All my years in the Culinary industry, I always made meringue, however meringue and I don't get along, we're not exactly friends. :P Everytime I've made meringue I've over whipped the egg whites or not whipped them enough.
A funny thing about egg whites, when making a meringue if you get egg yolk in them, it doesn't whip up properly or to the voluminous stage you want it.
The key to making a good meringue is a clean bowl and whisks. Any oil, grease or unwanted impurities will not support the volume of egg whites being beaten.
There are different stages of whipping meringue that you can achieve: soft peak, medium peak and hard (stiff) peak. hehe.
When separating an egg, I find using your hand as a separator is helpful. That way, you can feel the texture of the egg yolk and egg white and also preventing any unwanted bacteria from the egg shell contacting the egg.
The tip to a shiny meringue that I was completely unaware of til now is using a kitchen aid mixer, add egg whites and begin to beat then slowly add the sugar! It sounds simple enough, but I had never heard the explanation to this!
