Even if you have never heard the term before, chances are you have used a bain-marie (bahn mah-REE). Though it comes in many forms, it’s basically a container filled with hot water that is used to heat another, smaller container that’s placed in or above the water.
Like the double boiler in which you melt chocolate.
Or the water bath in which you bake your cheesecakes.
We’ll show you how to improvise a bain-marie quickly and easily. Along with the aforementioned applications, they’re terrific for keeping the heat in temperamental foods like sauces and mashed potatoes.
Why you need to learn this
One difficulty in cooking is heat regulation: It’s too easy to burn stuff.
However, because water evaporates at 212 degrees, anything inside a bain-marie cannot get any hotter than 212. Plus, because water is a great conductor of heat — much better than air — you can be assured that anything cooked in a bain-marie will be subject to an even temperature.
One more thing I love about the bain-marie is that, in this age of microwaves and electronic ovens, the bain-marie is so old school. It’s a pan of hot water. How simple is that? (In fact, it’s so totally old school that the name, ‘Mary’s bath,’ comes from alchemy. It’s a reference to Moses’ sister, who supposedly was an alchemist.)
Steps to follow
Instructions for double boilers and water baths usually are given in recipes, so I won’t focus on those. Instead, I’ll show you how to improvise a quick bain-marie out of pots and bowls in your own kitchen. This is the best way to keep sauces and mashed potatoes warm. It’s also what you would use to make a hollandaise or bearnaise, where too much heat can turn your sauce into scrambled eggs.
The only things you’ll need are a saucepan and a metal bowl to set on top. Using a bowl with sloping sides will allow it to nestle snugly into the saucepan.
Now, watch how simple this is.
1. Fill the saucepan with water about a quarter to a third of the way full. Heat the water to a boil, then reduce the heat. You want to keep the water just hot enough so that it continues to evaporate, but not so hot that it’s at a rolling boil. It’s pretty much just like you would use a steamer.
2. Set the bowl on top of the saucepan. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl is above the water so that the steam heats all surfaces equally.
And there’s your bain-marie.
The one thing you want to avoid is allowing the flames to come up around the saucepan to heat the bowl directly. When that happens, the bowl can get so hot that the food inside scorches.
To keep mashed potatoes (or rice or couscous or other starches) warm, simply place them into the bowl as soon as you make them so that they’re still piping hot. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and make sure the wrap creates a tight seal. Stir the potatoes occasionally to distribute the heat throughout and also to prevent them from drying out where they come into contact with the bowl.
If you’re making a hollandaise or bearnaise, hold the bowl with a dry towel or hot pad, and move it on and off the bain-marie. The eggs in the sauce will coagulate at a much lower temperature than the 212 degree limit of the bain-marie; this means you want the steam to warm the bowl extra gently, pulling the bowl off when it approaches the coagulation point. This, of course, takes practice. But, really, doesn’t everything?
