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I made some choux pastry last night, however it didn't come out quite right for what could be various reasons.

After making the recipe, I came on here loking for some tips and came across this:

Choux pastry (Chocolate eclairs) doesn't rise

In here @Aaronut suggests waiting for the roux to cool to below 65° C. One of the issues with my choux pastry was that it tasted rather eggy and salty, so while the mixture didn't look like it scrambled (though i'm not sure how that might look), the taste suggests it might have.

While waiting for the temperature to come down, should I continue mixing the roux in my stand mixer or let it sit?

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I don't mix my pre-egg mass (not sure that roux is the right word here), but I don't have a stand mixer. Leaving it alone works just fine as long as it is uniformly cooled. If you don't mix (or even if you do) make sure to check the temperature in the middle of the lump of dough, not on the outside.

As SAJ14SAJ mentioned, mixing it will expose all parts to the cooling air, letting it cool quicker. If this matters for you, there is nothing wrong with mixing. It may change the texture slightly in the direction of slightly chewier end product due to some gluten creation, but the difference won't be very pronounced and may not be noticeable at all, because the flour is well coated in fat.

So, the conclusion: you don't have to mix, but you can if you want to. No harm done either way, and it can go quicker with mixing.

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Yes, before incorporating the eggs, you would let the mixer continue to run on low until the dough is sufficiently cooled. The main reason for this is that it will help speed the cooling, and to ensure that the entire volume of dough is cooled.

If the eggs were to curdle or scramble when you incorporate them, it is due to at least some part of the dough not being sufficiently cooled.

However, this doesn't sound like the core of your issue. I am not sure why you think tasting "eggy and salty" would be related to this. Egginess is from... the number of eggs. Saltiness is from the amount of salt.

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  • Yes, after incorporating the eggs do you mean before. @Aaronut suggests to let it cool before incorporating the eggs. also I got a whole bunch of issues last night, possibly due to using the wrong flour, and not enough sugar. so many mismatching recipes on the web.
    – Jarede
    Aug 13, 2013 at 11:41
  • Oops, sorry, I should have said before.
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Aug 13, 2013 at 11:43
  • Choux paste is one of the cannonical recipes. You should easily be able to find a good one. I would look for Jacque Pepin's if I didn't feel I had a trustworthy one. Or Julia's.
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Aug 13, 2013 at 11:44
  • i don't know who Julia is.
    – Jarede
    Aug 13, 2013 at 11:47
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    @SAJ14SAJ many people say "eggy" taste when they mean "(over-)cooked egg taste", which is much stronger than raw egg taste and only happens after the eggs have curdled. If the OP says that it tasted too eggy, together with the information that the dough failed, it does sound indeed like a problem with overcooking, not with the egg ratio.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Aug 13, 2013 at 11:53

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