Eggs – Egg Whites Won’t Stiffen

3 grams (contingent on the relative weight of the rest of the recipe) is not a big deal.

But, since egg whites are such a pain to measure, it's very simple in recipes like this. Beat your egg whites slightly, then weigh and remove three grams. Much easier.

This is not a real answer, but rather some info to hopefully, help:

• Egg whites are 90% water, when they harden, the protein unravels and creates a grid network that does not allow the molecules to slip past each other. If the protein level drops, it might make it harder to set and stay runny.

• Egg white proteins go through a phase change (become hard) at a lower temperature than the Yolk by a few degrees, that's how you can have soft-boiled eggs.

• If you crack a fresh egg and it sprawls on the dish (as opposed to hold tall), you're looking at an egg from a chicken that didn't eat many insects/larvae. ;) This may be expected as at this time of the year (northern hemisphere) insects aren't very active.

There is a good section in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma that gets into more detail. And perhaps better information regarding the off-season feed.