How to Tell When Tamales Are Done

The husk test

Every source we checked uses the same test. Rick Bayless steams, pulls one tamal out with tongs and unwraps it: if the corn husk pulls away cleanly, they are done. If the masa still sticks to the husk, he puts it back and steams another 10 minutes or so. America's Test Kitchen (ATK) and Pati Jinich describe the same sign, tamales that come easily free from their husks.

Raw masa clings to the husk, and cooked masa lets go. For filled tamales there is a second check: USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says steamed tamales should reach 165°F inside, whatever the meat or poultry in the filling. An instant-read thermometer in the center of a tamal answers that in seconds.

How long tamales steam

Jinich steams her green chicken tamales 50 minutes to an hour. Bayless gives his green chile chicken tamales about an hour and his basic tamales about 1 1/4 hours over constant medium heat, and ATK's take about an hour. In our own recipes, green chicken tamales steam 50 to 60 minutes, red chile pork tamales about 1 1/4 hours and San Antonio Christmas tamales 1 1/2 hours.

Treat the clock as the time to start testing, not the time to stop. Our kitchen timers can set the first check for you.

Keep the water topped up

Bayless fills the bottom of the steamer with at least an inch of water, brings it to a boil, then lowers the heat to a steady, gently rolling boil. He watches that the water doesn't boil away and pours in boiling water whenever more is needed, which keeps the steam steady. Cold water would stop the steaming until it heated back up.

His trick for a pot you can't see into: drop a coin in the water. It rattles while there is water and goes quiet when the pot is about to run dry. Bayless also lines the rack with leftover husks, leaving small gaps so condensed steam can drain, and stands the tamales on their folded ends without packing them tightly, because they need room to expand.

Why they firm up as they rest

Straight out of the steamer, the masa is soft. Bayless turns off the heat and lets the tamales stand 10 to 15 minutes so the masa can firm up, and Jinich says tamales firm up as they set, staying warm in the covered pot. A tamal that seems a little soft at the first test may simply need that rest, so judge it by the husk, not by how firm it feels.

Jinich says finished tamales stay warm in the steamer for about 2 hours. That fits the FSIS rule: refrigerate any tamales not eaten within 2 hours. For a family batch, see what a tamalada is.

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