Removing ramekins from a bain marie

Question

So you've just cooked your creme caramels in a water bath/bain marie/double boiler with only about a quarter of the ramekin appearing above water level.

I've tried the follow methods in the past and feel there must be a more efficient, more secure or less dangerous way:

1. tea towel/oven mitt: not enough ramekin to grab onto without dipping the towel/mitt and your hands into boiling water.
2. Tongs: very unstable grip, ramekin can easily slip.
3. Lifting out with an egg flip: flips bends due to weight of ramekin.
4. Scooping water out: too much manual labor, often awkward as little room to scoop from.

Asked by jontyc

Answer

A true bain-marie actually has a fitted rack or platform that allows water through, which you can lift out with handles. It's very convenient.

If you're just using a baking dish filled with water, I'd suggest getting yourself a mesh roasting pan with handles, like this one:

Then you can put all your ramekins on top and just lift out the whole rack when you're done.

If I don't have one of these on hand, I usually use a wide shallow bowl to scoop water out; you don't need to scoop it all out, just enough to firmly grip the top of the ramekins.

Some silicone oven mitts might also help; they don't get "wet" like regular oven mitts and so they'll protect your hands from the hot/boiling water just fine.

Answered by Aaronut

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