Perfect Swiss Meringue

Preparing the bowls and utensils

1. I recommend that you use meal bowls and whisks to make the meringue. Clean and dry all the bowls that contain the egg whites and the sugar to prevent any fat residue from being introduced into the meringue.
2. Optional step - Soak a clean paper towel (partially) with white vinegar. Wipe the bowls, utensils, and whisks with white vinegar and let them dry out. The acidity of vinegar will help clean the bowls thoroughly and remove any oil / fat residue.
3. If you’re whisking egg whites by hand, then I recommend using a large balloon whisk to make it easier to form meringue.

Separate the egg whites

1. Carefully separate the egg whites from the large eggs. I recommend that you separate one egg at a time into a smaller bowl, and then transfer the egg white into the mixer bowl. This way, if 1 egg white gets contaminated with a broken yolk, then the other egg whites are still safe.
2. Place all the egg whites in the mixer bowl, and add the cream of tartar, salt, and the sugar. Whisk to combine.

Cooking the egg sugar mixture

1. Use a medium-sized pot where the mixing bowl can comfortable sit on top without touching the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with about 2 - 3 inches of water.
2. Heat the water over medium high heat on your stove and bring it to a simmer. Lower the heat to maintain the simmer.
3. Place the mixer bowl with the egg whites over the pot with the simmering water.
4. Using the whisk, stir to continuously move the egg whites while heating it over the double boiler. This will prevent the egg whites from cooking and scrambling.
5. Heat the egg white mixture until the egg white mixture reaches between 170 - 175°F / 77 - 79°C. This can take about 10 minutes, depending on the stove and mixer bowl. (If you need to stop stirring the egg whites, then remove the bowl from the double boiler until you’re ready to start stirring again.)

Whisking the meringue

1. Remove the bowl from the double boiler, and place it in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
2. Whisk the egg mixture on medium high speed until you reach stiff peaks. Stop whisking periodically, and take a little of the meringue with the tip of the whisk to create a small peak of meringue. Then check the peak for the consistency of the meringue. See post for more details and reference pictures.
3. The meringue will first reach soft peaks, where the tip will be very droopy. Then it will reach mid peaks, where the meringue will form a peak that will droop slightly at the tip. And then finally reach stiff peaks, where the meringue will form a peak that stays straight up.
4. Add the vanilla after the meringue has reached mid peaks, so it has about 1 - 2 minutes to mix through the meringue.
5. When the meringue has reached stiff peaks, it's ready to be used immediately for best results. Make sure that any spatulas that will be used are also free of any fat residue as this will cause the meringue to collapse and lose its structure.