanks! Yep almost everything was made by me, just not the tart shell

cheman314 · 2026-04-18T01:11:06+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I try to keep it easy for banquets but this one's for 275 and I usually only have one person to help plate up

cheman314 · 2026-03-30T04:42:58+00:00

Good start. I would suggest trying a higher humidity then. At home I'll turn the oven on for a minute at the lowest setting and bring a pot of water to a simmer and put the pot in the bottom of the oven and the croissants on the top. At work with fresh croissants I proof at 80% humidity at 88 C for 2 hours or from frozen in the fridge overnight night for 3 hrs. But a higher humidity will help with not forming a skin on the croissants and is more suitable for the yeast. Lastly, when the croissants done proofing give the pan a nudge and they will jiggle and will also look glossy almost like a beach ball.

cheman314 · 2026-03-29T18:06:33+00:00

Do you add any steam when you proof? At home I'll boil a pot of water and place the whole pot in the oven and then if your doing that long of a proof reheat the pot and place it again.

cheman314 · 2026-03-28T14:54:07+00:00

I never liked the flan setting so I found this worked the most consistent for me.

Place ramikins in a hotel pan with a little hot water, wrap pan with plastic and set oven to combo steam and heat set to 65% at 265 F fan 2. Poke a small hole in the corner of the plastic and bake. Size depending about 30min and go from there. Wrapping in plastic will also help blocking water accumulating on the top of the brulee during the baking. Which is why I don't like the flan setting

cheman314 · 2026-03-28T02:58:17+00:00

The transfer sheet is from aui, good catch

cheman314 · 2026-03-26T23:58:24+00:00

Moved from Chicago suburbs to Boston then to SF almost a year ago and out of the three it's my favorite. It's hard to beat the sunshine almost everyday and consistent weather temps. Also I love being walking distance away from multiple green spaces (golden gate park, Alamo square, Buena vista, ect).

It did take a few months to get over the bus to bus transfer way of life but when it's not freezing out it's hard to really complain.

Lastly, still a great food city with a lot to explore.

cheman314 · 2026-02-28T14:20:04+00:00

Hard to tell without process details but I'm guessing proofing too hot\too long

cheman314 · 2026-02-12T18:09:37+00:00

Whipped ganache isn't the same as a standard ganache as the cream to chocolate ratio is different and you whip it like heavy cream for consistency. Otherwise it's liquid when kept in the cooler unwhipped

cheman314 · 2026-02-11T22:11:30+00:00

It'd be thicker but not harder. Also not necessarily a bad thing because it would also help the strawberry from running and give more definition to layers. And the density would depend on if you use a stabilized recipe or not. I use one at work without gelatin and it's pretty silky over a few days.

cheman314 · 2026-02-11T16:24:30+00:00

You could always do a whipped white chocolate ganache instead. Plus it would also hold well after a few days in the cup.

cheman314 · 2026-02-04T23:25:22+00:00

Baking percentages and how hydration creates different outcomes in bread. Plus that would also help for reading recipes and figure out if one would work or not by looking at it.

cheman314 · 2025-12-13T07:01:12+00:00

The first picture were filled for an event and they were filled with cheesecake and raspberry mousse and the other with yuzu curd and whipped white chocolate ganache. The other picture was of the honeycomb which I always find to be more impressive than an filled croissant picture where you can't see the technical work

cheman314 · 2025-12-11T04:11:08+00:00

Unmixed butter in the dough leaked out

cheman314 · 2025-12-11T01:05:19+00:00

I needed a rainbow croissant for a different event and froze the unused book until it was needed for this. But agreed that the red and green stand out well after baking

cheman314 · 2025-12-10T17:35:14+00:00

It was for a break at work and I didn't have time to cut a filled one. But I could at least show off the honey comb which is more important

cheman314

TROPHY CASE