How to beat egg whites

Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a mixer or a mixing bowl.

Before you start beating them, you can add half a teaspoon of lemon juice to prevent them from “graining” (forming small grains), which can happen with very fresh egg whites.

Start whisking, gently at first for a few seconds to break up the egg whites, especially if they're fresh.

Next, increase the speed to the maximum...

...until the egg whites are stiff (or "beaten" or "whipped") to the desired consistency.

If the egg whites will be sweetened (for meringues, for example), add 2 tablespoons of the sugar you’ll be using halfway through the “whipping” process; this helps stabilize them and allows them to whip up better afterward.

Whisking egg whites essentially involves incorporating air to create a foam composed of increasingly smaller air bubbles and droplets of egg white (albumin + water); see the microscope photo on the left.

This observation allows us to establish a few rules regarding egg whites:

• If you add water or a liquid containing water (fruit juice, etc.) to egg whites while they’re being whipped, you’ll end up with a larger volume of foam.
• Fat is the enemy of whipped egg whites because it hinders or prevents the formation of the foam; therefore, you must be very careful to ensure that the egg whites contain no traces of yolk (not a single drop) and that the bowl you’ll be using to whip them is thoroughly clean (be especially careful with plastic bowls).