the eggs Old eggs at room temperature are often recommended on the grounds that the whites are thinner and therefore foam more rapidly This is true, and very fresh eggs are said to be almost impossible to foam by hand But fresh eggs are less alkaline and so make a more stable foam; the older thin white also drains from the foam more easily, and old eggs are more likely to leave traces of yolk in the white Cold yolks are less likely to break as you separate them from the whites, and the whipping process quickly warms cold eggs anyway Fresh eggs right out of the refrigerator will work fine, especially if you’re using an electric mixer Egg foams can also be made with dried egg whites Powdered egg whites are pure, pasteurized, freeze-dried egg whites “Meringue powder” contains more sugar than egg, and includes gums to stabilize the foam Bowl and Whisk The bowl in which you beat the whites should be large enough to accommodate an eightfold expansion of their volume It’s often recommended that the cook avoid making egg foams in plastic bowls, because plastics are hydrocarbon relatives of fats, and tend to retain traces of fats and soaps While this is true, the bowl is also unlikely to release such traces into a mass of egg white Ordinary cleaning is adequate to make a plastic bowl suitable for foaming eggs If you’re beating by hand, a large “balloon whisk” aerates a greater volume of the egg whites at a time and will speed your work If you have a choice of machines, a stand mixer whose beater both spins on its shaft and traces a curlicue path from the center to the edge of the bowl (a “hypocycloidal” or planetary motion) beats the whites more evenly and leaves less unfoamed Less efficient beaters produce a denser texture  ... whose beater both spins on its shaft and traces a curlicue path from the center to the edge of the bowl (a “hypocycloidal” or planetary motion) beats the whites more evenly and leaves less unfoamed Less efficient beaters... If you’re beating by hand, a large “balloon whisk” aerates a greater volume of the egg whites at a time and will speed your work If you have a choice of machines, a stand mixer whose beater both spins on its shaft and traces... plastics are hydrocarbon relatives of fats, and tend to retain traces of fats and soaps While this is true, the bowl is also unlikely to release such traces into a mass of egg white Ordinary