Sous Vide Lemon Curd Recipe | Savoring The Good® (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you overcook lemon curd? ›

What happens if I over-cook lemon curd? Overcooking will cause proteins to bond too tightly, squeezing water out from between them and giving them a rubbery, lumpy texture. If you over-heat the lemon curd, the egg proteins can coagulate and you will see little bits of cooked egg.

Why is my lemon curd not thickening? Make sure to cook the curd until thickened and bubbling. Stir it frequently with a rubber spatula or whisk to make sure it doesn't get lumpy. Once it's cooked, add cold butter and stir until it melts and becomes smooth.

Place over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly to prevent it from curdling, until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream) and coats the back of a wooden spoon (165 degrees F) (74 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes.

A metallic aftertaste is usually the consequence of the lemon curd coming into contact with a metal (especially while it's hot). This could be a metal whisk, a metal bowl, a metal (or metal-coated) saucepan, or a metal sieve.

Although lemon curd uses egg yolks and/or egg whites, the final product shouldn't taste eggy. If it does, it may mean that you've overcooked your eggs. In saying that, traditional lemon curd does have a distinct after taste which doesn't sit well with some.

Add lemon juice while whisking and stir until combined. Add butter pieces and whisk constantly over low heat until mixture is thickened (8-9 minutes). Lemon curd thickens around 160-170˚F. Once you see it start bubbling, let it gently simmer for a few seconds then remove it from the heat at 175-180˚F on a thermometer.

Keep in mind that Lemon Curd will continue to thicken after it has time to chill. While it's hot on the stove, it should be the consistency of pourable pudding, thick enough to run a clear path along the back of a spoon. Once it's chilled, it should be the consistency of cold pudding.

Keep stirring continuously to avoid further curdling and to help the ingredients re-emulsify. If there are still small bits of curdled egg or if the texture isn't smooth enough, you can strain the lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove any solids.

How to fix broken lemon curd? ›

EDIT: I managed to fix it by reheating it, letting it get somewhat smooth, straining it, adding lemon juice, and then stirring more. I did it with one orange so I couldn't just start over again. I'm thankful for the advice though! The curd is now a beautiful orange, a bit thick and sweet, but really good!!

Between the heat and whisking, lemon curd gets foamy while it's cooking. As the curd begins to thicken, the foam will start to settle down, and then the addition of the butter at the end of cooking eliminates the foam. So don't panic when you see foam, just keep whisking and cooking.

If you're not careful about cooking times (as specified by the product manufacturer), your food can become contaminated. In addition, if your food is not properly vacuum sealed, or your food becomes contaminated during prep, cooking sous-vide poses an additional threat.

He doesn't seem to be an especially outspoken proponent of sous vide cooking, possibly due to a long-ago scandal where patrons of his restaurants felt cheated when they found out that their meals had been prepared in advance and heated up via this "boil in a bag" technique, but he does have a pretty dramatic method for ...

When you're working in a professional kitchen, there's no room for error, and things have to be done exactly by the book. This is where sous vide really comes into its own, allowing chefs an unparalleled level of control over their dishes.

Can you overcook lemon curd? Yes, overcooked lemon curd will become lumpy instead of smooth.

Your lemon curd could get chunky and grainy if you let it overcook. One thing you should remember while making lemon curd is that you should never let it reach a point where it starts boiling. The ideal temperature for lemon curd is 170 degrees Fahrenheit, and it shouldn't cross that.

When it changes colour and darkens it doesn't taste as good.

It should coat the back of a spoon without running when you pull your finger across the spoon. Strain – pour the lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve, stirring over the sieve with a whisk to help it strain through.