How to beat egg whites
Beat egg whites is very common in cooking and pastry, here are some tips to get there easily.
560 K 3.5/5 (109 reviews)
5 min.
Easy
12 eggs whites
2 IngredientsLast modified on: February 21th 2011
For 12 eggs whites, you will need:
12 
1.5 teaspoon lemon juice
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 5 min.
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
They should be beaten at high speed.
If they are for savoury or neutral preparations (i.e. without sugar), add a teaspoon of lemon juice before starting to beat to prevent them "going grainy" which can happen with very fresh egg whites.
If they are for sweet preparations (for meringues for example), incorporate 2 tablespoons of caster sugar from the total sugar you plan to add, halfway through beating, which makes it much easier to beat and to incorporate the remaining sugar.
If they are for savoury or neutral preparations (i.e. without sugar), add a teaspoon of lemon juice before starting to beat to prevent them "going grainy" which can happen with very fresh egg whites.
If they are for sweet preparations (for meringues for example), incorporate 2 tablespoons of caster sugar from the total sugar you plan to add, halfway through beating, which makes it much easier to beat and to incorporate the remaining sugar.
Stage 2
Beating egg whites incorporates air, which creates a foam made up of ever smaller bubbles of air and drops of white (albumen + water), see the microscope photo on right.
This fact give us some rules for egg whites:
This fact give us some rules for egg whites:
- Fresh egg whites give better results that old ones, because they contain more water.
- If you add water or a liquid which contains some (fruit juice, ...) to egg whites to be beaten, you will have a greater volume of foam.
- Fat is the enemy when beating egg whites, because it obstructs or prevents the formation of foam, so it's necessary to be sure that the egg whites contain no traces of yolk (not a drop), and that the container that you're going to use is completely clean (be particularly careful with plastic bowls).
Keeping: 1 hour bfore use.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 20 RDI=7 % | 0 | 0 | 80 RDI=4 % | 310 RDI: 4 % |
| Per 100 g | 4 RDI=2 % | 0 | 0 | 20 RDI=1 % | 90 RDI: 1 % |
| Per egg whites | 1 RDI=1 % | 0 | 0 | 6 RDI=0 % | 30 RDI: 0 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 12 eggs whites : 1.10 €
- Per egg whites : 0.10 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Egg white
Like these other recipes: Baked Alaska, Succès praliné (praline meringue), Pavlova, Pistachio powder or paste, Amaretti, ... See them all 52
Lemon juice
Like these other recipes: Coriander and cashew nut pesto, Stuffed mushrooms au gratin, Mackerel rillettes, Salmon and leek fondue tart, Baked sea bass fillet with lemon and tarragon, ... See them all 71
Other recipes you may also like
African style chicken
This is a sort of smoked chicken, cooked in a tomato-coconut sauce, and served with kidney beans and plain rice. It's quite a simple recipe, with ready-made ingredients, but which needs a long cooking time on low heat (one hour).February 21th 2011415 K5 2 hours 4 min.
Spaghetti Carbonara
A very famous Italian pasta recipe: egg yolks, cream, bacon, Parmesan and lemon juice.February 21th 2011341 K 24.8 25 min.
Nougat
Nougat is a sweet made with honey and almonds that has changed very little since ancient times. The nougat we know today is the Montelimar variety, in which egg whites are added to the basic recipe for a lighter texture. Here is a simplified version.June 19th 2013127 K 15 1 hour 45 min.
Amaretti
Amaretti are little Italian almond biscuits. They are a bit like meringues, very sweet, and made with ground almonds.May 31th 201574 K4.5 1 hour 3 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-06)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 5 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.