by Luana

Created on: November 05, 2010

A meringue is an airy, mixture of beaten egg whites and sugar that is used  to bake, as toppings or separately for desserts and also used for frostings.  When separating egg whites there are a few precautions that must  be take into account so that the you can have a perfect meringue.

1. Fresh,room temperature eggs must be obtained . When eggs are old the yolk sac disintegrates so there is no separation and  room temperature whites are best for baking. If not sure that your eggs are fresh you may gently shake them, if there is movement in the eggs then not fresh also may immerse  the eggs in a bowl of cold water and if floats then definitely old and will not provide separate whites.

2. When parts of the yolk gets in the whites to be used for meringue, it prevents the stiff peaks from being formed and discolours the meringue

3. Must ensure no pieces of egg shell falls into the whites during separation therefore always use a small container to catch each individual white then transfer to mixing/beating bowl when ensure free of shell.

4.All  Containers  holding the egg whites must be clean and DRY. Whites will not form stiff peaks if water is present.

 Separation can be done manually or with use of an equipment called an eggwhite separator.

Egg white separators

The eggwhite separators are simple or elaborate.The simple ones usually have a handle and a scoop with holes to allow the white to drain into container  provided and you may  choose either plastic or steel.  The more elaborate ones will have a container attached for holding the separated egg whites. Prices are from as low as 50 cents.

The positive aspect is you will never have to hold the eggs and get slimy and the whites drain completely when done gently.

Manual separation

If you do not mind the slimy hands, there is no need to buy a separator because this is easy to accomplish without a gadget.  There are three ways to choose from. 

Method 1. Hole in the top of the egg

Use back of a piece of cutlery preferably the 'eating' knife and crack the tip (pointed  top) of egg. Remove the eggshells to form a space about the size of a 25 cents piece.  Drain the whites through this space into a small dry container. When the clump of white drops out you should stop draining. Why? In trying to get every drop of white may cause some yolk to get out. Look for any shells that may have fallen in the whites, if such is there remove shells then

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