Go to the Recipe: Flan (Crème Caramel)
Here in Brasil it's called "pudim de leite". Very good. Got to try this with sous vide gear.
easy! good job!
How long would you estimate the finished products shelf life?
On what temperature should it be cooked?
How do you get the flan shape using the canning jars? Also, isn't difficult to remove the flan from the jar, since the top of the jar has a slightly smaller diameter then the middle of it?
Looking pretty good. But you guys didn't specifiy the temperature of the water bath.
82ºC would do it?
Says at the top, 1st instruction heat water bath to 90°c. So 82 might not set the custard enough.
I am wondering the same thing, the flan in the picture could not have come out of a jar.
I just made this, it was fantastic, the family loved the smooth texture and soft taste. I don't think I chilled them long enough as they lost a little shape, is that right?
They are probably using regular molds and the combi oven since it has temperature and humidity control.
Just made it. The pump from my DIY sous vide died after 1h of 90°C water... I guess aquarium pumps are not made for sous vide, LOL, so I put the "Pudim de leite" inside my DIY temperature controlled oven and it made its way through just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BYD0F/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They are using these jars, which are tapered inside without a lip. So the flan can slip out. I just bought them.
hey Isaac, got the issue with my DIY sous vide setup a few months back - that's why I ordered a high temperature water pump (rated up to 100 °C ) on ebay for 20USD. I'm very interested in a DIY temperature controlled oven - do you have any online refs for that? was the resulting flan smooth with no bubbles?
I made this dessert tonight and it came out well. Only complaint was the hard boiled egg smell when I opened the jar. The flan also had a strong egg aroma. I realize this is an egg custard but I do not recall the eggy smell when eating this in the past. Thoughts?
I am having trouble with my sugar not changing color. Anyone know what i may have done wrong?
Hey João!
You tried change the suggar for condensed milk, like the tradicional recipe here in Brazil?
check the temperature! you must reach at least 150ºC to start seeing some color! Or your water content is too high with means you will have to wait for a while!
The flan was very smooth. I let the mixture rest in the fridge for about 6hs. If you want a very bubbly flan, you should put in the oven immediately after mixing the base. As for the oven, I just chose a PID controller and adapted ir to control a small and cheap electric oven. A high temp pump would be very nice to have... but I can't find one here in Brazil. I refuse to buy a sous vide equipment because I find it very satisfying to make my own gear (I studied electrical engineering before I went crazy and started culinary school).
I made this last night and I had an issue with the sugar. I poured it into the bottom of my kerr 8 oz wide-mouth canning jars and the sugar immediately formed a hard candy shell. After cooking and chilling there was a nice runny usual sugary sauce, but most of the hardend sugar remained stuck to the bottom of the jar. Did I do something wrong when prepping the sugar, or did I just pour in too thick of a layer? I've seen recipies that call for lemon juice in the sugar to stop it from hardening, and I've seen people rolling the hot sugar around the sides of their pans to evenly disperse it. Any suggestions?
how long can this be refrigerated before serving?
The recipe looks good, but I am worried about transferring glass from a hot water bath to an ice bath. Isn't there a real risk of the mason jars shattering?
Do you think it would be possible to use this same methodology to make a uni flan? I was thinking 86 the sugar and add a few ounces of fresh sea urchin. Are there any issues with this that might be worth considering?
Could you please double check your measurements for the caramel? I used your measurements twice and the sugar never fully dissolved and I was left with hot sugar after all the water boiled off. I ended up using approximately four times the amount of water you suggested and it came out alright but with a ton of caramel (1/4 inch in the bottom of each jar).
I made it yesterday and I am not happy with the texture and the flavor, it has way too much egg flavor. I prefer the one I make in the pressure cooker. I will give it a second chance using the recipe I normally use and I will take containers at different times to see I can find a better texture...
I know I'm late to the party, but can this method be adapted to any flan recipe? I prefer cheese flan, which is half way between a flan and a cheesecake. Would I need to cook it longer? Less time? Or just experiment?
Hi Giovanni, it may take a longer or shorter time depending on the amount of egg in the recipe. Try starting out by cooking it with the same time/temp we suggest and let us know how it turns out. Feel free to post pictures too!
Regarding the amount of caramel… step 2 states, “There should be about a centimeter of liquid in each one.” That’s about 0.4 inch (almost 1/2 inch).
Any ideas on how i would go about flavoring the caramel? I want to do a masala chai version of this. For this i thought i'd infuse the cream and milk with black tea as per MCaH and flavor the caramel with the spices (Clove, Cinnamon and Cardamom). I am worried however that the spices might burn if i just chuck them in there? Do you guys think this would be a problem? Or am i better of making a seperate infusion and using that instead of water for the caramel?
You say "mold" in one paragraph and Joe are in the
… What are we talking about here molds with your open or jars which can be closed?
Hello! How much approximately should I reduce the time if my glasses are for a volume of 120ml? Thanks, Carolina
I have had the same problem. I used lemon juice in the sugar, but it didn't help.
Hello everyone, I tried yesterday and the result was excellent. Wonderful texture and flavor. I, however, had two problems. I pruned the sugar to 165 degrees to make the caramel. The color was beautiful burnished but inside the jars has become hard as a rock and once shot him very caramel mold is stuck to the bottom. Second problem from the bath at 90 degrees to water and ice have erupted 2 glass jars of BALLS, identical to those used in the recipe. Did I do something wrong?
thanks Massimo
I checked the Creme Brulee recipe which says to let them cool at room temp until you can handle them, then place the jars in the ice bath.
hi, i dont have mason jars, can i use another mold and submerged it in the water bath? thank you
Great idea to make this sous vide! Ive been playing with the idea of using the container below to get a more traditional size and shape of the finished creme caramel. Is there any concerns about this lid being unsuited for heating?
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90233788/
Try adding a little glucose or corn syrup to the caramel. Agave syrup might work too.
And your layer may have been too thick.
Here's a question for anyone - why does this need to be tempered?
Never really understood that for sous vide custards. Why can't you just blend everything well and put it in the water bath?
Is it for the evaporation (thus boosting the solids content, thus improving the texture) that would naturally go along with heating the milk?
I second this question. Can we have the science guys give us the details on why we need to temper with simmering liquid?
ChefSteps, where can you buy water tight jars that are produce a traditional flan shape like the image in the recipe? Just ordered a joule and am really excited to try this recipe, just want to make sure it looks good too. -Thanks
hmm.. comparing all your "creme" recipes for Joule. i noticed this recipe is cooked at 194°F where the creme brulee and pot de creme are cooked at 176°F...why?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!
Probably to do with the amount of egg to other ingredients. When you add milk, sugar and such, you create a barrier between the egg proteins, so for them to hit each other with enough force to bind/coagulate you'll need a higher energy i.e. higher temperature.
From reading Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking, the main reason for tempering is a consequence of hygienic handling of the food. Before the modern refrigeration and modern methods of milking, it was quite common for the milk, that was transported into towns to be contaminated by bacteria from cow feces, mishandling, or just grown during transport.
Thus to keep the dairies safe to consume, it would usually be pasteurized by the cook before use and then they tempered the hot milk into the eggs, simply so that they wouldn't have to wait for it to cool down.
In modern times the milk is nice and healthy, so all you need is to make sure, that there are no lumps and this is easy to do with a quick whirl with an immersion blender. I would recommend a immersion blender because I think that, when I merely whisked it, some of the more stringy bits of the whites stayed in lumps and ended up a bit rubbery in places.
The tempering is also nice if you add vanilla or other ingredients that need to be simmered to have their flavors extracted properly, as you can then quickly temper the hot milk into the eggs without curdling it.
In the end tempering appears to mostly be an artifact of the lack of hygiene in ye olden days.
Thanks Sixten
Just to add a data point here. I made this recipe yesterday without tempering, and it came out perfectly. 1 hour at 194.
Thanks! I should've thought to consult McGee!
www.amazon.com/Jarden-Home-Brands-Mouth-Canning/dp/B0000BYD0F/ref=pd_sim_hg_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NXNJFVTR1NFJ30TMF4F&tag=delvkitc-20
Try gradually adding a couple tablespoons of hot water as soon as you take it off the heat. Be careful it'll steam up pretty fast. but it should loosen up the caramel...also let it sit for at least a day in the fridge....
can you redo this recipe with more pictures and a video ? please ?
Hello guy's! That recipe it was good. The only problem is that smell and the tasty of the eggs. You do not mate a mention about vanilla or whatever to get rid off that egg smell.
Me personally I've made both of them. Creme caramel & creme brulee. I used maple &vanilla flavors. The only exception it was triple quantity for the caramel cause more eggs and almost double servings!
Technique question: You use different temps/times for Flan, Creme Brulee, and Egg Bites. I'm assuming this has something to do with the relative amounts of yolks in the recipes (?yolks setting at lower temps than whites?) or maybe it's the sugar that has some effect. Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks
I always love ChefSteps recipes. Until today. The caramel proportion of sugar and water is definitely wrong in this recipe. Like other reviewers, I had to use about 10x more water to get the sugar to caramelize. Using less water just kept turning out with sugar clumps. And then, once in the jar...the caramel sticks to the bottom of the jar and is not really the wonderful topping that a good flan deserves. The texture and taste of the flan custard was perfect, but the caramel was a hassle and a flop. Please check the recipe and update the proportions of the water/sugar for the caramel. Maybe it should be 10x higher? Vance
when i make caramel for flan i never use water, just dry sugar in a pan at medium heat, let it caramelize, then while still hot pour it into the jars
I found this as well. Very eggy smell/taste.
This link is non-functional.
Hi @RaucusBacchus,
Here’s a working link: https://amzn.to/32WonTM.
Link broken
The spices will scorch in the caramel. Why not add them to the custard?
Can someone from Chefsteps answer this question, please? America’s Test Kitchen says to cook to internal temp of 180F, so yet another number. And a different number from CS for pot de crime as well. How can there be so much variation in custard temp? Is there some intuition on the parametrics? For ice cream, if the custard base gets too hot, it tastes eggier; is the idea here to cook higher temp so as to make the egg flavor more pronounced?
