Bains Marie

[Arabesque]

Howdy,

I'm Jess. Just registered here to hopefully get some good recipe ideas / tips etc but my first question is about 'Bains Marie'.

Before last week I was unfamiliar with the term. My housemate mentioned it when I was melting cheese in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, asking whether that was what I was going for. I then mixed the melted cheese with minced garlic paste and it made a great sauce for chips!

My question is this. Is it worth investing in an appliance? I found these Bains Marie after a Google search. They look fairly industrial but the 'Parry Bains Marie' looks like it could fit into a domestic kitchen. Does anyone have experience with them?


Thank you!

 

[jennyema]

Hi and welcome.

A Bain Marie (it's singular) is just a water bath and is very easily accomplished via a real double boiler or via the method you used with a bowl sitting on a saucepan, or using a pan of water in the oven.

No home cook needs any of the appliances shown in your link.

You can also use a microwave (carefully) to melt things like chocolate that ordinarily might require a double boiler.

 

[Arabesque]

Ah thanks, wasn't sure about the singular/plural differentiation in French (?).

I thought having the appliance may be equivalent to having a fat fryer appliance when you can just as easily use a frying pan and oil, but I trust your advice Haven't got great experience with microwave melting; I melted some mozzarella yesterday and it ended up as a stringy mess. Although I imagine that was just because it's mozzarella.