Equipment

Successfully whipping egg whites by hand or machine is possible, especially now that you know what is happening as you whip and what to look for. Throughout the book, I give directions for using either a heavy-duty mixer with the whisk attachment or an electric hand mixer with beaters. But egg whites can be whipped quite well by hand with a balloon whisk. Even large amounts can be whipped more quickly and with greater overall consistency by hand because the whisk reaches all parts of the mixing bowl. In addition, whipping by hand gives you more control over the final state of your egg-white foam because you develop a “feel” for when it is finished. If you are using a machine, I recommend you leave the finishing touches for hand whisking. I use the machine’s whisk attachment to combine the entire mass. In this way, I can also judge if I have whipped the foam to the proper consistency.