Why whip egg whites in copper bowls

摘要: Foams of chicken egg albumen have been an important element in Western cuisine for at least 300 yr1; they lower the density such otherwise ponderous preparations as souffles and sponge cakes, heat-annealed form known meringues support or crown various sucrose-rich mixtures2. The raw protein foam is delicate easily ruined by overheating. Over past 200 yr, protocols production foams frequently specified use copper reaction vessels3–5. In keeping with line thought that holds culinary practice to be worthy philosophical scientific analysis6–8, we investigated nature consequences protocol. We report here utensils reduce danger overheating foams, propose mechanism involves metal-binding protein, conalbumin (ovotransferrin).