I have used several brands of pasteurized egg whites. I do use cream of tartar and add some sugar at the beginning when I am beating the whites. I had a seperation issue once, but normally do not. I think if you use it as soon as you make it, it's fine. I don't usually let it sit.
Normally, I buy whatever carton is the cheapest!! I also use cheap butter and Baker's white chocolate.
And it's still really really good. In fact, I'd take cheap egg whites, cheap butter, and cheap chocolate over powdered sugar and Crisco any day. Sadly, though, my husband requested yellow cake and CANNED chocolate frosting this year for his birthday cake. Rat fink.
Jess.. what brand of pasturized egg whites do you use? I'd love to not separate a bazillion eggs..
I use the regular ummmmm hmmmmmm gosh for the life of me can't remember the brand. lol. Geez, the green cartons, hmmm, is the brand called egg whites???? Ughhh sorry I dont have any in my fridge right now, its the green cartons that come with 6 at BJ's. Ughhh!
Jessica 
LOL.. probaby egg beaters brand.. I'll check at the store when I go later today. Thanks for the recommendation. 
I have a question for PinkZiab and Jessfmaldonado.... where do you use the vanilla bean paste? Do you put it in the fondant or in the SMBC ?
I use half meringue powder and half Deb El powdered egg white and it works and tastes great. I am always amazed at the volume of flavor add-in you can use. I put in as much as 1/3 C. homemade strawberry jam and it was just like homemade strawberry ice cream. I also use whatever butter is cheapest. When I find it on sale, I buy 10 lb. or more and it keeps very well in the freezer. You just have to rememer to pull it out to thaw at least 2 hours before you need it.
I have a question for PinkZiab and Jessfmaldonado.... where do you use the vanilla bean paste? Do you put it in the fondant or in the SMBC ?
In the buttercream. I LOVE vanilla bean paste. It gives you the best aspects of vanilla beans and vanilla extract in one product. I still use both fresh beans and extract for some recipes, but I LOVE my paste! I say to only use the paste in yoru frosting is you're going under fondant, because the paste will give you flecks from the vanilla seeds. On regular cakes I don't mind this, but obviously for a designed occasion cake, you wouldn't want that.
A great place to get vanilla bean paste is https://www.surfasonline.com/productlines/186.cfm?startrow=17
The only thing is I have been suggesting it so much, everyone is buying the paste and extract from surfas and now they are on backorder 
. I have to wait a little longer to get mine now lol. They have the cheapest price and the Nielsen- Massey 32 oz. extract is the best price as well!!! OHhhh the flavor is wonderful!!!!!!
LOL.. probaby egg beaters brand.. I'll check at the store when I go later today. Thanks for the recommendation.
I feel so stupid lol. You know it probably is the egg beaters brand. Geez I still cant remember. Ughhh that is what two kids and a hubby will do to you. Or is it just me getting older? Probably all of them combined lol. Your very welcome even though I didnt help much! lol.
Jessica
It's called Just Whites.. the Egg Beaters brand is blue.
And you did help.. knowing that it works for someone helps a lot. And I agree.. I always tell my kids I pushed out 1/2 my brain when I had them.. 
Thanks so much Jessfmaldonado and PinkZiab, I just ordered some from the King Arthur site. I will be trying this one out! Do you only put it in the buttercream or in the SMBC as well?
The SMBC is the buttercream and you would put the paste in there.. since it will be covered with fondant, it won't matter if there is flecks of vanilla beans in the BC.
I'm sorry, one mre question. How much of the paste do you use?
It's called Just Whites.. the Egg Beaters brand is blue.
If you have a problem with this, try a different brand. I couldn't get Just Whites to whip up for me, but there was a different brand at the market (cheaper too) which worked just fine. It was not a nationally recognized brand like Egg Beaters, it was something different like "Meadowbrook Farms" or whatever (I have no idea, I made that name up, but it was that kind of a name).
There's a brand they carry at Trader Joe's which always works too, as do their little "single scrambles" 4-packs, but those are wildly expensive ($4 for the equivalent of 12 egg whites).
Almost all cartons state that they will NOT whip to meringue but that doesn't mean they actually won't. Sometimes I wonder if it just varies by carton, due to the pasteurization process...? I only tried Just Whites once, maybe I got a "no-go" carton.
Anyway I like the idea of just doing SMBC and avoiding the whole pasteurization issue altogether, but last week I tried for the 2nd time and accidentally scrambled my eggs . Yes I used a bain-marie and the water hadn't even started to simmer yet. Straight back to IMBC for me after that debacle!
It depends on your tastes.. I haven't used it in SMBC before, but I believe you use it the same as extract so if it calls for a TBSP of vanilla extract you use a TBSP of vanilla bean paste. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Okay I just read that 1 TBSP vanilla bean paste is equal to one whole vanilla pod and since one vanilla pod is the equivalent of 1 TBSP of extract then you would use it the same as vanilla extract.
Yup, you use the paste the same as you would the extract.
I use it for my cupcakes and my fillings and under fondant.
When I use the "Egg Whites" (Thanks jkalman for finding out the name for me hehe). I still bring it up to 160-180 with the sugar. So after heating it whips up just fine. If you try to beat it before heating the egg whites(IMBC), it does not whip up for me.
So far it always comes to peaks for me after heating.
Jessica
Thanks for the tip of heating it Jess.. I can't wait to try it. To not have 80 egg yolks lying around after frosting a wedding cake would be a dream.
I'm tempted to try my hand at this........although I'm one of the weirdos that does love old fashioned PS BC
To all you seasoned meringue BC makers, which one should I try? SMBC or IMBC? Is one easier to make than the other for a first timer? Are the flavors similar?
Can I safely use real eggs for either recipe?
Thanks!
I'm tempted to try my hand at this........although I'm one of the weirdos that does love old fashioned PS BC
To all you seasoned meringue BC makers, which one should I try? SMBC or IMBC? Is one easier to make than the other for a first timer? Are the flavors similar?
Can I safely use real eggs for either recipe?
Thanks!
I like SMBC, I find it easier since you are heating the egg whites and sugar until 160 deg. Then whipping, cooling then adding the butter. With IMBC, your whipping the eggwhites then heating the sugar and pouring that in, cooling, then the butter. They both taste the same, I find SMBC a little more stable than IMBC. Just my preference. You can use real eggs in both because they are being cooked up in both recipes. Just add enough flavor, I add 1/4 cup of vanilla, or v paste (yum)and always eat at room temp.
hth,
Jessica
It will take gel colors, but it takes oil based colors better. The gel colors will look separated if you look real closely.. like teeny beads of gel are floating in the BC because that's what is happening. It will look green, but not vibrant. I find that the meringue based buttercreams tend to not like being colored very vibrantly. You can use powdered colors too but I find you will need to allow time for them to "mature". If you are making a whole batch of green I bet you could add the gel color to the eggwhites and then add the butter and not have an issue..
Me thinks I smell an experiment coming on..
I just read the whole 18 page thread on SMBC. Unless I have a request I do not think I will ever go back to regular ps buttercream again. I loved it! My daugher loved it (at 11 she is turning into a cake and frosting snob)! But of course, our favorite is Toba Garrett's French vanilla buttercream, which is somewhat similar, IMO. I had to put the remaining frosting in the freezer so I wouldn't eat it!
It will take gel colors, but it takes oil based colors better. The gel colors will look separated if you look real closely.. like teeny beads of gel are floating in the BC because that's what is happening. It will look green, but not vibrant. I find that the meringue based buttercreams tend to not like being colored very vibrantly. You can use powdered colors too but I find you will need to allow time for them to "mature". If you are making a whole batch of green I bet you could add the gel color to the eggwhites and then add the butter and not have an issue..
Me thinks I smell an experiment coming on..
Thanks Jeanne, I just saw that 18 page post also with your picture tutorial, that is awesome and such a big help......I would love to try this tonight, but I'm afraid I'd eat it before Saturday
The cake I need the green for is a 10" rd. and I was just going to do the green on top. I was even considering just making the Putting green out of green fondant on top of the SMBC. It's for my sister in law's mom so she is leaving the entire thing up to me...(I love these kind of cakes, since I can now do any flavors I want) Hmmmm.....thinking cap on!
Does anyone make a meringue buttercream with meringue powder??? Wonder what that'd be like.
For most cakes that's pretty much all I make mine with. This way there is absolutely no chance of Salmonella poisoning, as the powder doesn't contain it. When I use fresh egg whites, I heat it to 160 degrees to kill off any bacteria. I usually let my powder sit in the water for 30 minutes to absorb, it works great!
well, after seeing this thread on the MBC's i got brave enough to give it a try and OMG! i'm hooked. it does not taste like i thought it would as i was expecting something like the nasty walmart whipped stuff but the SMBC with nutella i made tastes like a rich and creamy chocolate soft serve ice cream. oh so yummy! guess it makes me a new convert, lol.
one thing that i tried from an earlier post that did not work for me was using the "just egg whites". they wouldn't whip up for me even after heating them with the sugar over the simmering water.
cas17, you might want to try a different brand, that brand didn't whip up for me either. Although, since you made smbc, you don't really need pasteurized whites anyway; you are already heating them to a safe temp. Glad you like the icing though, yyuummm!
Make a custard or curd, or bread pudding! Seriously, I know what you mean, but sometimes it's still cheaper to throw away the yolks rather than buy the pasteurized whites, depending on how cheap you can get your eggs. I get eggs for $1.60/dz so with tax it's still less than 15c an egg. If I throw away 5 yolks, it's only 35c wasted. I get more uptight about the waste of the food itself, so I froze my last ones (with sugar as recommended) but didn't like the results when I used them.
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