White clumps in egg whites?

Question

What are the nasty, goobery, grayish-white chunks in my egg whites? Are they safe to bake or should I keep picking them out? Ughhgh!

Answer 1

grayish-white chunks?  the only thing i can think of is the chalaza, which is the white "string" that keeps the yolk suspended inside the egg.  when you crack your egg, it this stuff stuck to or attached to the yolk at all?  is it in all of your eggs?  hopefully this helps...

Answer 2

Its called the chalazae (kah-lay-zee).

Its a ropey membrane which helps keep the yolk centered in place in the egg, so that it doesn't get damaged.

They're perfectly edible, so no worries there. And when I'm making things like cakes or cookies, I leave them in, you never notice them at all.

But with something like a custard or ice cream, they will bunch up and feel really nasty in your mouth, so whenever I make custard, I always take them out.