Food Science: The Best Eggs for Meringue and Why (2024)

FAQs

Food Science: The Best Eggs for Meringue and Why? ›

We recommend using fresh, cold egg whites for meringues. They make a foam that is easier to work with, and the baked meringues have a more delicate and uniform texture.

The pasteurization process can prevent egg whites from forming a stable meringue. We recommend fresh eggs over "liquid egg whites previously packaged" for better volume. Use fresh egg whites. Old egg whites tend to collapse when other ingredients are folded in, and they don't rise well in the oven.

Use Fresh Eggs for Greater Stability: It's often said that old whites are your best choice for making meringue, and in fact there is some level of truth to the claim. Old egg whites are thinner, so they foam more quickly and produce more volume, which was great back when people whipped meringue by hand.

Denaturing exposes some of the hydrophobic amino acids, which move to the air bubbles to get away from the water in the egg white. As proteins coat the air bubbles, the hydrophobic amino acids begin to react with each other. This causes them to link together to form nets, which can help keep the bubbles from popping.

The foaming properties of the egg white are the basis for the characteristic texture of meringue. The whipping breaks the hydrogen bonds of the albumin protein in the egg white and creates a white thin-filmed foam with entrapped air, while added sugar and acidic substances stabilize and strengthen the foam [1].

Low and slow is the way to go. Slow and steady is the fast and hard rule for any meringue. Start slow when whipping the whites for small and stable bubbles, slowly up the tempo so you don't over beat and then slowly add the sugar. This goes for your oven too.

It's no longer easy for those air bubbles to escape, and the foam is born. In theory, yolk and other fats can interfere with this process by bonding with the proteins (therefore preventing the proteins from bonding with each other), and by stealing spots around those air bubbles.

Over whip the egg whites and you risk making them too firm and they will risk losing the moisture that they hold. This will affect your meringue's crispness, as well as making it more likely to collapse or weep beads of sugar. As my meringue guru Gary Mehigan advises: “If you over whip the egg whites you cannot fix it.

Meringue rules: The final verdict

Abide — Avoid yolks; use a non-plastic bowl; add sugar slowly, and bake low and slow. Let slide — Don't pull your hair out if your eggs are cold, you don't have superfine sugar, or it's a humid day.

One of the most common mistakes is not beating the eggs long enough, or on too slow a speed, which means the egg whites won't reach stiff peak stage and instead only reach a soggy droopy stage.

Can you put too much sugar in meringue? ›

The final meringue is super smooth, but because powdered sugar contains added starch, using too much can lead to a starchy taste.

The cornflour and vinegar that is added strengthens the egg white and make it more stable and you get the marshmallowy centres from the shorter cooking time.

Cream of tartar stabilizes the tiny bubbles in the egg whites, by precluding the egg proteins from sticking together. It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake.

The meringue is flavoured slightly with lemon zest and some lemon juice is added. The lemon juice does not really add flavour to the meringue, it is mainly used as its acidity helps to stabilise the whisked egg whites in the meringue mixture.

Salt is a common ingredient in a lot of meringue recipes, because in terms of flavor salt will both balance and enhance the finished product.

If you find yourself in a pinch in the kitchen, you can swap white vinegar for cream of tartar. This substitute works best when stabilizing egg whites for recipes like soufflés and meringues. Simply use an equal amount of white vinegar in place of cream of tartar when you're whipping egg whites.

Meringue rule 3: Use room-temperature egg whites

Room temperature (68°F to 72°F) egg whites will whip up faster. Cold eggs are easier to separate. The solution? Separate your eggs while they're cold, placing the whites into a small container before adding them to the mixing bowl to come to room temp.

Fill a bowl with warm water from the tap (you don't want this water to be hot, or else you risk partially cooking the eggs in their shells; warm-to-the-touch water is perfect). Now gently place your eggs in the bowl and let them sit for 5-10 minutes. When the eggs are no longer cool to the touch, you're good to go.

Italian meringue has a soft and creamy texture that is considered the most stable of the three types. Because it holds its shape so well, you can typically find Italian meringue piped on desserts like baked Alaska or pastries.

Fresh eggs are essential when used to give lift to cakes or to whip up into meringue to make pavlovas, soufflés or light-as-air Chocolate Mousse. This is because old eggs don't whip up as well. Fresh eggs are also better for poaching because they have tighter whites so they poach neatly.