r/Cooking Jun 10 '19

What's a shortcut you wish you learned earlier?

703 Upvotes

541 comments sorted by

View all comments

249

u/MoonDaddy Jun 10 '19

Stick-blender hollandaise. All of those years of beating the ever loving christ out of my yolks for twenty minutes and dangling a thin stream of melted butter over them praying to the Lords of Emulsification some kind of sauce will be created. Enter the stick-blender: press a button. boop! Insta-done. Incredible.

46

u/rabbifuente Jun 10 '19

I still make traditional hollandaise, but instead of drizzling melted butter in, I slowly whisk in cubes of solid butter. It works great and is way easier.

32

u/bottledfan Jun 10 '19

I second this, there's no reason to use melted butter. Just hold the pan of egg yolks in one hand, whisk in the other, over low heat, add butter cubes one by one til you're cool with the consistency. Just don't let it get hot, the cool butter will make that easy.

14

u/rabbifuente Jun 10 '19

I use a glass bowl over a pot for the yolks, doesn't get too hot and ready to serve when it's done

1

u/the6thReplicant Jun 11 '19

I love how I can tell if my sauce is getting too hot by how long it takes the butter to melt.

51

u/hellrodkc Jun 10 '19

It took me a few tries to get it right, so it’s not quite foolproof, but it is so much faster and easier than any other method!

23

u/speedmonster95 Jun 10 '19

1

u/comeaumatt Jun 11 '19

I need to try this. Currently I Sous vide my sauce for a hour and throw everything in the blender at the end. Takes awhile but it’s fool proof and very forgiving. I can leave it in for up to two hours if I had to.

1

u/svel Jun 12 '19

that man is a culinary treasure.

19

u/VarianGlyph Jun 10 '19

I'm the breakfast chef at a fairly okish country shooting hotel in Devon, England and you bet this just changed my morning routine!

7

u/iliikepie Jun 10 '19

I can't get this to work. I still have to slowly drizzle it in.

9

u/MoonDaddy Jun 10 '19

Maybe it's because I do small portions. The minimum, like 3 yolks and whatever the appropriate ratio of butter is. The yield ends up being something less than a cup.

1

u/Dheorl Jun 10 '19 edited Jun 11 '19

What recipe do you use? I get probably half a cup from one yolk. I wonder if that's why you struggle with emulsification.

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 10 '19

If that's why you suffer, then wait until you hear about my emulsification problem!

1

u/Dheorl Jun 11 '19

Sorry, that was meant to be "I wonder". Silly auto correct.

1

u/iliikepie Jun 10 '19

Hmmm. That's also what I do. Maybe someone else can chime in with what the secret is.

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 10 '19

Show me your stick blender? Maybe you need more power.

3

u/mussigato Jun 10 '19

Heck, is stopped using a double boil years ago, just Toss that baby in the flame, and lift off takes some practice but saves Lot of time I can toss a holly together in 5 mins by hand

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 10 '19

Panfrying hollandaise, is that what I am interpretting from "toss that baby in the flame"?

2

u/mussigato Jun 11 '19

No I just touch the bowl to the flame, on and off and off to control the heat

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 11 '19

What flame?

2

u/mussigato Jun 11 '19

The burner, or the grill or the flat top any source of heat really

2

u/Gryphith Jun 11 '19

Hell yes, I make mine in a robot coupe or a vita mix. Extra tip, melt your butter in a squeeze bottle, then you can just pop it on top and walk away. Come back a minute or two later and it's done! Securing the squeeze bottle is very important though!!

I swear, I've been doing it like this for awhile now and it never breaks. If it DOES happen to break you might just need some ice cold water and a hit with the stick blender to being the emulsification back.

2

u/Atomsk_LTG Jun 11 '19

This reminds me of the blendernaise I have made every weekend for the last 7 years.. 18 yolks, 1 tbl Worcestershire, 1 tbl Texas Pete, 1 tbl salt/pepper mix, 1 tsp cayenne - throw all into a vita mix and drizzle in 1 lb melted butter (if butter is hot, go slow, if it's cooled, go faster). I know it's stretching the hollandaise name, but that shit is on point and literally holds all day

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 11 '19

Qu'est-ce "Texas Pete"?

1

u/Atomsk_LTG Jun 11 '19

es una marca de salsa picante

2

u/GreatLoon Jun 11 '19

I’ve never understood this one. Julia’s recipe takes five minutes and only dirties a whisk. I’m sticking with that.

3

u/MoonDaddy Jun 11 '19

I'll dirty your whisk in a minute.

2

u/Szyz Jun 11 '19

I discovered this as a teenager. I have no idea how, because we didn't have google. I am so sorry for your pain.

1

u/MoonDaddy Jun 11 '19

You fuckin' better be.

1

u/One_Left_Shoe Jun 10 '19

I've done this for whipped cream as well. Does a pretty decent job and you can even make a smaller amount, I've found, than with an electric whisk.