Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
should be no loose whites in the bottom of the bowl. If you want to make certain they're
done, prop a whole egg on the whites - they should be firm enough to support it.
Don't overdo the beating, though. Stiffer is not better. You can beat in so much air that the
structure no longer contains bubbles, and you'll be left with a clumpy, grainy mess that
looks like Styrofoam. If this happens, you have to start over.
When beating egg whites, it's important to have a very clean metal bowl and beaters. Any
trace of fat will interrupt the linking of the protein chains, and the bubbles won't inflate.
Don't use plastic or wooden mixing bowls, which are so porous that you can never be sure
they are completely free from fat.
Stiff-peaked egg whites are so incredibly stable that you can spoon the fully prepared
souffle into a ramekin, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a couple of
hours with no ill effects. You can even freeze a souffle for up to a month. Just pull it out
about 30 minutes before baking to let it warm up slightly so the dish won't shatter in the
oven. (If you use Corn- ingWare or Pyrex, you don't even need to do this.) Be sure to re-
move the plastic wrap as soon as the souffle comes out of the freezer. Do it later, when the
egg whites have defrosted and are more delicate, and you risk an embarrassing deflation.
