Author Topic: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!  (Read 6416 times)

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Offline TovinoThomas

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Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« on: November 28, 2019, 08:43:30 am »
I’ve noticed several recipes popping up lately from a gourmet food magazine where they suggest folding egg whites beaten until they form stiff peaks into the rest of the pie mix but never baking the pie.

The magazine folks were very nonchalant about it, but the people in the comments were freaking.

I’m having a hard time figuring out whether the food experts are being careless for the sake of flavor or whether the food experts understand how astronomically low the chance of contamination is and the people in the comments have been scared by bad info they’ve been fed that overexaggerated the danger.

I’ve already followed their directions to make the pie, but am now second guessing due to a few of the comments.

Any advice here, and anything I can do last minute that won’t compromise its integrity?reverse phone lookupnba reddit pcpartpicker
« Last Edit: November 30, 2019, 08:58:10 am by TovinoThomas »

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2019, 02:50:26 pm »
French silk pie is a classic recipe for raw egg. Our modern egg supply is pretty clean, so it is up to you whether you wanna chance it.

When I have a chance to get fresh, unwashed, free range farm eggs I am not afraid to use them raw. The egg has a natural oil barrier that blocks bacteria from crossing the shell barrier. Modern egg industry washes and whitens the egg shell and the eggs lose that natural oil barrier. They MUST be refrigerated where a chicken-sh** stained unwashed chicken egg can sit on your counter for three weeks and be almost as fresh as the day it was laid.

Counterintuitive, huh?
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Offline BoisBrule

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Re: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2020, 12:16:22 pm »
This whole subforum seems pretty dead, but cooking is kinda my thing, so forgive my bringing dead threads back from the grave.

Meringues rarely get to a high enough temperature to kill bacteria anyways, and most people have no issues eating a lemon meringue pie. Same folks will also eat a dozen eggs benedict at the local Sunday Brunch, too, with no concerns. Use fresh eggs, work in a clean environment, don't cross contaminate, follow proper food safety and storage guidelines, and all is fine.

Eggs... most nations don't wash eggs, and sell them at ambient temperature. Washing eggs destroys the natural barrier on the shell, allowing bacteria to enter them. Chalk it up to the fact we North Americans seem to like our food looking pretty, even at the expense of common sense.
"...break the skin of civilization, and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed."

Offline Mesophilic

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Re: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2020, 06:31:59 am »
Something to consider if the idea of raw eggs is unappealing, sugar can and will chemically cook foods.  I prefer an Italian merengue myself as it's the most sbable of the group,  and adding the hot sugar will give you a safety margin.

I've had salmonella a couple of times and it's no joke.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2020, 08:46:04 am »
You can buy pasteurized eggs in a carton like what cream comes in, maybe called "egg beaters".
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline BoisBrule

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Re: Pie recipes that call for uncooked eggs!!!
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2020, 03:14:13 pm »
If the egg whites are a real concern for people... "aquafaba" is an alternative worth exploring. It's... wait for it... whipped chickpea water (use unsalted canned chickpeas). it works. It sounds weird, but it works.

"...break the skin of civilization, and you find the ape, roaring and red-handed."