Air. It's all about how much air you're beating into the eggs.

I also have a crank egg beater, though I've never heard "Denver Beater". I actually use it in the reverse of your way--if I want frothy, light eggs for an omelette or something, I use a fork or spring whisk, and the wrist action my father taught me as a tot. If I want to make blintz pancakes (heavy crêpes) or some other well mixed cream texture but in a measuring cup rather than the stand mixer, I use the crank or a ball whisk.

The thing about the way you're whisking your eggs by hand is that you're more stirring than beating. You may be using too small a bowl. You need room to lift and beat the eggs with a whisk to get them frothy. A classic method is to use a fork and a platter. I use a wide bowl, tilt it about 30-40°, and lift my fork or whisk out of the liquid, in a circular motion, beating in the air. And fast. If I went that fast with the crank egg beater, I'd splatter the kitchen.

As long as you're getting the results you need, it doesn't matter how you get there. If your whisked eggs still seem slimy, however, you may not have completely broken up the whites.

Egg-white foams are made by beating air into the whites, usually with a large balloon whisk or an electric mixer and a glass or stainless steel bowl. Avoid using a plastic bowl for making an egg-white foam because fat, from use with other recipes you've mixed in the bowl, bonds to the plastic, or fat/oil can harbor in the porous material (closed when cooled and opened when warm/hot) and can wreck all your hard work. Your double-bladed hand-powered mixer is just another option. I can foam 3 egg whites faster with a whisk and a stainless steel bowl than using an electric mixer; and it's easier to control the different consistencies needed for different dishes - foamy, soft peeks, stiff peaks, dry peaks when beating it by-hand.

Some of the little things that can cause different results:

-Fresh eggs have a thick egg white and work much better for the task than older eggs, which have thinner whites and are less stable and they also tend to collapse during heating.

-The formation and stability of the foam also depends on the beating technique, the temperature, type of bowl, and how carefully you separated the yolks and whites, and whether or not sugar, fluid, salt, or acid have been added.

-When done correctly, whipping alone forms the protein support network. Too much whipping, however, causes protein clumping and curdling.

-Egg-white foams often benefit from an acidic ingredient and this will help prevent curdling by limiting protein bonding. Add 1/8-teaspoon of cream of tartar or 1/2 t. of lemon juice per white. For many years a copper bowl was the bowl-of-choice because of a unique reaction between the copper and the egg whites when trace amounts of copper from the bowl combine with the egg-white protein. Copper bowls are no longer recommended because of toxicity risks associated with excess copper.

-Make sure the whites are free of any yolk because the tiny bit of yolk will interfere with foaming.

-Make sure the bowl is thoroughly clean AND thoroughly rinsed. Any remaining oil residue and even detergent residue can interfere with foaming.

-The bowl, beaters, and eggs should be at room temperature (which is considered 70°F). This allows them to whip more easily and to a larger volume than if you use cold eggs. BUT, the stability of the foam deteriorates the longer it is kept at room temperature.

-Choose a deep bowl with a rounded bottom and sloping up to the side.

-Grainlady