Tempering eggs to add to a sauce, pudding, etc.

[missliss]

I have this little Achilles heel: I can't temper eggs. I'm no neophyte. I cook, bake, braise, saute, and so forth with not a little bit of competence, and yet.

And yet I can't seem to make a custard properly these days. Used to be able to....

And the other night when I made rotini and cheese, the sauce broke or split or whatever the technical term is. The roux was fine. I added the milk. No lumps. Fine as wine. Cooked it til it thickened. I beat the eggs in a bowl, I slowly ladled in a cuppa the white sauce, beat the (I thought) tempered eggs into the white sauce and !Splittsville! What oh what am I doing wrong? HELP!

[hotoynoodle]

a cup of hot liquid is way too much. start with just a few spoonsful, work those in and gradually add some more. you can also leave the roux mix a bit stiff and instead put some of the room temp. milk into the eggs, THEN add the roux/milk mix by the spoonful.

[dijon]

No expert here, I have more trouble with cream breaking when adding it. Heat is the culprit and I think you really wouldn't need a thick bechamel if you are incorporating eggs, in fact my diagnosis is your bechamel is too thick and hot when you add it to the eggs. I would think the eggs would thicken your sauce enough as you warm the mixture gently. I would reuce or eliminate the roux or allow the bechamel to cool somewhat before whisking into the eggs. I do routinely temper my carbonara sauce egg mixture with some pasta water while the pasta is cooking, it really does help that. Good luck.

[Den]

I don't think the amount of liquid is the problem. IMO, it's the speed of how it's added, the order and what you are doing when you add it. When making creme brulee I whisk the eggs in a large metal bowl and when the cream is hot I start to vigorously whisk the eggs and begin to slowly poor in the liquid while whisking. I poor all the hot cream into the egg mixture, not the other way around.

[Davwud]

I always add some of the heated (Whatever) into the beaten eggs first. At least 4 times as much liquid a little at a time. If I'm making a custard, whatever sticks to the whisk is what gets added until the bowl is full. Then add back into the original (Whatever) for full incorporation.

DT