How to beat egg whites
Beat egg whites is very common in cooking and pastry, here are some tips to get there easily.
551 K 3.5/5 (109 reviews)
5 min.
Easy
4 eggs whites
2 IngredientsLast modified on: February 21th 2011
For 4 eggs whites, you will need:
4 
½ 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 | 6 RDI=2 % | 0 | 0 | 30 RDI=1 % | 110 RDI: 1 % |
| 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 4 eggs whites : 0.40 €
- 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: Vanilla ice cream, Clafoutis "Marie-Antoinette", Nougat, Hazelnut and orange cake, Royal icing, ... See them all 52
Lemon juice
Like these other recipes: Fillets of sole meunière, Tomato ladybirds, Sautéed pears with custard and orange syrup , Green beans with feta cream and basil, Marinated tuna and cabbage, ... See them all 70
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