Meringue
 

Made a lemon meringue pie this afternoon and while the flavour is nice, I seem to be lacking skills for a nice fluffy meringue. :o

I use 3 egg whites (at room temperature), 6 TBLS of sugar, 1/4 tsp of Cream of Tartar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla and just can't seem to get the meringue to stiffen.

Does anyone have any helpful hints on how to peak the meringue? :shrug:

Meringe requires a grease free, glass bowl with no egg yolks mixed in. Is your beaters strong enough to mix egg whites to the peak point (lifting up the beaters and just to the point of having the peaks stay in place? If you over beat, they will turn "dry" and will not really be good to use.

[QUOTE=Love4himies;956570]Meringe requires a grease free, glass bowl with no egg yolks mixed in. Is your beaters strong enough to mix egg whites to the peak point (lifting up the beaters and just to the point of having the peaks stay in place? If you over beat, they will turn "dry" and will not really be good to use.[/QUOTE]

I decided to use a glass bowl this time but wasn't sure if I should be using the highest speed on my mixer or middle speed? :shrug:

The recipe I use says "do not underbeat" so I don't know if I'm underbeating or overbeating. :yell:

Just beat to the point that soft peaks form and stay in place when you lift the beaters. They should still look shiny as in whip cream. Check often for the peaks.

I would use med hi on your beaters.

[QUOTE=Love4himies;956572]Just beat to the point that soft peaks form and stay in place when you lift the beaters. They should still look shiny as in whip cream. Check often for the peaks.

I would use med hi on your beaters.[/QUOTE]

Maybe that was my problem. I was using low/medium speed and I think I maybe don't beat it long enough. :( So it's o.k. to turn off beater to check for the peaks in between? :shrug:

Is there a difference between using brown eggs versus white? :shrug:

No difference between brown or white, and yes, once you see the eggs start turning like whip cream, check for soft peaks that hold in place often.

Thank you L4H. While the pie had a yummy taste, the meringe on top looked pretty sad. :(

I'll have to beat it longer on high speed next time and stop to take a peak! :D

egg whites take 5-7 mins to beat. also dont add sugar until they start to stiffen then gradually add sugar

[QUOTE=free;956646]egg whites take 5-7 mins to beat. also dont add sugar until they start to stiffen then gradually add sugar[/QUOTE]

OMD! 5 to 7 minutes???:eek: [COLOR="Red"][SIZE="1"]Well that's my first mistake. :headslap:[/SIZE][/COLOR]

I always add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time but never factored in the time frame to beat the whites before adding sugar. :rolleyes: