Egg Files V: Quantum Foam - Recap

Alton’s fingers play over the buttons of a remote, guiding a balloon around, as he extols his love for bubbles. From Lawrence Welk to washing his father’s car for free to taking a bath every day, young Alton couldn’t get enough of bubbles. In the culinary world his fascination led him to champagne, whipped cream, mousse, and the “quantum foam” of food – the soufflé. The soufflé, he continues, inspires as much fear as it does hunger. But soufflés are not the monsters people thing, and Alton plans to prove it. With a handful of ingredients, a few skills and a dash of confidence, anyone can build a cheese soufflé. (But just as Alton comments about confidence, his remote balloon crashes into a small dinosaur skeleton and knocks it to the floor!) No matter, Alton finishes – he’ll get his bubbles under control and get everyone into some... Good Eats!

Alton samples a soufflé. It should be rich yet light; airy yet flavorful. It has been, he notes, a long time since he has encountered such conflicting characteristics. As Alton sits on the couch, Tender and Flaky appear as shoulder devils, prepared to resume their debate over how one achieves both tenderness and flakiness at the same time. But Alton smacks them both out of the picture, for the soufflé isn’t conflicted at all. It is in perfect zen harmony. The lightness comes from protein laden egg whites whipped into a bubbly battalion, while the richness comes from a yolk-enforced base, or sauce. Bringing them together is an act of simple culinary matchmaking.

Alton starts by bringing his oven to 375º (as his remote controlled balloon buzzes by behind him). Then he explains how to prepare the soufflé dish. Soufflé comes from the French language and it means “puffed up.” The right dish helps; Alton chooses a number seven, which is the correct size for a five or six egg soufflé - enough to serve 3-4 people.

Any tall sided ceramic vessel will work, but the dedicated soufflé has certain advantages: a fluted exterior that increases the surface area, promoting faster heat absorption. The unglazed bottom does the same thing. The soufflé rises best when it can grab the sides of the vessel. To help it do that, Alton creates traction with a layer of ground parmesan cheese. Butter will help the cheese stick to the sides of the pan; Alton covers the pan with butter and then adds about a tablespoon of parmesan. Then he covers the pan with plastic and shakes until the parmesan covers the sides. The prepared pan goes into the freezer to chill the butter so that it melts more slowly.

A savory soufflé starts with a modified white sauce. And all white sauces, Alton reminds his viewers, have two things in common: milk, and a roux. A roux is a paste of flour suspended in melted butter, so Alton first melts some butter until the water steams off (butter contains six to eight percent water). Once that happens, he adds the flour and a little dry mustard, garlic powder and a heavy pinch of kosher salt, whisking until it starts to smell nutty.

Now it’s time to add the hot milk. Why hot? Wheat proteins don’t gelatinize completely until they boil, and that happens much faster when one starts with hot milk. While he waits on the milk/roux, Alton beats egg yolks until they’re creamy and light yellow. That denatures a few of the proteins and evenly distributes the fat, which discourages the eggs from scrambling when added to the hot liquid. Egg proteins coagulate around 140º, and the milk base is hotter than this, the Alton must temper the eggs. First, he turns off the heat under the milk mixture. Then he adds a little of the hot mix to the egg yolks and whisks briskly, to bring the yolk temperature up slowly. This also works starch from the flour in between the egg proteins, further discouraging curdling. Three or four small additions temper the eggs, and Alton adds them back into the rest of the milk sauce and whisks constantly. He recommends a plastic scrape to get all the egg out of the bowl. Finally Alton adds cheese and slowly melts it over no heat at all. The result should be rich, salty and cheesy – exactly what is needed, since this base will be less than half the mass of the finished soufflé, but must contribute all the flavor. Alton plans to use his right away, but mentions that it will keep for as long as a week in the refrigerator – press a sheet of plastic right onto the surface to keep it moist. Be sure to bring it back up to room temperature before working it into a foam.

Alton keeps individually frozen egg whites, and soufflé is one reason why, since most soufflés use more egg whites than yolks. He produces the shell mates of the four yolks that went into the sauce and adds a thawed egg white. Separate eggs while they’re cold, but beat egg whites at room temperature. And never invite so much as a speck of fat to the party – that fat will collapse the foam! Alton won’t even use plastic tools to work with egg whites – plastic has a molecular structure similar to fat, and sometimes even a good washing doesn’t remove all the vestiges of fat.

One may replace as much as 25% of the egg whites with water, Alton notes, at a rate of one tablespoon of water per egg white. There will still be enough protein to make the foam, but the lighter mass will foam faster. Alton adds his egg whites and some water to a very clean metal bowl. The worst rookie mistake is over beating the egg whites, stretching the proteins and producing foam too inflexible to withstand expansion in the hot oven. (As Alton discusses this, the remote control balloon floats lazily past). Increasing the acidity of the whites helps by discouraging proteins from binding. Any acid works, but Alton prefers cream of tartar, an acidic salt derived from wine grapes. He starts slow, beating with a hand mixer just until the whites are frothy. Hand mixers work better for this because they can keep a smaller amount of egg whites moving, and it’s important that the egg whites stay in motion. Once they’re foamy, Alton speeds up his mixer. Correctly beaten eggs will form small peaks on the ends of the beaters (turn the mixer upside down); these peaks should sag very slightly. In the bowl, the mixture should be glossy but not dry. Over beaten whites are very stiff and have ejected most of their water. They won’t work – fortunately, eggs are cheap. In a few minutes this foam will collapse under its own weight, so it’s time to fold.

Alton has his room temperature base, his foam, and his prepared soufflé pan ready. He must bring the two unrelated forms – foam and base – together in a way that crushes as few bubbles as possible. To do this, he makes a really large spatula from a dough scraper, a handle and a “food grade” rubber band. First he stirs in about a quarter of the foam to lighten the base. This is the last time he’ll stir the mixture; from here on in, he’ll fold.

Next, he visually divides the remaining foam into thirds. He adds the first third to the base, digs down into the middle and folds it over, turning the bowl about an eighth of the way around. He stops after two rotations of the bowl. A little of the foam remains unfolded, but that’s okay for now. Alton repeats with another third of the foam (about half of what’s left) – lays it on top, digs down and folds over as he turns the bowl – again, two rotations. Finally, he finishes with the last third of the foam, same technique. Gentle is more important than speed, here. A few flecks of foam remain unmixed, but that’s okay.

To pour, Alton removes the handle from the dough cutter and uses it to gently scrape the mixture into the soufflé. It should come almost to the top of a number seven pan. Normally, the soufflé will mushroom over, but the cook may put a “top hat” on it by making a shallow groove around the edge.

Alton slides his soufflé into a pie pan and puts that into the oven for thirty-five minutes. “Chef LePaul” – actually Paul the Intern – appears with a megaphone to warn bystanders (in French, of course) that the soufflé is in the oven, and to refrain from sudden moves, making loud noises, perhaps even angry glares. As he struts around, Alton eats a banana and casually drops the peel – and down crashes LePaul! But the soufflé is unharmed! Alton advises against trying to make a soufflé in an earthquake, but reassures viewers that everyday domestic tremors aren’t going to harm it. What will hurt it is opening the oven door within the first thirty minutes. The reduction of heat will deflate the foam. And on the subject of heat – Alton asks if the viewers trust their ovens.

In an appliance store, Alton (and a familiar looking salesman) explains the three factors for oven performance: accuracy, evenness, and speed. Ideally an oven maintains a precise temperature, but this is impractical. What actually happens is a “temperature wave” that corresponds to the switching on and off of the heating element. In an accurate oven this wave may vary by ±20º. In a poor oven, it may vary as much as ±70º. That kind of variation is bad for a soufflé. Another problem is evenness of temperature inside the cooking box. As an oven ages, insulation breaks down, door seals fail, heating elements develop hot spots. All of this means temperatures aren’t evenly distributed. That’s bad for a soufflé. (The remote controlled bubble drifts by once again.) Major thermal crimes require the attention of a repairman, but a cook can add mass to correct minor problems. Alton recommends a pizza stone. It acts as a kind of thermal capacitor to improve accuracy and evenness.

Finally, there the issue of time. Specifically, how long it takes the oven to heat. Fast heating ovens heat the air, but when a cook opens the door, all that hot air floats out. That temperature recovers slowly which is... bad for a soufflé. To avoid this problem, Alton recommends leaving the oven on for fifteen to twenty minutes after it preheats, to allow it to build up a thermal charge. Finally, Alton wonders where he’s seen that familiar looking salesman before, but the man darts off before he can learn.

Back in his kitchen, Alton checks his soufflé. It looks done, but to be sure he pierces it with a knife – it should be gooey on the bottom but if there’s a lot of liquid, it goes back into the oven for five more minutes. If built right the soufflé won’t deflate even when the knife goes in. The pie pan allows for easy removal of the soufflé pan. (The remote control bubble floats by again.)

Alton sits down with a slice of soufflé, and some hope that he has inspired the viewer to try the best bubble trick he knows: soufflé. It’s not only easy, it’s good... eats, that is.


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