Eggs – pastuerize eggs for eggnog without sous vide

eggspasteurization

I would like to safely make eggnog with raw egg. The options I have read about are buying pasteurized eggs (can't find any locally) and sous vide (I don't have specialised equipment).

Is there any other way to pasteurize the eggs without special equipment, and without compromising the texture of the eggnog? I do have a blender 🙂

Best Answer

A simpler option (recommended by the FDA food safety website) is to use a cooked egg base:

  1. Combine eggs and half the milk as indicated in the recipe. (Other ingredients, such as sugar may be added at this step.)
  2. Cook the mixture gently to an internal temperature of 160 °F, stirring constantly. The cooking will destroy Salmonella, if present. At this temperature, the mixture will firmly coat a metal spoon (but please don’t lick the spoon if the custard is not fully cooked!).
  3. After cooking, chill the mixture before adding the rest of the milk and other ingredients.

Cooked nog recipes can be easily found by Googling.


In my family's traditional recipe, the egg whites are whipped separately and then folded into the yolk/cream/sugar mix. This wouldn't really be an option with a cooked egg base, but you can substitute whipped cream (which is far more readily available pasteurized) to get the same texture.