Paula Figoni

Adding Shine to the Surface of Baked Goods

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How Baking Works

By Paula Figoni

Published 2003

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Egg proteins dry to a glossy brown film when egg wash is applied to the surface of doughs. Egg wash can be made with eggs diluted with water or, for additional browning, eggs diluted with milk. Any part of the egg can be used, with egg yolk wash providing the most browning and sheen.

A small amount of salt added to an egg wash thins it out. It takes a few hours for this to happen, but it does make the egg wash easier to apply evenly. The egg thins out because the egg proteins are neutralized by the salt and are no longer attracted to one another. This allows the proteins to be better hydrated by water, even to dissolve in it. Biochemists have a term for the ability of salt to dissolve proteins in water. They call it the salting in effect.