Double boiler help

[cafeandy]

i've been making the perfect, smoothest, sharpest, richest lemon curd for close to 20 years now. obviously i use a double boiler. it's a holiday tradition with us and the family looks forward to the lemon meringue tartlets.

...but something has gone awry. one of my daughters brought her boyfriend who is a VERY finicky eater [he didn't know if he wanted to eat the cornish hens because he had never tried them before]. anyway, he made a comment that the curd had a metallic taste. the problem is that he is right. all these years i have never noticed it, but he's right. the lemon juice is leaching the metallic taste from the double boiler. PARADIGM SHIFT [that's so 90's but it still sounds cool].

has anyone out there safely used a pyrex bowl in a double boiler set up? i really don't want to invest in an expensive porcelain double boiler set so i'm looking for answers.

marmalady?

 

[Ardge]

A Pyrex bowl will do you just fine. In fact, I use a Pyrex bowl more often than a stainless. I only use a stainless for my chocolate muffin recipe that also calls for a hand mixer once the chocolate is melted.

Bottom line - Glass will work perfectly for Lemon Curd.

RJ

 

[cafeandy]

great, thanx...my concern was that the pyrex would explode in the middle of a holiday meal.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I don't see any problem using a Pyrex bowl to make a double boiler ... I've done it with no problems, TV chefs do it, and Mom has a double-boiler that is all Pyrex (top and bottom).

 

[Audeo]

Cafeandy, a fellow Texan and Lemon Curd maker here, myself!

The only way I ever make curd or any other custard is using a pyrex bowl. It works perfectly, can stand up to the heat admirably, and makes whisking a true breeze! Somewhere in my cabinets is the top of my double boiler discarded years ago in favor of pyrex bowls. Which reminds me of the main reason why I discarded the thing -- pyrex bowls are SO much easier to clean!

 

[cafeandy]

God bless texas...and pyrex

 

[cats]

I don't have a double boiler and have thought now and then of purchasing one. I am SO excited to have read the posts on this subject. Now, I don't need to go out and buy a double boiler, but just make up my own with a pot and Pyrex bowl. So, cool. Thanks!

 

[Ekim]

Dumb question alert: So you're just putting a pyrex dish of varying size into a pot of boiling water, right?

 

[cafeandy]

sorta...the bottom of the bowl should be a couple of inches [at least] above the top of the boiling [simmering] water.