These standard methods take only a few minutes but require the cook’s attention. Some professionals, particularly in France, make firm meringues suitable for the pastry pipe on the kitchen equivalent of autopilot. They place all the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, add a portion of the egg whites with some lemon juice to prevent graining, mix for several minutes— the timing is not critical—then add more whites, mix a while, and so on. The result is a fine-textured, stiff, supple meringue. Beating the eggs gradually into the sugar rather than the other way around does slow the foaming, but requires little supervision. Such “automatic” meringues are denser than usual and less brittle when dried down.