Madeleine Kamman

Overcooked Custards and Syneresis

Appears in
top 1000The New Making of a Cook
The New Making of a Cook

By Madeleine Kamman

Published 1997

  • About

If overheated or cooked too long, a custard separates, i.e., the protein-water mesh which gives the custard its texture and structure breaks. The milk and egg proteins bond tightly to each other, releasing the loosely held water. The overheated custard is grainy (protein clumps) and watery. The physical phenomenon is called syneresis.

You may have seen some custard recipes recommending a small addition of starch to the custard; this starch is meant precisely to prevent the water effect of syneresis, as it will absorb the released water. However, dessert custards must be made without starch; since the custard does not come to the boiling point, the starch does not bind with the water in the mixture and remains unpleasantly tastable in the cooked custard.