SC - Egg Yolks

[Bonne of Traquair]

Adamantius asks:
>
>Does anybody have any comment on the phenomenon where frozen egg yolks
>become considerably thicker after freezing (apparently, permanently so)?
........ Also, Harold
>McGee has a section in one of his books in which he talks about using
>frozen yolks in smaller quantities for emulsified sauces because they
>thaw to a thicker state, and are therefore (supposedly) better
>emusifiers than raw, unfrozen yolks, so fewer are needed for that pint
>of mayonnaise.
>
>Has anybody else experienced this thickening of yolks in the freezer?

Yep, just last week in fact, and I was hoping some advise on the matter 
would come through on this thread.

I'd not frozen egg yolks before, but my daughter was making something 
needing only whites, and I told her to put the two yolks in a small 
container and freeze 'em.  I planned a soup the next week that needed two 
yolks to thicken it.   I did think to move them down to the frig early that 
day. As I started the soup I checked and they still looked ice-crystally, so 
I set them on the counter while I was working.  About an hour later I 
stirred them around and they were very thick and appeared partially cooked.  
I cooled a bit of the broth and added it to them, but when I whisked it the 
eggs didn't meld with it, they were lumpy.  Not scrambled egg like, but not 
right.  As I didn't want to mess up the soup, I tossed that stuff and used 
fresh egg yolks.

When my daughter was seperating the yolks one had broken and the other had 
not.   I was working slowly enough to tell  the broken one was behaving more 
like fresh than the unbroken one, that's the one that was becoming lumpy.   
I was wondering if there was some 'rule' about freezing them, like that you 
should break them?   Or should I have just given it a few more whisks around 
the bowl?

Bonne
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