"pasturized" news and stories

Yesterday, I talked about the Cook's Illustrated review of egg white substitutes, which concluded that you are best off working with real, fresh egg whites. The pre-packed, pasteurized egg white substitutes didn't hold up when whipped as well as the real thing. There is one more type of egg white substitute that is known for its ability to whip up, though: meringue powder.

Meringue powder is a mixture of dried, powdered egg whites, cornstarch and gums, which help if bind together. Some powders include sugar, but the majority do not. When mixed with sugar and water, meringue powdered can be reconstituted and beaten to soft or stiff peaks. It can be used to make royal icing, baked meringues, and even angel food cakes, which I have tried with good success. It can not be substituted for egg whites in other recipes, though, only in recipes which call for beaten egg whites. Meringue powders, other than being used for frosting, are best used in recipes where the egg whites would have been uncooked, like in some mousses and sorbets. Keep in mind that meringue powder can have a sort of starchy aftertaste from the cornstarch, so don't reduce the amount of sugar or other flavorings in the recipe you're using unless you want to add another flavor to your dessert.

In this month's issue of Cook's Illustrated, the editorial team took on the challenge of evaluating a bunch of egg white substitutes, all commercially packaged egg whites. Egg whites are low in fat and calories and can often be substituted for whole eggs in recipes and dishes like omelets, though there is the annoyance of separating a whole egg and having to dispose of (waste) the yolk with this method. Sold in individual bottles and hermetically sealed packaging, the pasteurized egg white products sound like they have all the benefits of shelled egg whites and none of the drawbacks - and Cook's Illustrated wanted to see if they would really stand up in performance.

They tested three products, Papetti Foods All Whites, Eggology Egg Whites and Eggbeaters Egg Whites, in recipes for Angel Food Cake, baked meringues, meringue frosting and scrambled eggs. They found that Eggology was the closest in performance to regular egg whites, though they made a poor angel food cake. The other products did not fare as well, particularly the Papetti brand, which could not perform even respectably in any of the tests.