In how much water do I need to put ramekins when cooking au bain marie in the oven?

I have been given four ramekins and a cooking book with 30 recipes for eggs in a ramekin as a present.

Everything is explained very clearly:

Preheat the water for the bain marie dish in the oven at (I think) 180°C
Put the eggs in a ramekin
Add other ingredients
Place the ramekin in the bain marie dish in the oven
Get the ramekins out when you see the egg white is starting to coagulate

I have never used ramekins and I have never cooked au bain marie in the oven, but I believe the amount of water you use is pretty important. Unfortunately the book doesn't mention this.

So how high should the water level be for the ramekins?

Best Answer

Ideally, the water level should be just as, or a bit above, the egg level. So, you fill the ramekin to maybe 1.5 cm below the rim, place it in the dish, and fill the dish until it is 1 cm below the ramekin rim. You can deviate a bit, if you must - if you had a bit too much custard and filled the ramekins more, you shouldn't get the water too high, because you don't want to get water splashed onto the custard if it should start boiling (actually, you want to avoid a roiling boil in your bain marie, but it can happen). Even if the egg is slightly higher than the water, it will still be OK. If you have the water level too low, you risk to overheat the upper portions of your custards.

This assumes the souffle-cup-like ramekins usually sold to home bakers. If you have very flat ones, like crema catalana dishes, it gets more complicated. You have to have the water close to the rim, and bake at lower settings. It can help to put them high in the bain marie, e.g. on a cake cooling rack, so that they are cooled from below rather than the sides.

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Quick Answer about "In how much water do I need to put ramekins when cooking au bain marie in the oven?"

Fill the ramekins with whatever you're baking and nestle them inside the baking dish. Bring a large pot of water to boil and then pour the water into the larger baking dish and around the ramekins. Avoid splashing water into your nicely filled custards! The water should come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

How much water do you put in a bain-marie?

Making and Using A Bain Marie or Water Bath To make a bain-marie, choose an outer container that is deep enough to hold water at least 1/2 to 2/3 the depth of your ramekins, souffle dish, etc. and large enough to allow for at least 1/2-inch between the individual containers.

Do you put water in the bottom of a bain-marie?

A double boiler uses steam to indirectly transfer heat to food, whereas a bain-marie uses water to indirectly transfer heat to food. A double boiler's top pot does not touch the water inside the bottom pot, whereas the pots of a bain-marie are set directly into the water.

Can you put ramekin in boiling water?

Yes, ramekins are successfully used for steaming in an array of recipes.

How much do you fill a ramekin?

Fill each ramekins to within a \xbd inch from the top. Arrange all the ramekins in a baking dish large enough to accommodate all the ramekins.

How to Cook in a Bain-Marie or Water Bath

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