[Sca-cooks] beating egg whites

[Pixel, Queen of Cats]

On Thu, 21 Jun 2001, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Okay, newbie cook question time.
>
[snip]

>
> My question is, how long should you have to beat the egg whites (I
> doubled the recipe) to get "stiff peaks"? I thought I was getting some
> peaks and kept beating (with a whisk and and egg beater), what peaks
> I thought I might have, went away. And no matter what I did after this
> it never did get thick. When spooned up it would quickly run off and
> fall back in the liquid, without leaving any evidence. Is it possible
> to beat the eggs 'too' much?
>
> The whipping cream and rose water did seem to thicken some. What I
> ended up with was sort of a thickish cream where waves and such would
> stay for awhile on the surface. I've put it in the refrigerator, where
> it was said to store it anyway, to see if it will thicken some more.
>
> When the recipe says "stiff peaks" should that be like you see on
> meringue pie?

[snip]

Hey, something I actually know something about!

Yes, you want stiff peaks like on meringue pie.

I have to agree with everybody else--you probably had a trace of fat
somewhere on your whisk or your bowl. If you get fat in with your whites,
they will not beat up for love nor money, or such has been my
experience. They will pretend to beat up and then laugh at you as they
reach the white foamy stage and go no further.

(I do specialty cakes. Lots of beating of eggs and cream.)

When I separate my eggs, I do so into a small bowl, one at a time, and
then add the components to the larger bowls. Thus, if I accidentally break
a yolk I've only lost one egg and not the whole batch. I also use my
hands, rather than the shell, as the shell has sharp edges that can
puncture the membrane of the yolk and my wet fingers don't. ;-)

When you've gotten to just about soft peaks, add your sugar in small
amounts. If you add it in one big lump (of course, it does depend on how
much sugar you are adding) then it doesn't dissolve properly. Also as
mentioned, don't add your sugar at the beginning--your whites won't beat
up properly (unless, of course, you're making royal icing (baker's
cement) but that's another story). As mentioned, a pinch of cream of
tartar will help, as will beating in a copper bowl if you're really truly
anal (and rich).

It was either too hot for your cream, or you didn't beat it enough. Even
if you freeze your equipment (which, incidentally, I don't recommend, as
you get a layer of frozen cream on everything), if it's too hot, the cream
will continue to not beat up until suddenly it becomes butter. Listen to
Adamantius--turn your A/C on before you whip cream. Even though
rose-scented butter is probably a nifty idea. ;-)

I hand-whip small batches of cream for better control--when you start to
see traces as the whisk goes through the mass, you're getting to the point
where you need to start paying attention. A Kitchen-Aid, while absolutely
lovely and wonderful for large amounts (10 egg whites, quarts of cream,
etc), is overkill for small batches. So, I have found, is an electric
hand-mixer, especially when it's hot out.

The sugar I like to use with egg whites is superfine sugar, or bar
sugar. I only use powdered if I'm making icing, and regular granulated
doesn't dissolve as evenly or as quickly. But, then again, I'm picky that
way. If you sprinkle your sugar in, it should behave itself just fine.

Margaret FitzWilliam, now having the urge to go make Rose Levy Berenbaum's
ultra-nifty buttercream