Trying to get a perfect clear consomme nearly broke me

I was doing a special menu for a private event and wanted to do a classic consomme as a starter... figured it would be a nice, clean touch. I've made them before, but this time I wanted it absolutely crystal clear, no cloudiness at all. I spent like 4 hours on a Sunday just on the raft, getting the egg white mixture right, bringing it up slowly... only to have it break and turn the whole pot into a murky mess. Had to start over from scratch with new stock. The second attempt took another 3 hours, and I was sweating bullets watching it. In the end, it worked, but I'd basically wasted a whole day on one soup. Does anyone have a foolproof method or a trick they swear by for this? I can't go through that again.

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.blair3d agoRising Star

My buddy had the exact same meltdown last Christmas. He was doing a fancy dinner and his raft just fell apart into grey sludge. He read about using a coffee filter to do a final pass after the raft comes off, just to catch any last bits. Says it saved his sanity and the soup was like glass. Might be worth a shot next time.

ryant503d ago

Oh man, that sounds rough. Did your buddy at least save the soup in the end? The coffee filter trick is a solid idea for sure.

shane_bell3d ago

Gotta disagree with @ryant50 on this one. That coffee filter trick is just adding another step that can go wrong. You're pouring hot liquid through a paper filter that can tear or clog, and you lose flavor. A good raft should do the job if you make it right. Straining through a fine mesh sieve is way more reliable than messing with coffee filters.