Today’s post could possibly be titled ‘improving pastry through hardware and supplies, part of a series’. Torches and other hardware have been discussed off and on in these pages, and watching Stephanie fire off some crème brûlée for some customers brought the topic to mind again.
Here, she’s using a Benzomatic propane torch (found at the Junction True Value) and burning sugar into a thin, hard caramel layer. She starts with an even layer of granulated sugar over the top, lights the torch, and proceeds to evenly flame across the layer. With the high temperature flame, the sugar layer heats rapidly without adding too much heat to the crème beneath. She just has to make sure to keep the torch moving smoothly and evenly.
We usually finish the crème brûlée when it’s ordered. Why? Because hard caramel can be incredibly hygroscopic, especially when in a chilled case. This means that it will pull moisture out of the air and turn into a thin caramel syrup instead of the nice hard shell (not that caramel syrup is a bad thing, mind you). This is something to consider when making this dessert, or other hard caramel items at home. For the crème brûlée, you can make up the crème before hand, and keep it chilled, but the torching needs to be done just before serving. If you aren’t comfortable with high temperature, open flame, then a cook and pour method of hard caramel could be used to produce shards to place on top at serving (keep them in a dry place, of course).
We like the propane tanks because they are quite a bit larger than the ones you might find at a specialty cooking shop, and overall less expensive, if not quite as pretty (I will admit, stainless steel butane torches look really, really nice…). There may also be some differences in the absolute top temperature generated, but for most uses, that’s not a huge issue- so far, practical experience here has not shown any problems with the temperature reached with the propane.
A torch is an incredibly useful tool, from making brûlée, cleaning granite tops, warming bowls in use on a mixer, or even fire roasting small amounts of peppers or tomatoes. One can be safe for home use as well, so long as you respect it’s capabilities and hazards, and learn how to cafe for and use it appropriately (always, always, always be respectful of your tools).
