Egg Whites, Emulsifying, Tricks and Tips

[slkinsey]

It's been cooked.

[John the Barman]

It's been cooked.

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Very true. Thank you.

[slkinsey]

Apparently it is possible to get a decent whipped foam out of egg whites which have been partially denatured by pasteurization, but it can take anywhere from four to ten times more whipping time.

[John the Barman]

Apparently it is possible to get a decent whipped foam out of egg whites which have been partially denatured by pasteurization, but it can take anywhere from four to ten times more whipping time.

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Do you think dry shaking a pastuerised egg sour quite a bit longer can improve the results, or is that only with foams.

[slkinsey]

All you're doing when you dry shake an egg is "whipping" the egg whites without a whisk to make an egg white foam. So, yes. Not sure if you really want to dry shake a pasteurized egg white for 5 minutes, though.

[davicus]

This is my first post and I'm not a pro, just a fanatic, so please take this comment for what it's worth...

I have found when making a fizz a better emulsion is achieved when I use a sharp cracked ice. It seems the many varied surfaces of the cracked ice agitate the egg whites and create a better emulsion. I tried using some of the larger cubes but haven't had much luck. This works especially well with a Ramos, where the cream, egg white and citrus have to emulsify. I also usually only use 1oz. of egg white (which I keep in a bottle) and do a dry shake.

Also, the diameter of the glass itself seems to have a big effect on the foam. If the glass is too wide, the foam dissipates quicker. When a narrow glass is used there seems to be a greater amount of surface tension which keeps the foam tighter and is more likely to allow you to float a straw in it (which I was told is the proper measure of a foam’s success).

Davicus

[haresfur]

This is my first post and I'm not a pro, just a fanatic, so please take this comment for what it's worth...

I have found when making a fizz a better emulsion is achieved when I use a sharp cracked ice.  It seems the many varied surfaces of the cracked ice agitate the egg whites and create a better emulsion.  I tried using some of the larger cubes but haven't had much luck.  This works especially well with a Ramos, where the cream, egg white and citrus have to emulsify.  I also usually only use 1oz. of egg white (which I keep in a bottle) and do a dry shake.

Also, the diameter of the glass itself seems to have a big effect on the foam.  If the glass is too wide, the foam dissipates quicker.  When a narrow glass is used there seems to be a greater amount of surface tension which keeps the foam tighter and is more likely to allow you to float a straw in it (which I was told is the proper measure of a foam’s success).     

Davicus

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Welcome! Thanks for your input. I've been avoiding egg white cocktails but maybe it's time for some aerobic drinking

[Barworkz]

To throw in my two cents....

Leaving the proper hard shake aside (as I only know very few people who actually do this right, me not included) I nonetheless prefer to shake all egg drinks in a 3 piece and I have consistently good results with it. I use double frozen rocks, organic eggs (small to medium) and shake the living shit out of it. The build in strainer through which the mixture is forced while shaking seems to add more oxygen into the drink. There is no dry shake needed beforehand (eats up too much time imho anyways).

I do have read that the addition of citric acid and sugar in a particular order add to the stabilization of foams ( might be McGee, have to double check) and if we think of creating a meringue, it should be sugar first to create a stiff but fluffy consistency and citric acid to stabilize the fragile combination of protein, water and air bubbles.

[imbibenc]

Emulsion aside, does anyone else find the smell of egg whites slightly off putting in a drink? It's not as noticeable at first if there's bitters and the drink is freshly made and everything is cold. However about half way through the smell becomes off-putting to me.

To counter act the smell, I've done batches of separated egg whites and added lemon juice until the smell goes away. This seems to be the most effective way so far.

FWIW, we are using local cage free chickens. I've never noticed this phenomenon in any of the cocktail lounges with egg white drinks before. Anyone want to weight in on this?

[Alchemist]

When you are separating the egg try to only get the clear part of the white (the albumen) and not the twisty white white part (the schlaza). I have heard from someone who a palate far superior to mine that that helped her with the smell.

Best of luck.

Toby

[jsmeeker]

When you are separating the egg try to only get the clear part of the white (the albumen) and not the twisty white white part (the schlaza).  I have heard from someone who a palate far superior to mine that that helped her with the smell.

Best of luck.

Toby

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thanks for that tip, toby.

I am used to removing that part when separating the eggs to use a yolk in a custard or something. Typically, it tends to actually stick to that. But I'll make sure to just remove it all together so it doesn't get into the white part either.

[CincyCraig]

Emulsion aside, does anyone else find the smell of egg whites slightly off putting in a drink?  It's not as noticeable at first if there's bitters and the drink is freshly made and everything is cold.  However about half way through the smell becomes off-putting to me. 

To counter act the smell, I've done batches of separated egg whites and added lemon juice until the smell goes away.  This seems to be the most effective way so far.

FWIW, we are using local cage free chickens.  I've never noticed this phenomenon in any of the cocktail lounges with egg white drinks before.  Anyone want to weight in on this?

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I think that you don't notice this with bar made drinks is because they tend to use pasturized egg white products and not raw eggs.

[slkinsey]

You think? I don't know of any bars that use pasteurized egg whites.

[jsmeeker]

You think?  I don't know of any bars that use pasteurized egg whites.

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maybe they are using in-shell pasteurized eggs?

[imbibenc]

All of the bars that I'm referring to are Violet Hour and several of the big names in NYC. And I'm absolutely certain they weren't using pasteurized eggs of any sort. Or maybe they were just doing magic tricks behind the bar with an egg illusion.

[Alcuin]

In addition to the little white part, could it be the amount of white used? My girlfriend noticed this and told me about it and I started using less egg white, trying to approximate the kinds of smaller eggs used back in the day (I keep large eggs in the house). When I use less egg, there's no smell. It could just be that separating it gets rid of the white part that Toby's talking about though too. Either way, it works for me.

[CincyCraig]

You think?  I don't know of any bars that use pasteurized egg whites.

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Unfortunately, I live in Cincinnati, and we are perpetually 10 years behind the times here. The few establishments here that are even adventurous enough to use egg in cocktails all use a pasteurized egg product.

Mark Twain said it best, 100 years ago-and it still holds true today: "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always ten years behind the times."

Edited March 29, 2009 by CincyCraig (log)