Freezing egg whites

[NotQuiteCockney]

I've frozen some egg whites, can I just thaw them and make merengue with them? How long will they keep in our (v good) freezer?

dunno. why not just try it and let us know??

NB if it's rubbish you could try whipping before freezing next time. that's what you're supposed to do with cream.

Nigella recommends freezing egg whites and I just made my first meringues (actually a roulade) from defrosted egg whites this weekend and they seemed exactly the same as fresh. I've no idea how long they will keep frozen.

Ok, so I have to thoroughly defrost the egg whites first? In the fridge? Or outside? Can I speed things up by putting the bag in water?

I just left mine out and forgot about them; decided that was OK as egg whites should be at room temperature for meringues, but can't tell you how long they took to defrost. I'm sure overnight in the fridge would be fine, not sure about the water, but try it tepid and I'm sure it will be alright.

I thawed them in water.

Oh and I checked in McGee, and he says they lose only a bit of their ability to make big puffy things, by being frozen.