Hey everyone!  I need some help!  I've been making italian meringue buttercream forever, but lately they haven't been working out quite well.  I don't know why.  So when I whip the egg whites and then pour my syrup in, it turns into a bowl of soup. I mean, eventually when I keep whipping it, it turns out foamy and glossy as it should be, but before it would stay foamy and I just had to continue to whip until it cooled down.  My question is, is it cause the syrup is still too liquify and I have to boil longer?  Or is it cause the syrup is too hot, hence I should boil it for lesser time?  Anyone experience this problem?  TIA!

AWhat's the temperature of your sugar?

Between 230-240.  The suggested temp is 240 and I've tried both 235 and 240.  

AMy recipe calls for 248. And I pour the sugar in a way where it touches the side of the bowl first. By the time it cools down enough to put the butter in, its thick and glossy. Is your end result the same as before? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I do exactly that too.  Pour down side of the bowl but after a minute it turns all watery.  Then I have to of course whisk it till it firms up to the stiff and glossy stage.  It works out in the end, but takes longer than what I usually would have taken.  I just dunno why its starting to do that now.  I just want to know if anyone's experienced that and what they did to fix it.  It was fine for me before, but lately it just hasn't been working.  So weird. Thanks Lfredden!

What kind of eggs are you using? I have never had this happen to me and I always crack and separate my eggs while they're cold, then leave them in the mixer bowl to come to room temp before whipping.

Possibly you could be having issues if you use pasteurized egg whites.

AI really doubt that pasteurized egg whites are your problem. I use them and make imbc all the time I've only had one problem and that was user error,

Try wiping out your bowl and whisk with vinegar to make sure the bowl is COMPLETELY FREE of oil and grease or whatever.

If there was grease in the bowl I don't think you would get the whites whipped in the first place. So you would be experiencing the issue before you added the syrup.

It does seem the issue is with the syrup. Have you checked your thermometer for accuracy? I found this: http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics/ht/How-To-Test-Your-Candy-Thermometer.htm

Now I'm going to go check my thermometer.

AI missed that part, sorry!!

I go to 250.  And it goes from 240 up past 250 really quick, so you really have to be watching it.  The more stable your syrup, the more stable your finished buttercream.  Hope this helps!

Liz

I've always used pasteurized eggs and it only started happening like this recently/  :(

Thanks everyone!  Will try to let it go a bit higher in temp and hopefully see if that will solve my problem!  Will let you all know how it turns out! Thanks again!

Also consider the weather.  It's summer (at least where I live) and it's humid and hot as hell.  That will most definitely affect your meringue.

Definitely agree Annie.  I did think about that.  Been blasting the air con as I bake and make buttercream!