Sink or save, or what to do with excess egg yolks!

One issue that I have not had to deal with is what to do with excess egg yolks. I usually try to pick recipes that use whole eggs, or make two recipes with a balanced number of each. I do like to make custard, and have been collecting egg whites in the freezer! I figure that they will be easy to use, in a pavlova or meringue, or friand, or any number of light and fluffy desserts.

Coincidentally, both my sister E and soon to be sister-in-law K2 both made desserts this weekend involving egg whites!

When I spoke to E on Saturday she had made pavlova, and had stored the egg yolks in Tupperware in the fridge. I offered to take them off her hand to make custard, although I forgot to take them home! She said that she usually makes an egg yolk omelette with them if she cannot find a use, so they do not go to waste.

K2 on the other hand had made an Angel Cake from a recent edition of the Donna Hay Magazine, this recipe required 12 egg whites! She had ended up pouring her egg yolks down her sink.

I realised that I did not know whether or not you could freeze egg yolks. I have had no problems freezing and then using egg whites - I just leave them out overnight on the bench and they thaw to room temperature for good whipping!

Egg yolks on the other hand... to google I must go! I checked out a few different sites, and they all seemed to agree that you should mix the egg yolks with either salt or sugar to prevent them becoming gelatinous. I really am not sure what a gelatinous egg yolk will look like, or how it affects it in the cooking, but I am prepared to accept the word of the learned people at the CSIRO!

The consensus seems to be that for six egg yolks (or eggs), a teaspoon of salt or one tablespoon of sugar is the ratio. The salty yolks can then be used in savoury dishes, or the sweetened ones can be used in desserts! Also, labelling the container with sweet/salty is advisable. I have started labelling my freezer containers as it is too difficult to remember what is in them, and also awkward open each container to try and find what I am looking for!

Another tip that I picked up from reading, regarding egg whites, is to freeze them in ice cube trays. I may try that next time, as I currently freeze my whites in sets of three and this means that I may have to adjust quantities when using them in recipes!