Baking Meringues

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nats184

Assistant Cook
Joined
Sep 11, 2011
Messages
2
:wacko:Hi,i have a questions about baking meringues.

I have tried to make meringue many times but every time it comes out the oven it is a dark beige colour and has gone flat.!!!

can anyone help me and let me know make mistakes i am making??

to my knowledge the meringue is whisked to stiff peaks with caster sugar added gradually and put in the oven at gas mark 2 for 1 hour???

can anyone help??

i have resorted to buying them already made!!
 
I am not the best to answer this question as I have only made meringue once. I am sure other more gifted meringue makers will come by. But I had good results using Alton Browns Recipe
4 Egg whites
Pinch of Cream of Tartar

Beat in a stand mixer, when it starts to foam slowly add 2 Tbs of sugar. Beat till stiff peaks. Then bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.

It browned nicely and did not deflate. I beleive the cream of tartar plays a pivitol role in holding it together.
 
the stiff peaks is right.

as Joshua mentioned, cream of tartar is reputed to "stabilize" egg white - I personally haven't found it necessary but that just me....

gar mark 2 - approx 300'F - 160'C is probably a bit low - by the time it 'cooks' it has collapsed.
try something closer to gas mark 5 - ovens do vary so a double check on the gas mark with an oven thermometer would not be out of order....
 
hi,

ive made meringues many times at work.

4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
squeeze of lemon juice
seeds from one vanilla pod or a few drops of essence.

whisk the whites until soft peaks form and hold their shape. gradually add in the sugar and whisk until all the sugar has dissolved and you end up with a nice silky mixture. pipe out your meringues and bake at 100-110 degrees centigrade for around an hour or until you achieve a nice crisp texture. Cooking at this temp will leave you with a nice white tasty meringue.
hope this helps :chef:
 
thanks for your help everyone i will try these techniques and hopefully i will have some luck this time!!!:LOL:
 
When I trained under a French chef we made meringues for various desserts. I am not familar with your oven settings but it sounds like you are baking them too high of temperature. Here is how I do it:

Preheat oven to 225 F degrees
Whish 4 egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.
Add half of 1 1/4 cups of super fine sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the rest of sugar and put mixture into a large pastry bag.
Pipe the mixture onto a heavily greased and floured baking sheet.
Bake for 2 1/2 hours.
Then lift the meringues from the tray with a spatula and gently turn them over. Turn the oven off and leave meringues in the oven until it cools down.

You can store these in an air tight container.

Note:Altitude is one of the biggest effects on meringue (I don't know where you are located but that can be a factor). Also it would not hurt to use an oven thermometer to double check temperature.
 
:wacko:Hi,i have a questions about baking meringues.

I have tried to make meringue many times but every time it comes out the oven it is a dark beige colour and has gone flat.!!!

can anyone help me and let me know make mistakes i am making??

to my knowledge the meringue is whisked to stiff peaks with caster sugar added gradually and put in the oven at gas mark 2 for 1 hour???

can anyone help??

i have resorted to buying them already made!!


I have a super easy recipe:1: turn on the oven to 266 F. 2: mix 7 eggwhites with 2 1/4 cups of caster sugar and the jucie from 1/2 lemon.3: put the bowl over a skillet with boling water. Beat the batter until the sugarcrystals have melted and the temparture is about 140 F. 4: Take the bowl away from the skillet and whip the meringue on high speed until batter has cooled. 5: pour the batter in muffin cups put them in the oven for about 1 hour. Extra: you can pour melted chocolate into the meringuebatter after you finished the high speed whipping.:chef:
 
Temperature way-y-y too hot.

4 egg whites
220g caster sugar
Preheat oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2.
Beat egg whites on low speed, until the eggs are foamy and starting to bubble. Increase speed to high for 2-3 minutes or until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat on high for 2-3 minutes. By this stage the mixture should be stiff and glossy. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Transfer bowl to a workbench and spoon mixture onto the tray. (Alternatively, pipe into small shapes.)
Reduce oven temperature to 140°C/Gas Mark 1 and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Leave in oven (turned off) for 2-3 hours to dry out.
 
This is how we made French meringue nests in the Essentials class at Cook Street School.

1 cup egg whites
pinch salt
2 cups sugar

Combine egg whites and salt in mixer bowl. Beat on meduim speed until the whites are foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add half the sugar. Beat until the whites hold their shape well. Fold in the remaining sugar.

We then piped the meringue into about a 4" diameter cup shape on a parchment lined sheet pan.

Bake in preheated 200° F oven for 1.5 hours, then turn off oven and leave until completely dry, 1 to 1.5 hours more. They should remain pure white. When cooled they will be crisp and dry (when we made them in class this method worked perfectly). We then served macerated fruit in them.
 
Everyone who has provided a recipe seems to agree that meringues should include egg whites.

Baking temperatures, however vary all over the place from 375º F down to 200º F.!!!

Glad we could help!
 
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