Egg Foams FCS 1120 Amy D. Eades MS, RD

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Egg FoamsFCS 1120Amy D. Eades MS, RD
The American Egg Board,2000
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What is a foam?

• Air trapped in a liquid
• In egg foam, air trapped by protein.
• Denatured and then coagulates
• Heat expands protein/air

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Which foam first in foam formation?

• Soft - small bubbles, moist shiny peaks that
  fold over.
• Stiff - Shiny peaks that remain upright. Very
  desirable in most cases.
• Foamy - Frothy fluid with no peaks.
• Dry - Dry, dull curdled -- the foam has broken.

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From PowerPoint Presentation tool for
Understanding Food, 1 edition by 2000. Reprinted
with permission of Wadsworth, an imprint of the
WadsworthGroup, a division of Thompson Learning
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Volume Stability Factors

• Temperature
• room temperature
• Fat
• decreases foam formation

• Sugar
• increases stability
• delays foam formation
• added at foamy or soft peak stage
• Acid
• increases stability
• doesnt delay foam formation

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What is the problem?

• John mixes together his meringue and it takes an
  extra long time for the foam to form. What did he
  do wrong?
• Maggie is trying to get formation of her foam.
  She mixes for about 20 minutes and it never
  forms. What might have happened?

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Foam Products

• Meringues
• Hard or soft
• Soufflés
• Meringue/foam cakes

www.oregon-berries.com/cx2/mk02b2.htm
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Soft Meringues
http//www.canadaegg.ca/english/recipes/mering.htm
litalian

• Preparation procedure
• Beat egg whites almost to soft
• peak stage.
• Add sugar gradually, otherwise extensive beating
  is necessary to produce foam as sugar interferes
  with coagulation of egg proteins.
• Continue beating to stiff peak stage.
• High quality characteristics
• slightly moist, tender, fluffy, lightly browned,
  easy to cut

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Possible Preparation Problems

• Beading
• droplets of amber syrup appear on the surface due
  to the over-coagulation of the protein.
• Weeping
• Leakage of the liquid where the meringue
  filling meet due to the under-coagulation of
  protein
• Can be minimized by
• spreading meringue on hot filling.
• baking in oven (425 F) 5 min.
• Adding a tsp of cornstarch to sugar before
  beating it into the egg whites

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Hard meringues
http//www.canadaegg.ca/english/recipes/festmering
ues.html

• Prep procedures
• Egg whites beaten to soft peak stage
• Sugar added gradually (4T/egg white) and beaten
  to stiff peak
• Place swirls of foam on baking sheet.
• Baked _at_ 275 F for 1.5 hrs
• Leave in oven after baked with door closed for
  another hour to increase the drying out of the
  meringue.

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Soufflés

• Starch-thickened, yolk-containing sauce egg
  white foam
• Prep procedures
• Fold beaten whites sauce.
• Use ungreased pan
• Heat causes expansion of air in foam.

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Do you know the ingredients functions?
Functions Ingredients

• Acid
• Egg
• Sugar
• Flour

• Provides foam for leavening and structure
• Contributes to structure
• Tenderizes, gives flavor, browns, stabilizes
  foam
• Stabilizes foam and whitens cake

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Meringue Cakes

• Preparation procedures
• Make egg white foam
• Flour-sugar mixture sifted over top of foam
  folded in
• Bake 375 in ungreased tube pan for 1 hour
• Cool upside down

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Milk/Cream Foams

• Whipping cream
• High in fat therefore whips well
• Air bubbles encased in layer of protein clumps
  of fat
• Cold temperatures
• Sugar delays incorporation of air leading to low
  volume
• Used for filling and decorating pastries

• Whipping milk
• Lower in fat
• Lower in cost
• Decreased whipping ability
• Lacks flavor