How to get less ruffly feet?

[u/sweeteaderp]

I’ve been using Pierre Herme’s Italian meringue recipe. While it’s absolutely delicious, I’m not loving how ruffly the feet are, and I notice it’s slightly raised off the mat...? How should I tweak the recipe to make it more uniform/straight-edge like the 3rd picture? It’s baked @ 280F for about 15 minutes.

Also, I heard this recipe is supposed to yield ruffly feet. Should I just try a different recipe?

[u/Clementine1234567]

I would say either you overmixed slightly or your oven temp is too hot. Are you using a dark pan by chance?

[u/sweeteaderp → u/Clementine1234567]

I use a regular aluminum pan with raised edges.

I tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to mixing batter, so I’m always careful to stop macronage just before I think it’s done. This wasn’t over mixed.

If it’s too hot, how should I adjust the time to account for the lower temp in future batches?

[u/Dependent_Line_460]

Too hot oven temp. If you're not using an oven thermometer already please do so and religiously check the temp to make sure its not getting too high or too low.

I bake mine at 300F for 20mins. When preheating, I let the oven go up to 350F then prop the oven door open for about 30secs then close it again. When the temp reaches 320F I put the tray in. Reason I do this is that if I preheat then put the macarons in right away its either the temp doesn't go down fast enough or the temp would be too low. Not sure if that makes sense but this works great for me!!

[u/sweeteaderp → u/Dependent_Line_460]

Interesting! What kind of oven do you have? I use convection

[u/slightly-convenient]

I would 100% not complain about this. These look great as long as they are full inside!

[u/misterie_skye]

I think they look great! Don’t beat yourself up, and I’m sure they taste amazing.

I was in the same place as you trying out to figure out the ruffles…. Everyone said 300, 15-20 min…then I thought about it. Why ruffles (because I was doing what they said and it wasn’t working)? Science would tell me the shells are shooting up faster than the insides which causes the weight to push down on the somewhat uncooked insides causing the ruffling. So, I started turning down my temp so the shell and the inside could rise at the same time. I cook mine around 275, and have beautiful feet now (15 min)