My first attempt at beef wellington was a total disaster but I learned a ton

So I finally tried making beef wellington last weekend after watching like 10 youtube videos about it. I thought I had it all figured out, you know. Used a 3 pound tenderloin from Costco, prosciutto instead of the fancy ham, and made my own duxelles. Everything was going fine until I pulled it out of the oven and the puff pastry was completely soggy on the bottom. Like, wet mush. I sliced into it and the pastry just fell apart. Turns out I didn't let the meat rest long enough after searing it (I gave it maybe 5 minutes) and I also didn't chill the wrapped log long enough before the final bake. The filling was good though and the meat came out medium rare which I was proud of. Has anyone else had that soggy bottom problem and figured out a fix besides just wrapping it tighter?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantf731mo ago

Dude, you're right about the resting time but actually that soggy bottom is MORE about the moisture from the mushrooms. Did you cook your duxelles until they were bone dry? Like, seriously bone dry. I learned the hard way that if there's ANY liquid left in that mushroom paste it'll just steam the pastry from the inside.

the_nathan1mo ago

@grantf73 nailed it with the bone dry comment. I spent a whole weekend testing duxelles and found out the hard way that even a tiny bit of moisture left in there will wreck your bottom crust. What worked for me was spreading the cooked mushrooms on a sheet pan and letting them sit in the oven at its lowest setting for like 15 minutes after they looked dry. You basically want them to look like dry coffee grounds before they touch that pastry. Also make sure your pan isn't overcrowded when you're cooking them down or all that water just steams instead of evaporates. Have you tried adding a layer of breadcrumbs under the duxelles to help soak up anything that sneaks through?

emmag2228d ago

Oh man, I've been there too. @grantf73 is totally right about that bone dry thing, I ruined two pies before I finally got it. The breadcrumb trick is genius though, why didn't I think of that sooner?