Finally got my hollandaise to hold for a full service without breaking

For the past month, I've been fighting with my hollandaise sauce at the new brunch spot I'm at in Austin. It kept splitting about an hour into service, and I'd have to start over. I tried everything I read online, from adjusting the heat to changing the butter temp. The real fix was way simpler. I started holding the finished sauce in a small metal bowl set over a pot of warm, not hot, water, and giving it a quick whisk every fifteen minutes. It took me about three weeks and maybe ten failed batches to figure that out. Now it stays perfect for the whole four-hour shift. Anyone else have a weird little trick for keeping a finicky sauce stable on the line?

4 comments

4 Comments

williamhenderson2mo ago

My buddy Mark in Denver had the same problem with his bearnaise. He started adding a single ice cube to the blender while it was running after the butter was in. That tiny bit of cold water made it hold for hours without a water bath.

nina_taylor8d ago

Is it really that big of a deal if your hollandaise breaks an hour into service? I mean, you make fresh batches every shift anyway, right? Seems like you spent three weeks stressing over something that most customers won't even notice if you just whisk up a new one real quick. Also, holding it over warm water for four hours sounds like a food safety risk to me - eggs and butter sitting at that temperature for that long? No thanks. Maybe the real trick is learning to just make a new batch faster instead of trying to keep one alive all morning.

wood.uma2mo ago

Ten failed batches for hollandaise seems like a lot of stress for eggs and butter.

the_alice2mo ago

I used to think hollandaise was easy until I messed up three times in a row. Your post, @wood.uma, made me realize it's a common kitchen nightmare. That sauce can really fight you.