On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 220

Down Side: It Must Fall Charles’s law also
meansthatwhatmustgoupintheovenmust
comedownatthetable.Aballoonexpandsas
its temperature rises, but shrinks again if its
temperaturefalls.Ofcourseasoufflémustbe
taken out of the oven to be served, and from
that moment on it loses heat. As the soufflé
bubblescool,theairtheycontaincontractsin
volume, and the vapor that came from liquid
waterinthemixcondensesbackintoliquid.
Rules of Thumb Several basic facts follow
from the nature of the driving forces behind
the soufflé. First, the higher the cooking
temperature,thehigherasouffléwillrise:the
plainheatexpansionwillbegreater,andmore
mix moisture will be vaporized.At the same
time, a higher cooking temperature also
means a greater subsequent overpressure and
swifter fall. Then there’s the effect of
consistency.Athicksoufflémixcan’triseas
easily as a thin mix, but it also won’t fall as


easily. A stiff foam can resist the
overpressure.
Sothetwocriticalfactorsthatdetermine
thebehaviorofasouffléarethecooking
temperatureandtheconsistencyofthesoufflé
base.Ahotovenandthinmixcreateamore
dramaticrisethanamoderateoven(orwater
bath)andathickmix,butalsoamore

dramaticcollapseatthetable.

Theriseandfallofasoufflé.Left:Thesoufflé
mix begins filled with small air bubbles.
Center:Heat causes gases to expand and
water to vaporize into steam, so the bubbles
expand and raise the mix. Right:After the
soufflé has been cooked, cooling causes the
bubble gases to contract and the steam to
condenseintoliquidwater,sothatthebubbles
contractandthesouffléshrinks.