I'm making ice cream tonight and chiffon cake tomorrow. I need egg yolks for the ice cream and whites for the chiffon cake, will my egg whites still whip if they are kept overnight in the fridge?
1 Answer
Certainly yes. In fact, aged egg whites can whip better - sensitive applications like macarons will frequently prescribe holding the separated egg whites for a day or two before using.
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Is this due to a reduction in water making the protein strands stronger?... it seems like the corollary to this would imply that using older eggs would be beneficial?– CatijaJan 16, 2016 at 21:28
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1@Catija - Actually, it's a bit of the opposite. Older egg whites are thinner and thus whip faster. Same reason people recommend starting with warmer eggs. You'd actually get a similar effect by adding a very small amount of water to egg whites before whipping. But in both cases (old thing eggs and adding water), the resulting foam tends to whip faster and be lighter and softer, but the water often tends to drain from them if they sit and the remaining whites become less stable. It's mostly useful if you want speed or you'll be adding sugar or something (which will absorb the excess water). Jan 17, 2016 at 1:33