How to beat egg whites
Beat egg whites is very common in cooking and pastry, here are some tips to get there easily.
397,4683.9/5 for 62 ratings
Last modified on: February 21th 2011
For 4 eggs whites, you will need:
- 1
4 egg whites - 2
½ teaspoon lemon juice - Total weight: 123 grams
Change for:
Measures:
How long does it take?
Time required
| Preparation | Start to finish |
|---|---|
| 5 min. | 5 min. |
Keeping:
1 hour bfore use.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).
Nutritional information
How much will it cost?
- For 4 eggs whites : 0.36 €
- Per egg whites : 0.09 €
Source
Home made.More recipes?
This recipe uses (among others) | Egg white: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Walnut paste, Stuffed prunes, Vanilla ice cream, Royal icing, Clafoutis "Marie-Antoinette", ... All |
| Lemon juice: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Mackerel rillettes, Cubed salad, Strawberry, kiwi and mascarpone verrines, Tomato ladybirds, Avocado with gravlax, ... All |
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2019-06-30)
Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.
Follow this recipe (as 6 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 email 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.
Post your comment or question
You are welcome, if you wish, to comment on this recipe: why you like it or not, what you have changed, what results it gave, point out a mistake or omission, etc. You can also ask a question. I answer all questions (in a broken English, sorry) unless someone else does it before me.
Please feel free to say what you think, I'm always very interested in your opinion. Your comment will appear on line with the recipe, so please write in standard readable English, not SIM or only in CAPITALS, otherwise your comment may be rejected.
Please look at advice for submitting a comment or image (what you should or should not do). By the way, don't type your e-mail address in the comment, otherwise you might be spammed.