I've made SMBC a few times and each time has been flawless. I LOVE IT!!! However, this time I over beat the meringue and it fell flat. Then I thought "well maybe I can bring it back if I beat it some more" so I added the butter and let it go. Well, it never came back and I ended up just tossing it.

Did I do the right thing or did I not wait long enough before giving up?

TIA

At school one of our teachers brought a broken swiss meringue back by beating it with the paddle attachment for a bit. Once it the meringue looked good, she switched back to the whip attachment. Note, that this is before you add the butter. You only add the butter after the meringue looks good.

ahh, that must be where I went wrong. I just went ahead and added the butter. Well that's a lesson learned. Thanks!

What does over beat meringue look like? I confess I whip my meringue for my SMBC til it is cool and that will take at least 10 minutes, if not 20 sometimes. I am sure I have beat the heck out of it by the time I am done, but have no clue seeing how I have never seen flat meringue. Can you describe it?

BTW, my SMBC is fine too. Unless again I am missing something.....

Well, at first it was lovely and fluffy and when I over beat it it lost all of it's volume. It became half the size! I'm trying again today. Wish me luck!

My meringue deflates all the time. It is because it takes so long to cool down. I don't think that is an issue.

anxietyattack, there's extra tips here. I have heard it works perfectly, even if at some point it might be different from what other people do.

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/

Thanks imagenthatnj! That helps. I appreciate it.