How to know When a Soufflé is Done

Soufflés are really very easy to make, but knowing when they’re done can be tricky. A soufflé should be lightly crisp on the outside, fluffy near the edges, and creamy in the center. French writers often mention that the inside of the soufflé should form the sauce for the outer part. If a soufflé is underdone, you’re left with a lot of raw eggs. If a soufflé is overdone, it will be dry inside and will fall almost the instant it comes out of the oven. The question, of course, is when to take the soufflé out of the oven. If you make soufflés regularly, in the same mold and the same oven, you’ll learn to judge the cooking time just from experience. Otherwise, the best way to determine when a soufflé is done is to give it a little back-and-forth jiggle. When it’s underdone, you’ll be able to sense the center sort of sloshing around, meaning that it’s still liquid, by the way the top of the soufflé moves. If it’s overdone, the whole thing will stay stiff. Ideally, the inside does slosh around, but just slightly. If all of this is too daunting, don’t be afraid to just dig into one with a spoon. (You can even bake an extra soufflé on which to perform your tests.) Undercooked soufflés are more stable than most of us think and will keep their height for several minutes, so if you get to the table and discover the soufflés are underdone, just gather them up and put them back in the oven.