Bearnaise Sauce without a double boiler

Cooking sauces for dishes has always been treated as something of a challenge. I wondered how could I make Hollandaise or Bearnaise Sauce without a double boiler. Every recipe said to use one to cook the sauce. So, me being me, I decided to try it with what I had on hand.

I had made it before, with a double boiler in a high school cooking class, so I knew the basics of it, but wasn’t sure how to maintain the right temperature in a regular sauce pan.

This post is showing making Bearnaise Sauce, rather than Hollandaise Sauce, but the general concept is the same, just the additions vary. Hollandaise Sauce uses lemon juice rather than the vinegar and herb mixture in the Bearnaise Sauce.

I don’t usually post recipes that are not my own or that I have changed substantially from the original. When I was researching cooking methods, I discovered that there are a few versions of this with very minor variations, so I decided it would be ok to post the version I use.

The Recipe

Bearnaise Sauce

• ½ cup butter, cut into half inch slices
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon green onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon tarragon, minced fine
• ¼ teaspoon chervil, minced fine
• ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, onion, herbs, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half.  Cool slightly.

In a double boiler over medium-low heat, combine egg yolks, water, and vinegar mixture. Add a piece of butter and cook, stirring constantly. Continue adding butter, one piece at a time. While stirring constantly, cook until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and serve.

The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book published in 1989.

The Process

I separate the eggs first, and allow them to warm up a bit while I am cooking the vinegar mixture. I use the egg shell to catch the yolk and pass it back and forth while allowing the white to drop into a bowl.

Usually, I do each egg into a separate bowl in case a yolk breaks. It isn’t super important for this recipe if some white gets in with the yolk. Some recipes, like meringues, the white must not have any yolk with it to work properly.

I cut the butter into chunks and just let it sit on the wrapper where it is convenient for me to reach. Add the egg yolks to the vinegar mixture and stir in a small sauce pan.

Add your butter one chunk at a time. It’s important to keep stirring constantly. I whisk until each piece of butter is melted before I add the next chunk.

What you are trying to do is create a thick sauce with out the egg cooking to rapidly and becoming lumpy (sometimes called curdled in recipes). The double boiler does this by keeping the temperature very consistent. When you are cooking in a sauce pan, it is a little harder to keep it from getting too hot, so I keep the pan slightly tilted while I am cooking. It if looks like it is thickening too fast, I lift it slightly off the burner.

Once all the butter has been added, keep stirring until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add a little hot water if it gets too thick before all the butter is added.

There are recipes on the web now that have you add very hot, melted butter to the eggs and other ingredients in a blender and it cooks from the heat of the butter. I haven’t tried this, but it might be an interesting experiment.

Fines Herbes

When I first wanted to try a recipe that called for Bearnaise sauce, I had trouble finding the Tarragon and Chervil. I went searching for options and found an herb blend called Fines Herbes.

It consists of Parsley, Chives, Chervil, and Tarragon. It isn’t a precise match, but I have been using it for a while. Since it is dried rather than fresh herbs, I use 1 1/2 teaspoons in place of the green onion, tarragon, and chervil in the recipe.