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Many recipes for the raw-egg yolk sauces and dressings suggest using pasteurized eggs for safety, and say they are available in stores. I've never seen them for sale anywhere. Generally I accept the 1 in 30,000 risk of salmonella (healthy, young, comfortable with calculated risks); however, when I cook for others, I feel uncomfortable exposing them to the risk.

Now I'm wondering:

  • Where can I obtain pasteurized or irradiated eggs?
  • Are they only available in special stores, or in certain regions? Just in big cities, or in Europe?
  • Is there an easy way to pasteurize your own eggs (preferably in the shell) without affecting texture?
  • How does using pasteurized eggs impact the shelf life of homemade mayonnaises and custards?
BobMcGee
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2 Answers2

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The theory is to pasteurize them sous-vide at 57ºC for 1:15'. You must be able to control the temperature, so specialized equipment is needed (ronner or similar).

The resulting egg has a different texture than ordinary (and I believe it tastes more 'yolky').

I've kept homemade mayo for more than two weeks without problem (off smell / taste).

Custards are heated, so no pasteurized eggs are needed, just like hollandaise sauce.

BaffledCook
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Pasteurisation requires fine control over temperature which would be very tricky at home.

According to 'Davidson's Safest Choice Eggs' at www.safeeggs.com, in North Carolina pasteurised eggs are available at Lowes Foods and Harris Teeter. That will hopefully mean more to you than it does to me!

As for shelf life, I would imagine there are few negative effects - if anything they should last longer as there will be fewer bacteria, providing you've used sterilised equipment.

ElendilTheTall
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