Troubleshooting a soufflé that collapses during baking

Troubleshooting a soufflé that collapses during baking - Free stock photo of adult, at home, baking

I am trying to make a cheese soufflé to surprise my girlfriend on her birthday (24 Jan). After several cooking trials, I still face a key problem: my soufflé collapsed after baking for 25-30 minutes.

What did I do wrong? Here are the steps to the recipe;

  • boil equipment
  • grease butter to the renakin, place into the freezer
  • separate egg whites (no yolk mixed)
  • add a little salt to egg whites
  • add a little sugar to egg whites
  • using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites adding more sugar during whip
  • melt 40g butter (100C)
  • Whisk 40g all purpose flour into melted butter
  • pour 250g milk slowly and whisk util it mixed
  • wait until it cools down
  • re-grease butter to the renakin, place into the freezer
  • beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency, then pour into the milk mixture
  • add 1/3 of the mixture to the base, continue to add the whites folding very gently.
  • Preheat oven to 200C (5-10 minutes)
  • pour the mixture into the renakin
  • add the cheese on the top
  • bake at 170'C (with heat select="lower")

After about 25-30 minutes and a 2cm rise, the soufflé collapses prior to removing from oven.

updated 19 Jan Evening :

I do

  • buy better hand mixer
  • use more flour (50g)
  • move egg whites whipping process to last steps
  • reduce whipping time to 5 minutes
  • bake with heat select="lower" about 15min after that change to "upper and lower"
  • sit in front of oven and see the soufflé every moment.

result:

  • at 20mins: the soufflé raise about 3.5 to 4cm (from 5cm height renakin)
  • around 25mins: it collapse about 0.5cm, so I immediately remove it from oven (T-T)
  • after than it collapse very fast. (I guess it is common)

Thank you very much @jefromi and @KatieK for your comments and links. I plan to buy oven thermometer this morning because I have no it yet.

updated 21 Jan Lunch :

Yesterday I found problem on the oven temperature. When I set temperature to 170 C, real temperature is 150C or below (because it keep going down). So today I try to keep in range of 160-200C and no collapses now.

Thanks you very much to everybody again for kindly help.

my souffle

bakingeggssouffle


Best Answer

There are two likely causes of soufflé problems.

1) Egg foam. Be sure that you're whipping them to peaks (soft peaks, as I recall) when you first whip them. Then, when adding the 2 mixtures together in 3rds, be sure that you're properly folding in the whites; this is a very specific technique, and easy to over-do.

2) Oven heat. Use an oven thermometer to check your oven's temp - it's probably wrong. Put some extra mass in that oven (like a baking stone or brick) to reduce wild temperature swings during baking.

But, as in the linked questions in the comments, all soufflés fall to some degree.



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Quick Answer about "Troubleshooting a soufflé that collapses during baking"

  • boil equipment.
  • grease butter to the renakin, place into the freezer.
  • separate egg whites (no yolk mixed)
  • add a little salt to egg whites.
  • add a little sugar to egg whites.
  • using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites adding more sugar during whip.
  • melt 40g butter (100C)


    • Why did my souffle collapse in the oven?

    Those souffles that collapse when a pin drops are too dry. Souffles become dry when they bake for too long. In order to make sure your souffle is cooked enough, but not too much, jiggle the dish just a bit a few minutes before it's supposed to be done baking.

    How do you keep souffle from falling?

    When the egg mixture is baked in a 350-degree oven, those air bubbles trapped in the egg whites expand, making the souffle rise. The heat also causes the protein to stiffen a bit, and along with the fat from the yolk, it forms a kind of scaffold that keeps the souffle from collapsing.

    How do I stabilize my souffle?

    Whip the whites until firm, but stop before they get too stiff, says Richard, or the souffle will be grainy. And quell your jitters with his 21st-century trick: Add xanthan gum to the whites. It acts as a stabilizer--resulting in the most dramatic souffle we've made in a while.

    Why did my souffle overflow?

    If the dish is too small, the souffl\xe9 will overflow; if too big, it may not rise above the rim and look elegant. 2. It is easiest to separate eggs cleanly when they are refrigerator cold. However, egg whites whip to greater volume when they are at room temperature.


    The Science Behind Souffles - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph



    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Ron Lach, Karolina Grabowska, Farhad Ibrahimzade, ANTONI SHKRABA production

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