Staying home is almost always preferable to going out, particularly before noon. Going out for brunch means standing in line, drinking weak mimosas, and (depending on the establishment) being around children. But all of that can be worth it if the place has a good eggs benedict, mainly because hollandaise sauce is notoriously finicky.
Even if you are a master of emulsions, making hollandaise on the stove requires gentle heating, constant stirring, and more attention than I wish to provide on any given morning. But — with the help of a sous-vide immersion circulator — you can skip all of the babying and get straight to the mimosa drinking.
No matter which hollandaise recipe you prefer, cooking it sous-vide will make your life incalculably easier. I started with the ChefSteps recipe, which involves a lot of measuring by mass, and was amazed by how fuss-free the cooking portion of the recipe was. You simply throw all the ingredients in a bag, cook it in the bag for an hour, then pour it into a blender (or hit it with an emulsion blender) and whir it into a perfect, uniform, glorious hollandaise sauce. To make sure the method would work on other, non-ChefSteps recipes, I tried one from allrecipes, then I tried this Food Network recipe. All worked beautifully. I did find the sauces came out a little thicker than usual, but I did not mind that, and you can always an extra tablespoon of water if you like a thinner sauce.
Just pick your favourite recipe that contains yolks, butter and lemon. Chuck it all in a sealable freezer bag, and place it in a 60-degree bath for an hour. Transfer it to a blender, blend, and serve over your favourite Benedict, taking comfort that you don’t have to leave your house, get dressed, or even stand over a stove.
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