what's a good technique for pasteurizing eggs?

tux_tina

I tried to make homemade eggnog last Christmas. It turned out fine, but the eggs were an issue. I thought about buying pasteurized eggs but they would've run me $12 for two dozen, which seemed obscene. Pasteurization was important because my young child might have wanted some eggnog, so it needed to be very safe. So I pasteurized the eggs by heating them a little at a time in the microwave, stirring, heating etc until they reached 145F. I may...

Originally asked by jcollum on Stack Exchange (cooking) (CC BY-SA 2.5).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

The microwave is too harsh an environment for this. If you have a sous vide circulator, you can also pasteurize in-shell at 135 F (57 C) for for 75 minutes according to Douglas Baldwin's A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking . To pasteurize on the stove in the shell takes some care. You must bring the water up to 140 - 150 F (60 - 65 C) for 3 to 5 minutes to pasteurize them. You must not exceed 150 or you will begin to cook the egg. If the eggs are in the water as you heat it then they will closely match the temperature of the surrounding water. Just make sure they aren't resting on the bottom of the pan. If you want to be extra careful you can leave them in longer, as long as you don't...

Full answer by hobodave: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/4266 (CC BY-SA 2.5).

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