How to judge the degree of egg white whipping? And what tools are needed?

The beating of egg whites is a very basic skill in baking. Because the production of many baked products involves beating egg whites, such as the most familiar chiffon cake, as well as split-egg sponge cakes, cake rolls, meringues, macarons, etc., it is necessary to correctly judge the degree of beating of egg whites. If you can correctly judge the degree of whipping of egg whites, half of the success in making these products is already achieved. Determining the degree of egg white beating

Generally, we divide egg whites into three stages:

Wet foaming, neutral foaming, and hard foaming

The following Let’s take a detailed look at the proteins in these stages. What do they look like?

1. Wet foaming:

Pull up the egg beater, and the egg whites will appear to be drooping on the egg beater and not stand upright. The texture of the egg whites in the egg beater is not particularly obvious.

Look at the picture:

The egg whites at this time are suitable for making Swiss cake rolls and angel food cakes. The prepared cake roll is not easy to crack when rolled up, and has a soft texture.

2. Neutral foaming

Pull up the egg beater, and the egg whites will appear like hooks on the egg beater. To break it down further, neutral foaming can be divided into two types: dry and wet. The hooks of dry neutral foaming are relatively small, while the hooks of wet neutral foaming are larger.

As shown in the picture below, it is neutral to dry:

The picture below is wet:

In this state, I often use it to make chiffon cakes, Cupcakes, light cheesecake and more. At this time, the meringue has enough expansion power and will not crack the surface of the cake because it is too hard. The texture is also very moist and light.

3. Hard foaming (also called dry foaming)

Continue to beat the egg whites until they reach a dry foaming state. At this time, lift the whisk head, and the egg whites The egg beater has a small sharp angle and the top is not curved. Moreover, you can find that the overall texture of the egg whites in the egg beater is very delicate, and you will also find that the resistance is relatively large when turning the egg beater.

Like the picture below:

The meringue at this time is suitable for making meringues, split-egg sponge cakes, finger cookies, macarons, etc.

4. Stop beating immediately after reaching hard foam. If you continue to beat the egg whites, the egg whites will be "overbeaten" and appear cotton-like, with a rough surface, and water may leak out from the bottom. It is also difficult to mix well with other ingredients and is no longer suitable for further production.

The picture below means that you have beaten it. It is a wrong demonstration. Do not learn it ~ Introduction to egg white whipping tools

1. Beating bowl

Beat There are no material restrictions for egg basins, but there are still certain requirements for shape and size. We usually use round-bottomed stainless steel basins, but this is not absolute. You can use any container made of any material you have on hand as a substitute, but you need to pay attention to a few points: the egg bowl should be large enough, because the volume of the egg whites will expand many times after being beaten. To avoid overflowing, the egg bowl should have a round bottom, so that To prevent the egg whites from being beaten in the dead corners of the pelvic floor, the egg beating bowl needs to be washed and dried to ensure there is no water or oil. If there is water and oil, there is a chance that the egg whites cannot be beaten. It is more durable, because the egg beater runs at high speed and the wall of the basin is easily scratched (such as porcelain)

This shape is the best:

2. Electric beater Egg beater

There are electric and manual egg beaters. I definitely choose the electric one because it saves effort. The manual one is really tiring.

Nowadays, electric egg beaters are generally powerful enough for beating egg whites. Just pay attention to one thing: the egg beater should also be washed and dried to ensure that it is water-free and oil-free. Q&A session

1. Doesn’t the chiffon cake need to be whipped until it becomes hard and foamy? Why is neutral foaming enough?

In fact, Chiffon’s egg white whipping does not only have one state that is absolutely correct. It can be in any state from neutral foaming to dry foaming. In other words, from the large curved hook to the small curved hook, and then to the upright state, we can use it to make chiffon cake in any state in between. Often experienced friends will adjust the degree of egg white beating according to the needs of the production. For example, if you need a stronger load-bearing capacity, you can whip it harder; if you need a softer texture, you can whip it softer.

Why do most baking recipes require whipping to stiff peaks? Because for novices, due to lack of experience during the production process, protein defoaming is easy to occur, and hard foaming can offset part of the impact of defoaming. This results in a higher success rate.

2. Is there any good way to make the protein more stable?

Yes. Protein is alkaline, so we can add some acidic substances to neutralize the alkalinity of the protein, which will make the protein more stable. For example, it is common to add some lemon juice or cream of tartar when whipping.