Why did my meringue deflate and go soft?
I used 8 egg whites with sugar and beat it. It was so stiff that I could actually maybe cut it with a knife and make a sculpture out of it.
I preheated the oven to 150 degrees and baked it at 140. The meringue deflated and was soft and quite a disaster.
Can anyone please tell me where I went wrong? What made it soggy and deflated? It did not even start to crack. There was not a single crack in the base.
Best Answer
How long did you cook it for? If it did not form a good crust in the oven it would deflate. If you used 140 on fan forced oven it could be too hot, which would rise and brown the outsides without forming a crisp crust.
Usually the rule is to turn the oven off and let it cool completely before removing from the oven, but without the recipe or knowing if there was an intention of "softness", its hard to give specifics.
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Why did my meringues go soft?
Excess moisture in the air can seep into meringues and make them soft, even after they are baked. Best to avoid making meringue on damp days.How do you fix a deflated meringue?
So the trick to revive the Italian meringue is actually really simple: Put your Italian meringue in a stand mixer and turn on the whip on a high speed. Don't worry if the meringue collapses at first. Whipping it will initially take out all the air that's still in there! Just keep on whipping at this point in time.Why did my meringue go flat after baking?
This shouldn't be a problem assuming you followed the recipe and your oven is calibrated properly. But if you notice beads of liquid condensation forming on the surface of the meringue while it bakes, that's a sign that your oven temperature is too low. The solution: crank up the heat and shorten the cooking time.Troubleshooting Meringue | MOST COMMON PROBLEMS | Meringue Mastery Part 5/5
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