Italian Meringue fail

[DuckRubberDuck]

Hi! I tried to make Italian Meringue Buttercream yesterday.
I never ended up adding the butter because I got distracted but that’s not really the point.

I followed the recipe, the sugar reached 117 degrees Celsius , I made the Italian Meringue, it was perfect. Although a little stiff and compact, but it was silky smooth and perfect. I didn’t wait for it to cool all the way down but it definitely wasn’t burning hot either I could touch the bowl without burning my hands and the Italian meringue itself was almost room temperature. I put the meringue to the side because I needed it later, and when I had to use it 3 hours later, it had formed a hard surface, and when I put a spoon in it, the meringue had gone extremely grainy and fluffed down, it couldn’t hold itself anymore... I don’t know where it went wrong. The sugar definitely dissolve in the sugar mixture so it wasn’t because of that. And I’m sure it was grainy because of sugar, because it was crunchy. But it wasn’t just a little bit grainy it was like a had added a lot of extra sugar to it, it wasn’t big lumps, it was like normal sugar...
I don’t understand, because it was perfect at first.

I hope someone can help!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi! I tried to make Italian Meringue Buttercream yesterday.
I never ended up adding the butter because I got distracted but that’s not really the point.

I followed the recipe, the sugar reached 117 degrees Celsius , I made the Italian Meringue, it was perfect. Although a little stiff and compact, but it was silky smooth and perfect. I didn’t wait for it to cool all the way down but it definitely wasn’t burning hot either I could touch the bowl without burning my hands and the Italian meringue itself was almost room temperature. I put the meringue to the side because I needed it later, and when I had to use it 3 hours later, it had formed a hard surface, and when I put a spoon in it, the meringue had gone extremely grainy and fluffed down, it couldn’t hold itself anymore... I don’t know where it went wrong. The sugar definitely dissolve in the sugar mixture so it wasn’t because of that. And I’m sure it was grainy because of sugar, because it was crunchy. But it wasn’t just a little bit grainy it was like a had added a lot of extra sugar to it, it wasn’t big lumps, it was like normal sugar...
I don’t understand, because it was perfect at first.

I hope someone can help!

How did you store it? Did you place it in an airtight container? Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it pulls moisture from its environment. So when you finish the meringue you need to call it completely and place it in an airtight container so that it will not take moisture from the air.

Edit: The other thing I think happened was your sugar crystallized while you were cooking the syrup. You have to be very careful not to have any sugar crystals on the side of your pot. Wash down the sides of your pot with a pastry brush multiple times to make sure there are no sugar crystals clinging to the sides.

 

[retired baker]

Hi! I tried to make Italian Meringue Buttercream yesterday.
I never ended up adding the butter because I got distracted but that’s not really the point.

I followed the recipe, the sugar reached 117 degrees Celsius , I made the Italian Meringue, it was perfect. Although a little stiff and compact, but it was silky smooth and perfect. I didn’t wait for it to cool all the way down but it definitely wasn’t burning hot either I could touch the bowl without burning my hands and the Italian meringue itself was almost room temperature. I put the meringue to the side because I needed it later, and when I had to use it 3 hours later, it had formed a hard surface, and when I put a spoon in it, the meringue had gone extremely grainy and fluffed down, it couldn’t hold itself anymore... I don’t know where it went wrong. The sugar definitely dissolve in the sugar mixture so it wasn’t because of that. And I’m sure it was grainy because of sugar, because it was crunchy. But it wasn’t just a little bit grainy it was like a had added a lot of extra sugar to it, it wasn’t big lumps, it was like normal sugar...
I don’t understand, because it was perfect at first.

I hope someone can help!

Thats a natural consequence of leaving it for 3 hours.