Oopsie OCD: I read up on chefs tips on egg whites

[Lynda99]

Cleo, you and your OOpsies. Troublemaker!!

Sometimes my oopsies are great, but sometimes don't have enough volume.I got on the net and looked for instructions from professional pastry chefs for beating egg whites. Most of these most of you probably know already, but some I didn't know.

Copper or stainless steel bowls are best. Glass is ok, but not plastic, it holds on to oils, and the beaten whites slide down into each other. Aluminum supposedly turns the whites greyish, and aluminum comes off during beating. (yuk).


Bowl beaters, and spatula must be completely free of grease or oil. Even touching the beater head before using if there is a speck of egg yolk on your fingers will mean 2/3 less volume. You can rinse the item in a water/ mild vinegar solution if you aren't sure.

Separate eggs while cold, but let them get to room temperature before beating.

If you're not great at it, when separating eggs have three cups ready. Crack the egg in half and let the white drain into one cup by transferring the yolk between the two halves of the shell. When done, put the yolk in the second cup. When breaking the second egg, use the third bowl for the new egg white, so if some yolk gets mixed in with the white, you have not wrecked all your whites. Of course, remove any specks with an eggshell piece.

If you get too carried away beating them, the protein will begin to break down, but beat them very stiff and shiny. Too long makes them brittle.

Start beating the egg whites at low speed, gradually increasing the speed to medium-high. If you start at high speed the air bubbles created will be less stable as they are too large.

One famous baker said to use 1/8 tsp of Cream of Tartar PER EGG, or if you must, 1/2 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar PER EGG as a stabilizer. (surely the lemon or vingar imparts a noticeable taste??) Another said 1/4 tsp.total for 6 eggs.

Cream of tartar should be added after the whites are foamy.

Fold the WHITES INTO THE BATTER instead of the batter into the whites.

Fold beaten egg whites into a batter with a spatula - use the largest rubber spatula you can find, which will cover more area in less time. Folding should be done gently but quickly, using as few strokes as possible to prevent breaking the air bubbles. Some chefs even sayit's ok to use your beater if it has a very low speed. [[[They said: To save time when folding in beaten whites - use the beater used to beat the egg whites rather than a spatula. because a beater has many more surfaces than a spatula, it will break up the batter more easily, making more spaces into which the egg whites can flow and incorporate.]]]

Another take: Lighten the batter first by folding in about one-quarter of the beaten whites. Once they have been incorporated, add the remaining whites and fold in gently. Use a lifting and rolling motion to fold the whites into the batter.

[RealFoodLiving]

Excellent post Lynda! Thank you dear!

[theislandgirl]

feeling blank today; what's OCD mean?

[sungoddess]

Obsessive compulsive disorder???

[MzMelissa]

bless you Lynda you rock!

[ollamo]

I def. needed this post. I always have trouble getting my eggs stiff. Or they will kind of get stiff, then just get liquid-y again

So thanks for sharing your research

[Sugar Free Sweet Pea]

Originally Posted by sungoddess

Obsessive compulsive disorder???

No, I think it's "Oopsie Compulsive Disorder"!

[Lynda99]

Originally Posted by Melle

No, I think it's "Oopsie Compulsive Disorder"!

YES!

(Oh my, think I just wet muhself...)

I've made 3 batches now, and all were big and puffy. I think I was beating too long until they'd get all liquidy again, but I think I was overbeating because I might have gotten a teeny bit of yolk in the whites and they just didn't get fluffy enough!

I also did it with cold eggs, I guess I had it mixed up with beating cream, which needs to be cold.

I was also adding the Cream of Tartar in the beginning.

I luvvvvs me OOpsies! And definitely have OCD!

[lori121]

Thanks.