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Separated Fat inhibits the foaming of egg whites. Since egg yolks contain fat, recipes sometimes call for the yolks to be separated from the whites. Beating the whites separately allows them to reach their fullest possible volume. It’s easiest to separate the yolks and whites when the eggs are cold, but whites reach their fullest volume if you allow them to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before beating.
Many inexpensive egg separators are available. To separate eggs, tap the midpoint of the egg sharply with a table knife. Hold the egg over the bowl in which you want the whites and gently pull apart the shell halves. Let the yolk nestle into the cuplike center of the separator and the white will drop through the slots into the bowl beneath. You can use the same process with a funnel.
Drop one egg white at a time into a cup or small bowl and then transfer it to the mixing bowl before separating another egg. This avoids the possibility of yolk from the last egg you separated getting into several whites. Drop the yolk into another mixing bowl if you need it in the recipe, otherwise into a storage container.
Add cream of tartar Egg whites beat to greater volume than most other foods, including whipping cream, but the air beaten into them can be lost quite easily. To make the foam more stable, add a stabilizing agent such as cream of tartar to the whites. Lemon juice works much the same way.
Add sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time When you make meringues and some cakes, you add sugar to beaten egg whites. Sugar serves to increase the stability of the foam. However, sugar can also retard the foaming of the whites and you must add it slowly so you don’t decrease the volume. Beat the whites until they just begin to get foamy, then slowly beat in the sugar.
Stiff but not dry Beat whites with a mixer, beater or whisk just until they no longer slip when the bowl is tilted. (A blender or food processor will not aerate them properly.) If you underbeat egg whites, the finished product may be heavier and less puffy than desired. If you overbeat egg whites, they may form clumps which are difficult to blend into other foods in the mixture and the finished product may lack volume.
Stiff peaks form Stiff but not dry.
Soft peaks or piles softly Whites that have been beaten until high in volume but have not reached the stiff peak stage. When you lift the beater, peaks will form and curl over slightly.
Gently folded When you combine beaten egg whites with other heavier mixtures, handle carefully so you don’t lose the air you’ve beaten into the whites. It’s best to pour the heavier mixture onto the beaten egg whites. Then, using a spoon or rubber spatula, gradually combine the ingredients with a downward stroke into the bowl, followed by an across-up-and-over-the-mixture motion. Come up through the center of the mixture about every three strokes and rotate the bowl as you are folding. Fold just until there are no streaks remaining in the mixture. Don’t stir because this will force air out of the egg whites. If you have a stand mixer, you can put the mixing bowl on the turntable for easier turning as you fold.
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