Problemintermediatedraft

Hollandaise curdles

Also searched as: hollandaise splits, grainy hollandaise, curdled béarnaise

In short: The egg yolk got too hot and curdled into crumbs, or the butter went in too fast.

Picture it

Like scrambled egg hiding in the sauce.

What happened in your kitchen?

Question 1

Is the sauce grainy like fine scrambled egg?

Too hot
Above about 70 °C the egg yolk curdles into little lumps and the sauce turns grainy.
Next time: Take it off the water bath immediately · Whisk in a spoonful of cold water or cream · Set the bowl in iced water briefly and keep whisking
Butter added too fast
The yolk cream cannot take up the butter quickly enough, and the sauce splits.
Next time: Start again in a new bowl with a yolk and a little water · Slowly whisk in the split sauce
Yolk foam already curdled
If the yolk base is already grainy before the butter goes in, it cannot be rescued.
Next time: Start again · This time take it off the water bath more often

Sources · 3