Strange meringue in the making!

[chueh]

I was whipping the whites with medium-high speed first. It only took about a couple of minutes, but the top and center of the white in the mixer that touched the tip of the beater attachment looked like being over-beat (clump cloud-like). I thought it was over-beat, even though it seemed to be way to quickly. Thus, I started adding 1/3 sugar, while the rest of the white just started to get slightly foamy.

Just afriad of over-beating, so I changed the speed to low. It took quite a while to get soft peak. Even though It's not glossy yet, I stopped. Again i was to prevent the over-beating.

When I started folding the white with the yolk mixture. The soft peak meringue was only 2/3 or 1/2 at the top, yet the bottom was all liquid.

What happened? I understand that the liquid at the bottom usually means under-beating, adding sugar too early, or grease present...... So.... i'm not sure what's the cause of mine???

Any suggestion or what might happen?

Thanks

 

[dcSaute]

if you have "free liquid" in the bowl - it's over beaten. 'immediate' bottom liquid only indicates the white are not fully incorporated into the 'fluff body'

add sugar at he beginning, allow a (slow) mixing time for the sugar to dissolve.

beating / whipping eggs whites from "raw" - you should notice the egg whites 'becomes one' - and following that stage, egg whites get tighter and liquid 'falls out' to the bottom.

distinctively a different 'result' from 'under whipping' - the elapsed time is like Clue Nr. 1

 

[dragnlaw]

I don't think I've ever "over beaten" egg whites. Never even heard of it.
Chueh, I also have never turned the beaters down to low. Other than at the very beginning when it's best to beat at medium until frothy - then Go High!
To me liquid just means not mixed in.

Don't know what kind of mixer you have but keep turning/tilting your bowl so that the mixer blades can reach all.

No plastic, bowl, utensils, anything! Always glass or metal.

Scrupulously wash everything with soap, rinse and dry. Just to make sure there is no oil.

Let egg whites come to room temperature. (it is easier to separate cold eggs, but whites should be room temp to beat.)

Cream of tartar can help to stabilize your egg whites. You can actually add the cream of tartar at the vvery beginning of beating.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure you already know most of that but hopefully there was one little new thing to help you.

 

[dcSaute]

" don't think I've ever "over beaten" egg whites. Never even heard of it."

oh, it is a thing
teaching the youngun's about 'how to cook' I have intentionally set up the KA lift bowl with two egg whites and the wire whisk beater , , , and held their heads to attention to the detail as the egg whites went from froth to beaten to soft peak to stiff peak to broken.

two eggs, very cheap education . . . way less expensive than four years at . . .

 

[taxlady]

I don't think I've ever "over beaten" egg whites. Never even heard of it.
Chueh, I also have never turned the beaters down to low. Other than at the very beginning when it's best to beat at medium until frothy - then Go High!
To me liquid just means not mixed in.

Don't know what kind of mixer you have but keep turning/tilting your bowl so that the mixer blades can reach all.

No plastic, bowl, utensils, anything! Always glass or metal.

Scrupulously wash everything with soap, rinse and dry. Just to make sure there is no oil.

Let egg whites come to room temperature. (it is easier to separate cold eggs, but whites should be room temp to beat.)

Cream of tartar can help to stabilize your egg whites. You can actually add the cream of tartar at the vvery beginning of beating.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure you already know most of that but hopefully there was one little new thing to help you.

Same advice and experience here. I have read about using cream of tartar, but I have never bothered to do it. I have seen it recommended when making Angel food cake or sponge cake. Maybe mine would have risen more with the cream of tartar. I was already pushing my luck by using whole wheat pastry flour instead of white cake flour. They still come out quite good and quite light and airy with no other leavening than egg white.

 

[dragnlaw]

You know what scares me now? Having now heard about it it is going to happen. I've made plenty of meringues, one of my favourites is little mushrooms. I've made a few pavlovas and this Christmas was thinking of making the Christmas tree.

It's the same as when so many people were talking about freezer burn in their various stored foods. It had never really happened to me, maybe a few edges but never that freezer taste. And believe me, some of them had been in there absolutely ages. Then guess what - next old item I took out was disgusting!

So please don't talk about things like this any more, OK?
Aww JUST KIDDING! but you might want to put a "spoiler alert for dragn!"

 

[JustinJames]

It appears that you may have encountered issues with your meringue while whipping egg whites for a recipe. The clump cloud-like texture at the top of the whites suggests possible over-beating, while the liquid at the bottom indicates under-beating. The quick transition from over-beating to under-beating may have occurred during the addition of sugar and changing the mixer speed.

 

[Silversage]

If your merengue has passed the smooth and stiff stage, and now looks clumpy with the liquid in the bottom, it is definitely overbeaten. In a similar way to cream, when overbeaten the solids congeal into butter and the whey is squeezed out; so with egg white, the solids congeal into clumps and the liquid is squeezed out.

There is no way to recover either. Get fresh eggs or fresh cream and start over.

 

[dragnlaw]

I guess I never overbeat egg whites for meringue only because I've almost always used a hand held beater and was way too anxious for it to be finally done!

 

[gerardj]

I guess I never overbeat egg whites for meringue only because I've almost always used a hand held beater and was way too anxious for it to be finally done!

the handheld beaters are easier for making meringue.
kitchenaids can have too much clearance to engage the whites unless you're whipping 6 or more.
I made a video how to whip 2 eggs whites, watch at the 8 second mark.

 

[HeyItsSara]

It could be your weather too. Or if you're in a hot kitchen.

 

[AndyTorkelson]

It seems you've faced challenges with your meringue, noticeable in its clumpy cloud-like texture and liquid separation. This may result from a quick shift between over-beating and under-beating during the addition of sugar and mixer speed adjustments. To achieve the desired consistency, try adjusting your beating technique gradually.