The dissociation of a preparation
It may have already happened to you: You prepare a sauce, a cream, a ganache etc. and then suddenly or almost, the whole thing dissociates, and from a smooth mixture that you were preparing with love, you end up with a horrible thing with a more or less solid part and another liquid part.
It's the dissociation, or as the french pastry chefs and cooks say, "it's tranché!".
It's the dissociation, or as the french pastry chefs and cooks say, "it's tranché!".
9,727 4.9/5 (13 reviews)
Keywords for this post:CreamSauceProblemDissociationSolidLiquidLast modified on: January 22th 2022
The dissociation of a preparation
For example, here is a chocolate-hazelnut ganache that is tranché:
It doesn't show up very well in the (small) photo, but there's a thick chocolate-hazelnut pan base, and on top a layer of liquid fat.
In the vast majority of cases, it's because in your mixture there is a fatty part and a watery part, the whole thing comes together in a delicate balance.
If this balance is broken because there is too much of one or the other, or a thermal shock, the whole which was homogeneous dissociates, it cuts!
This imbalance is often caused by the heating, perhaps excessive, of the preparation, and during this heating the water can evaporate and reduce, the fat not.
This is what happened with the ganache above, I didn't remove the simmering cream from the heat soon enough before adding the chocolate and hazelnut powder, sad result.
Another example, a bearnaise sauce or a hollandaise sauce that slices when it was almost finished, it's certainly because there was too much butter added and not enough water in the vinegar-wine-herb or lemon reduction.
And besides, it doesn't prevent this tragedy, there is little or no warning of disaster for an amateur, it is quite brutal.
1) Don't panic, don't despair, because it's very easy in this situation, so great is the disappointment, to swear a good big blow, to say to oneself that it's ruined, and to throw everything away...
2) Keep a critical eye: OK it's tranché, but what if it lacks water? Let's try to compensate it, and for that :
- Remove immediately from the heat or the water bath
- Add, very cold, a little bit of water (Béarnaise) or one of the components that brings it (cream for the ganache).
- Take the mixture back slowly, with a whisk, a spatula or a maryse to incorporate this addition (cross your fingers too, put all the chances on your side ;-).
3) If it still doesn't work, use the super power of cornstarch:
- Incorporate a mixture made of a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of cornstarch in the preparation that you will put back on the fire and will whip until return of the initial texture.
You will have understood, there is no fatality in these small culinary dramas, it is just a bit of physics in your pan, it is necessary to try to be attentive enough during your preparation, to prevent rather than to cure.
To sum up: A preparation that goes off is most of the time an imbalance of water/fat, an imbalance that you can try to reduce or eliminate to regain the initial smoothness.
It doesn't show up very well in the (small) photo, but there's a thick chocolate-hazelnut pan base, and on top a layer of liquid fat.
What happened?
In the vast majority of cases, it's because in your mixture there is a fatty part and a watery part, the whole thing comes together in a delicate balance.
If this balance is broken because there is too much of one or the other, or a thermal shock, the whole which was homogeneous dissociates, it cuts!
This imbalance is often caused by the heating, perhaps excessive, of the preparation, and during this heating the water can evaporate and reduce, the fat not.
This is what happened with the ganache above, I didn't remove the simmering cream from the heat soon enough before adding the chocolate and hazelnut powder, sad result.
Another example, a bearnaise sauce or a hollandaise sauce that slices when it was almost finished, it's certainly because there was too much butter added and not enough water in the vinegar-wine-herb or lemon reduction.
And besides, it doesn't prevent this tragedy, there is little or no warning of disaster for an amateur, it is quite brutal.
What to do if it does?
1) Don't panic, don't despair, because it's very easy in this situation, so great is the disappointment, to swear a good big blow, to say to oneself that it's ruined, and to throw everything away...
2) Keep a critical eye: OK it's tranché, but what if it lacks water? Let's try to compensate it, and for that :
- Remove immediately from the heat or the water bath
- Add, very cold, a little bit of water (Béarnaise) or one of the components that brings it (cream for the ganache).
- Take the mixture back slowly, with a whisk, a spatula or a maryse to incorporate this addition (cross your fingers too, put all the chances on your side ;-).
3) If it still doesn't work, use the super power of cornstarch:
- Incorporate a mixture made of a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of cornstarch in the preparation that you will put back on the fire and will whip until return of the initial texture.
You will have understood, there is no fatality in these small culinary dramas, it is just a bit of physics in your pan, it is necessary to try to be attentive enough during your preparation, to prevent rather than to cure.
To sum up: A preparation that goes off is most of the time an imbalance of water/fat, an imbalance that you can try to reduce or eliminate to regain the initial smoothness.
Lasts posts
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...May 19th 20251,837 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".April 25th 20251,8385
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...April 10th 20252,1455
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.January 27th 20253,614
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...December 25th 20244,0655
Other pages you may also like
How to sprinkle well?
When in a recipe you need to sprinkle something, that is to say to spread a fine layer of powder (flour, sugar, etc.) on something, powdered sugar on a pie for example, you will probably use a fine strainer or a sieve, this is the best way to proceed. But is that all?May 23th 20237,0734.7
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...January 30th 201559 K4.0
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not? You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not". Let's try to untangle all this.September 29th 201845 K4.1
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...November 26th 201851 K4.6
Chive flowers
Did you know that? Chive flowers are not only a beautiful purple color, but they are also edible and delicious.May 29th 201945 K4.4
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: 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.