How to avoid lumps
You've probably come across this unpleasant phenomenon where, when you try to incorporate an ingredient (usually a solid or powder) into a preparation (usually a liquid), the mixture doesn't mix properly and you end up with little "balls" or little lumps of the solid part that refuse to mix with the liquid part.
A classic example is when you add flour to a pancake batter (for example), and you end up with lots of little white dots in your batter. It's very annoying, and you need a lot of elbow grease to get rid of them, if you manage at all.
A classic example is when you add flour to a pancake batter (for example), and you end up with lots of little white dots in your batter. It's very annoying, and you need a lot of elbow grease to get rid of them, if you manage at all.
25 K 4.8/5 (18 reviews)
Keywords for this post:LumpsDoughApparatusMixingWhiskLast modified on: October 9th 2020
How to avoid lumps
How can you avoid those famous lumps?
Here's a list of possible actions:
1) If you're incorporating a powdery ingredient (flour, almond powder, etc.), you need to sift the powder in question before incorporating it.
Don't hesitate to sift together several or all the powders in a recipe, for example for a cake: flour + sugar + yeast.
2) For mixing, use a whisk instead of a maryse, spoon or spatula, as it mixes much better.
3) If, despite this, you're still faced with lumps, as a last resort, the mixer is your friend: giving your dough in preparation a good blow will liquefy it in a matter of seconds.
But don't use it on dough containing whipped cream or egg whites, as you'll destroy the airiness of the mixture.
What if it's not a powder you're mixing in?
You can use the same lifesaving gestures, but your problem probably stems from too great a temperature difference between the dough you're mixing in and the butter, and the latter congeals and clumps together.
The trick is to keep mixing, placing your dough in a bain-marie that's not too hot, or if possible, putting it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
To sum up: to avoid lumps with powders: sift, whisk, mix, and with fats: the same, but pay attention to temperature differences.
Lasts posts
The other use for bowl scraper
Your kitchen or bakery utensils may include a horn (left) or a pastry cutter (right). These practical utensils are normally used to scoop the contents of a bowl or salad bowl - the horn - or to cut dough - the pastry cutter. But they also have another, very practical use - let's see what it is.May 9th 2026559
The strange foam of potatoes in milk
As you may have already noticed, when you cook potatoes in milk, especially in small pieces (slices or cubes) for a gratin for example, a surprisingly abundant white foam forms on the surface. Where does it come from?April 26th 2026941
A little leftover butter
Very often when you're making a cake, your recipe will tell you to melt some butter and mix it into the batter - a classic for cookies, cakes, moelleux and the like. And every time you do this, you'll have to butter the baking tin to prevent the dough from sticking during baking. Naturally,...April 16th 20261,0185
A tablet holder
Perhaps you too cook by consulting your recipe on a tablet or phone, and putting it down on your worktop? It's practical, but not the best solution. Here's a look at how you can make an inexpensive, almost universal stand.March 14th 20261,7525
Pre-calibrated pastry dough
When making pie dough (shortbread, shortcrust, sweet...), it's always a good idea to make a lot at once, and then divide it into pieces, which you can freeze. I've already pointed out the mistake not to make, which is to form a ball before freezing. It's difficult to roll out afterwards because...March 9th 20261,5655
Other pages you may also like
The beautiful story of the croissants
As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very...October 10th 201821 K5
Salt and yeast
Let's take a look at an old baker's legend: You may have already read that somewhere in a recipe that uses baker's yeast(bread, pastries, leavened doughs in general) it is often specified "Don't put salt in contact with the yeast, you'll kill it (the yeast)"! Well, that's a belief, and there are...March 15th 201975 K4.3
The (small) miracle of béchamel sauce
Making a béchamel sauce is going to confront you with a little miracle that happens every time: You pour milk over a roux, it's very liquid, you stir over a low heat, and then all of a sudden, miracle, the sauce sets, it thickens, you've got your béchamel. Let's see what happened.August 27th 20249,5644
Is it really necessary to cream egg yolks?
Let’s try and answer a question that crops up in cookery and patisserie, even if it verges on the existential: do the egg yolks in a custard recipe really need to be beaten until pale, or not?February 28th 201845 K4.3
Cleaning endives
If you buy your endives elsewhere than in supermarkets, and in this case the best is of course from a market gardener, he or she is the one who planted and harvested them, in this case you will have endives full of earth or sand, depending on where they were grown, which is normal and reassuring, we...March 24th 202028 K4.6
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
Receive an e-mail as soon as this page is modified or receives a new comment.
We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.