My grandma's advice about room temperature eggs backfired hard

I always ignored my grandma when she said eggs need to sit out for 30 minutes before baking. Last Tuesday I tried to rush a batch of lemon meringue pies and the meringue just... collapsed into a sad watery puddle after 10 minutes in the oven at 350. She walked into my kitchen in Portland, took one look, and just said 'told you so' without any heat. Has anyone else had a family member's baking rule turn out to be completely right after you messed it up?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor_adams24d ago

My meringue looked like a sad soup after I ignored my dad's no-rainy-day-baking rule.

the_zara23d ago

My grandma always said humidity is the real enemy, not just rain. @victor_adams if you're in, say, a coastal town or somewhere with high moisture in the air, even a non-rainy day can mess with meringue. The sugar basically just dissolves before it can whip up. I had a batch collapse last summer when the dew point was over 70 degrees.

lee7223d ago

Watched my best batch turn into sugary tears last spring when I ignored the humidity warning. Guess I learned the hard way that meringue is basically a diva that hates weather.