What is the key to fluffy, stiff meringue?!


Question: What is the key to fluffy, stiff meringue!?
Answers:
Make sure your bowl and beaters are cold!. Always beat eggs before adding sugar!. If possible add a little Cream of Tarter to the eggs when adding sugar!.

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Q: How much egg white foam do you get when beaten!? A: You get 6 to 8 times in volume if the egg whites have been at room temperature for 30 minutes before beating!. FYI: Egg whites should be separated when cold and whipped when at room temperature!. Egg whites will beat when cold, but it has to be done longer, while at room temperature they beat faster with a great increase in volume, giving a finer texture

For 2 to 8 egg whites: Get a clean, dry balloon whip and a clean, dry round-bottomed bowl of unlined copper or stainless steel!. The bowl should be 9 to 10 inches in diameter and 5 to 6 inches deep, and the whip 5 to 6 inches in diameter!. To help keep the bowl stable, either place it on a wet pot holder or set it in a heavy pot or casserole!.
Some cakes, such as many of the Flourless Chocolate Cake recipes, which depend on many beaten egg whites, will often rise in the oven then fall a bit as they cool!.

Place the egg whites in the bowl, letting them sit for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature if they have just come from the refrigerator!. Start beating at a speed of 2 strokes per second with a vertical, circular motion for 20 to 30 seconds, until the egg whites have begun to foam!. Then, for 4 egg whites, add a pinch of salt!. If you are not using unlined copper, add also a scant 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar for the 4 egg whites!.

Using your lower-arm and wrist muscles for beating -- shoulder muscles tire quickly -- gradually increase the beating speed to 4 strokes per second, beating as much air as possible into the mixture, and circulating the bowl so all the egg whites are entering into the action!.

Start testing as soon as the whites seem to be stiff by gathering a dollop in the wires of the whip and holding it upright!. If peaks are formed, you have achieved "stiffly beaten egg whites!." If not, beat a few seconds more and test again!. When you arrive at the right consistency, the egg whites should be folded almost immediately into your recipe,

ARE COPPER BOWLS really better for whipping egg whites!? Answer: Yes, the type of bowl matters! NOTE: Do not use cream of tartar when beating in a copper bowl!. However, when glass or metal bowls are used, cream of tartar can be added to the egg whites to stabilize them!.

The bowl you use makes a difference when you are whipping egg whites!. Cookbook author Madeleine Kamman says you shouldn’t bother whipping egg whites by hand unless you have a copper bowl!. (And if you do, scour it with a mixture of 1/4-cup vinegar and a tablespoon of salt, rinse it, and dry it thoroughly with paper towels before adding the eggs!. Then omit adding any salt!.)

Copper bowls produce a yellowish, creamy foam that is harder to overbeat that the foam produced using glass or stainless steel bowls!. When you whisk egg whites in a copper bowl, some copper ions migrate from the bowl into the egg whites!. The copper ions form a yellow complex with one of the proteins in eggs, conalbumin!. The conalbumin-copper complex is more stable than the conalbumin alone, so egg whites whipped in a copper bowl are less likely to denature (unfold)!.

When air is whisked into egg whites, the mechanical action denatures the proteins in the whites!. The denatured proteins coagulate, stiffening the foam and stabilizing the air bubbles!. If the foam is overbeaten in a non-copper bowl, eventually the proteins become completely denatured and coagulate into clumps!. There is no going back from the clumpy mess to nice foamy whites, so overbeaten whites are usually discarded!.

If a copper bowl is used, then fewer protein molecules are free to denature and coagulate, because some are tied up in conalbumin-copper complexes!. In addition to forming complexes with conalbumin, the copper may also react with sulfur-containing groups on other proteins, further stabilizing the egg proteins!. Although the iron and zinc found in other metal bowls also form complexes with conalbumin, these complexes don't make the foam more stable!. from about!.com

HIGH MIXER SPEED: If the recipe calls for whipped egg whites with stiff peaks, you will first go through Steps #3 & 4, above, and then this step!. Beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy!. To check, stop the beaters and lift them!.

If egg whites are beaten to dry and dull, they are overbeaten -- Watch carefully, because egg whites can go from stiff to dry and overbeaten in as little as 30 seconds!.

If adding extracts, quickly and evenly sprinkle over the meringue when it has almost formed either soft, firm or stiff peaks with the mixer is still running!.

HIGH MIXER SPEED: For a stiff meringue, add the sugar at this stage, a little at a time -- about 1 to 2 tablespoons, if you have the time -- or, add in a steady stream at the side of the mixing bowl to prevent the foam from deflating!.

If going to the stiff peak stage, mixer speed should remain on high!.

If adding extracts, quickly and evenly sprinkle over the meringue when it has almost formed eithWww@FoodAQ@Com

-Use a glass bowl
-Have as fresh eggs as possible
-Do not let ANY yolk into the white mixture
-Add a little lemon juice into the sugar/white mixture
-Beat until stiff peaks form, longer, and they will not hold their shape and will sweat!.
-Cool inside the oven!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Don't start adding the sugar until the eggwhites are getting thick, then add it a little at a time and beat until it's really white and will hold a stiff peak!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

use a glass bowl cold utinsels follow recipe not in a hot kitchenWww@FoodAQ@Com





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