How many times have you wanted to prepare a good tiramisù, zabaglione or mayonnaise and stopped because you were afraid there might be bacteria in the raw eggs? In order to prepare such delights worry-free, you need to learn how to pasteurize eggs. We’ll show you. Just keep reading!
What does pasteurize mean?
Pasteurization derives from the name of the French biologist Louis Pasteur and means subjecting food to a heat treatment at low temperatures to kill any pathogenic germs present, which might be dangerous to our health, while at the same time keeping other microorganisms full of beneficial properties alive. With eggs, the most common risk is their becoming infected with salmonella.
Eggs, egg yolks or egg whites: how to pasteurize them
You can pasteurize whole eggs, or the yolk and the white separately. You can then use them for sweet recipes such as mascarpone cream, or for sauces like mayonnaise. You’ll need one indispensable tool, a kitchen thermometer, which lets you measure the temperature.
Whole eggs
If you’re making a dessert, consider that for 3 whole eggs you need 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Start whipping the eggs with half the sugar. Put the other half in a saucepan with water and put everything on the stove, stirring with a spoon. Use a thermometer to make sure the sugar syrup reaches 250°F and then slowly pour it over the whipped eggs, stirring gently. Voila! Now you have pasteurized eggs. When you make your dessert recipe, remember to subtract the 3/4 cup of sugar you already used.
Egg whites
To use 3 pasteurized egg whites, first whip them with a pinch of salt. In the meantime, heat 1/4 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in a small pot and let the syrup reach 250°F before removing it from the heat. Pour the syrup over the egg whites that you have whipped until they formed stiff peaks, and stir gently to avoid ruining their stiffness. Remember to subtract 1/4 cup of sugar from your recipe!
Egg yolks
If you only need yolks, whip them with 1/4 cup sugar while you prepare the syrup with another 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Wait for the syrup to reach 250°F, then pour it over the whipped yolks, stirring from bottom to top. Also in this case, remove 1/2 cup of sugar from your recipe.
Savory recipes
If you need to pasteurize eggs for savory recipes, for example mayonnaise, then you should replace the sugar with oil. The procedure is the same as for the sweet recipes: you have to heat the oil indicated in your recipe and then add it to the whipped eggs (egg yolks, egg whites or whole eggs). Make sure you drizzle the oil in slowly and mix the eggs continuously with a whisk.