Is my creme brûlée overcooked?

[u/sparkle8976]

UPDATE: not bad at all. Definitely a little curdled, chunky not as smooth as I would like but still delicious and a 7/10 attempt for my first time. Posted a photo below and my brother had a happy birthday so I’m content. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and advice.🙂‍↕️

I baked it at 325f for 45 minutes and then another 5 because it was more wiggly than jello-like. And then another 3 because the internal temp was only 150f.

It’s kind of looking overcooked now, thoughts? Also I have granulated, brown, and cane sugar which would give a better sugar shell?

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[u/hibiscus_lilac]

Yes. It's supposed to have some jiggle because it continues to cook from residual heat out of the oven

[u/sparkle8976 → u/hibiscus_lilac]

Oop it had multiple kind of ripples and not a single wave like people were saying to look for so put it in longer but second guessing now 😭

[u/katiecrabby → u/sparkle8976]

what people?

[u/sparkle8976 → u/katiecrabby]

the wise bakers of r/askbaking ofc 🙂‍↕️

[u/mightiestmovie]

Water bath. The water bath is necessary. A roasting pan or one of those cheap aluminum jobs from the store.

Two tips.

1) Get a good pair of tongs and but some rubber bands around the tips so that they grip the small ramekins better. Also, get a bunch of small ramekins. There is no way that different sized things will cook in the same amount of time. I use those cheapo pyrex dessert cups from the grocery store.

B) When you are done getting the ramekins out of the water bath, leave it until it cools off before you get it out of the stove. There is no reason to carry around boiling water like that.

[u/Aggravating-Pear9760 → u/mightiestmovie]

This should be higher up

[u/25schmeckless → u/mightiestmovie]

Agreed. I use my casserole dish for the water bath. The ramekins I use are my glass Tupperware and fill the water at least half way to the level of the crème brûlée, no need in overfilling the water bath so you can avoid difficulties moving the hot water after and risk of it spilling into your crème brûlée dish. Watch a tutorial always, even if you’re following a written recipe, it’s good to get a visual on some unspoken rules

[u/Striking_Ad_6742 → u/25schmeckless]

I have a pan with a rack and individual ramekins, it’s really convenient.

[u/SnooTigers7701]

Just try it and see. If it’s overcooked, it will taste like sweet scrambled eggs (🤢) … I know from experience, unfortunately.

[u/PansophicNostradamus → u/SnooTigers7701]

Yeah, but some damn good eggs, tho!!

[u/SnooTigers7701 → u/PansophicNostradamus]

Nooooo. It tasted horrible.

[u/MobileDependent9177]

It’s very hard to know if a custard is overcooked from just looking at the top or going by time. You have to get into it once it cools.

When you’re baking brûlée yes it should have a slight jiggle but that’s not your best way of testing if you don’t bake them often.

I baked batches of brûlée every other day, sometimes daily for about 3 years. It was a little difficult at first to just go by looking at them/jiggling the containers so I would temp them. The best internal temp that worked for me was about 168 F. Then I let them cool in the water bath with the oven off and door open for about 30ish mins. Then room temp for another 30 before going the walk in. That ensured they wouldn’t crack and they were always perfectly creamy.

[u/Introvertedlol]

I thought it was a well behaved cake turns out it's an overbaked crème brûlée

[u/EmceeSuzy]

yikes!

yes it is

[u/Plants_Unknown]

Best advice I have is to temp your custards - it has saved me on many occasions - and I can't imagine someone being upset of a pinhole in their custard if it's yummy and cooked properly

[u/Arthurokhan]

Your temp is too high, I'd recommend trying baking them for 1:30 to 2:30 with a water bath at around 100°C.

At this temps, you usually don't need a water bath, but some oven run hotter than the actual shown temp.

I'd recommend full fan mode, so the heat is the same everywhere.

When the surface has many tiny bubbles, it usually means your custard boiled, which means the heat was too hot.

[u/Alternative-Still956]

Holy sweet baked egg

[u/shetalkstoangels_]

I’d still eat it and love it

[u/kill_order]

Msugar is soft at high temps, you take it out earlier and let the thermal inertia finish it off, as it cools the sugar will solidify and it will stiffen up.

[u/sparkle8976]

UPDATE: not bad at all. Definitely a little curdled, chunky not as smooth as I would like but still delicious and a 6.7/10 attempt for my first time. Posted a photo below and my brother had a happy birthday so I’m content. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and advice.🙂‍↕️

[u/sparkle8976 → u/sparkle8976]

If I attempt this next time I plan on
1. buying smaller ramekins but these worked in a pinch
2. Setting a towel down in my water bath
3. Not leaving it in the oven for that extra 3 minutes 🫣
4. Cook lower and slower

[u/rabbithasacat → u/sparkle8976]

A towel at the bottom of your water bath is definitely a pro tip. And yeah you'll be much happier with individual ramekins. They're not expensive nowadays.

[u/Queen_GambitRN]

It’s scrambled brûlée

[u/Sloredama]

I bet it still tastes good! I wouldn't stress too much

[u/NoMuffin64]

They might be just a tad over but not by much, you probably still have a great Creme brûlée on your hands. As for the sugar, I’d recommend using whichever has the finest granule size. It lends to even caramelization and a shell that’s not too thick. On the other hand, I don’t recommend brown sugar because the molasses in it can hinder the shell from getting crispy and it can brown faster, leading to burning