How to beat egg whites: Stage 5

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).