Can you beat egg whites by hand

Credit: Scott Little. Before we can get to the actual beating, we need to get our eggs ready. Credit: Peter Krumhardt. Credit: Blaine Moats. Recipes often call for adding cream of tartar before beating whites to stiff peaks. This acidic ingredient helps stabilize the whites. Use as directed. When making meringue and other desserts that call for adding sugar to the whites, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until soft peaks form tips curl. Then start adding the sugar as directed in the recipe usually a tablespoon at a time and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form--the tips will stand straight up when you lift the beaters from the egg whites.

Simply beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form tips stand straight. If some of the mixture falls back into bowl and forms a ribbon-like stream that holds its shape for a few seconds, you have reached the ribbon stage.

Did you know you can get answers researched by wikiHow Staff? Unlock staff-researched answers by supporting wikiHow. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 3. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 1. You can always pour the whisked eggs through a mesh strainer.

Don't choose one with too tight a mesh, or you'll never strain the eggs through. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 7. You can add the flavoring before you whisk the eggs and then beat everything together. You can also fold it in after the eggs have been whisked, but do so gently to avoid disrupting the stiffness of the peaks. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 4. Whisked egg whites are used in a variety of desserts, including cakes, mousse, and frosting. Obviously, you have to follow a recipe with additional ingredients to obtain any of these.

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 4. It will take just under three minutes, or longer if you do it more slowly, maybe up to 6 minutes to stiffen. Most importantly, don't rush it. Try to practice by hand with a fork using both left and right, as that will show the real amount rather than electric whisk, you are folding air into mix.

Not Helpful 4 Helpful 5. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Egg white peaks are fragile. Once you reach the desired stage for your peaks, move quickly with the rest of your recipe. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. If you are whisking eggs for scrambled eggs, quick, light beating results in more dense scrambled eggs.

For fluffier scrambled eggs, whisk them vigorously for a longer time. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: August 25, Categories: Basic Cooking Skills. Article Summary X To whisk eggs, start by cracking them into a bowl. Deutsch: Eier verquirlen.

Italiano: Sbattere le Uova. Bahasa Indonesia: Mengocok Telur. Although the bubbles start out large, smaller, more fine bubbles will begin to appear and the foam will continue to increase in volume. To prepare foamy egg whites, whip your fresh, room temperature egg whites in a clean bowl until large bubbles begin to appear.

At this phase, the egg whites will appear like bubbles in a foamy bathtub and will not hold their shape. Soft peak egg whites will have a slight sheen to them and fine textured bubbles. At this phase, the whipped foam will still slide around in the bowl, and if you lift a beater out of the mixture, the peak will droop over without holding its shape.

The foam is definitely fluffing up at this phase though, and you will likely see a trace of your beater in the mixture. This is the narrow gap between soft and stiff peaks. Here, a beater lifted out of the bowl will yield a defined tip that may fall over slightly but will keep its overall pointy shape. At this phase, peaks are stiff, shiny, and stick to the inside of the bowl. If you lift a beater out of the bowl, the peak tip will stick up tall with a slight sheen.

If you were to turn your bowl upside down at this phase, the foam would stick to the inside of the bowl without falling out! Starting out with room temperature eggs in a clean, grease-free bowl will begin the process on the right foot.

Room temp eggs whip more readily than cold ones and any trace of fat think butter, cooking spray, egg yolk will inhibit foaming. For best results, separate your egg yolks from their whites while cold and allow the whites to come to room temperature on their own. You can ensure your bowl is truly grease-free by wiping off the inside of it with a paper towel saturated with lemon juice. Sugar also stabilizes egg whites and can be added in little by little near the end of the whipping duration.

Avoid adding sugar in too early or too quickly as this can inhibit foam formation. More sugar incorporated into the mixture will result in a mixture that is glossy and shiny. Even stabilized egg whites are delicate, so take care when incorporating them into baked goods. If you opt to beat your egg whites by hand, consider using a copper bowl or whisk!

The copper in the bowl or whisk reacts with one of the proteins in the egg white, causing foamy bubbles to expand. Whipped eggs whites are used in a number of foods like cakes, meringues, and souffles. The foamy nature of whipped egg whites provides air, height, and a light texture to foods that benefit from the added fluff.

These Easter meringue cookies are made up of stiffly whipped egg whites to which vinegar has been added for stability and sugar has been added for sweetness. They bake up in the oven into crisp, weightless bites of sweetness that make for a cute and accidentally fat-free snack.

The texture and taste of these cookies reminds me of the marshmallows you might find in a box of cereal or a packet of hot cocoa mix, and that is in no way disappointing to me. Be very careful when you separate the eggs.

Any yolk or other fat, oil, or grease that makes its way into the whites will keep the whites from whipping up as big and fluffy as possible. When separating more than a few eggs, consider using the three-bowl method: one bowl to crack the egg into, one to put the whites in, and one to put the yolks in. That way the accumulated whites aren't contaminated by yolk if you accidentally break one. You'll notice a fancy unlined copper bowl in the pictures, a device specifically made for whipping egg whites.

While it is a beautiful tool and if you have one, you should certainly use it since the ions from the copper help stabilize the egg whites science is cool! Any clean, large bowl will work just fine. What to do with the yolks? Make a pudding or make mayonnaise-type sauces aioli is another great option. Use a large clean whisk if you have a balloon whisk, all the better or clean beaters or the whisk attachment on a standing mixer to whip the eggs just until a bit foamy.

Both salt and cream of tartar act as stabilizers and will help the egg whites hold their shape when whipped. Remember: if you do happen to be using a copper bowl, skip the cream of tartar. Also, if you don't happen to have cream of tartar lying around, don't worry or rush out to the store; plenty of egg whites have been whipped up without its help!

Now it's time to whip, or beat, the egg whites. If doing it by hand, you want to do this vigorously, in a big up-and-down circular motion to work as much air into the mix as possible. If using electric beaters or a standing mixer, medium speed beats the eggs while also letting you monitor their progress sufficiently.