Eggs Can Be Made Safer For Raw Recipes, But Only If You Get This Exactly Right

From scratch-made mayo to tiramisu, there are more than a few recipes that call for raw eggs. They're even a crucial component of certain drinks, whether you're whipping up a batch of eggnog or shaking up a frothy egg-white sour cocktail. Some folks may be put off by the idea of consuming uncooked eggs, and that's understandable. It's a well-known food safety fact among home cooks that raw eggs may carry Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause all sorts of unpleasant gastrointestinal issues and has the potential to be life-threatening in severe cases. So, how do we get away with using raw eggs safely without getting sick?

In the 19th century, French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered that heating food or drinks to a specific temperature for a set amount of time could kill harmful bacteria without fully cooking the item in question. The process — now known as pasteurization — completely revolutionized food safety and is still one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of foodborne illness in products like milk, juice, and eggs. If you plan on making something that calls for raw eggs, you should buy them pasteurized. But if that's not possible, you can always try doing it yourself.

The easiest way to pasteurize eggs at home is using a water bath or sous vide. Once the water reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit, place your eggs in the pot for 3 minutes before moving them to an ice bath to cool. As this is a very delicate process, it can take practice to perfect, and the timings may vary for different-sized eggs. And although home pasteurization can reduce the risk of Salmonella, buying commercially pasteurized eggs is typically the more reliable option.

If you overheat your eggs — or heat them for too long — they'll partially cook. While the bacteria might be dead, your raw eggs are no longer raw, making them unsuitable for your recipe. Luckily, we can check whether an egg has been accidentally cooked instead of pasteurized by cracking it open.

A pasteurized egg shouldn't look much different from a regular raw egg. The yolk should be glossy and runny, and if it appears jammy or firm, it likely got too hot. Meanwhile, the white should be loose and translucent — a little cloudiness is fine, but if it's milky or opaque, it means it started to cook. However, if the egg looks raw and we want to know whether it's been successfully pasteurized, we run into an issue. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell if an egg is properly pasteurized without being able to test the internal temperature, and there isn't a kitchen tool for this. The only real option is to use an accurate digital thermometer to make sure the water bath is reaching and staying at the correct temperature. This lack of certainty is why home pasteurization is riskier than buying commercially pasteurized products, and the FDA and USDA both recommend fully cooking eggs before eating them.

Finally, you should also inspect your pasteurized eggs for cracks before using them. Egg shells act as a natural barrier against contamination, and a break in this barrier makes it possible for bacteria to re-enter the egg, even after pasteurization. You'll either need to finish cooking the egg, or throw it away.