Egg Safety

[sear]

eggs, in regards to properly cooking.

is the white the only part that needs to be cooked to be safe? ... how come not the yolk ? or are both really supposed to be cooked ?
is the yolk safer then the white ?

 

[Andy M.]

The entire egg must be cooked to the safe level. That means the yolk and the white must be solid.

Most people ignore that.

 

[babetoo]

i know i certainly ignore it. who wants a solid yolk in a fried egg.

 

[msmofet]

breakfast has to be dippers or scrambled. hard boiled are for easter, deviled or salad.

 

[CookLikeJulia]

Have you ever noticed when you go to restaurants that serve eggs, there is always an asterisk next to it and then it says. Consuming raw eggs is dangerous

 

[Andy M.]

Have you ever noticed when you go to restaurants that serve eggs, there is always an asterisk next to it and then it says. Consuming raw eggs is dangerous

Yeah, same for meats. That's a CYA statement required by lawyers.

 

[Bigjim68]

Several sauces, particularly Hollandaise, bearnaise, and and mayonnaise, are made with raw egg yolks. I make them often, and have wondered just how safe they are.

 

[powerplantop]

I ate this a few days ago. I am still alive, however past performance is not indicative of future results.

 

[msmofet]

I ate this a few days ago. I am still alive, however past performance is not indicative of future results.

while that looks absolutely beautiful i wouldn't be able to eat raw meat and eggs. i don't think i could get past the raw texture and thoughts of ecoli and salmonella. that being said i do like a REAL Caesar salad dressing using a raw egg which is hidden in the other ingredients.

 

[mozart]

The entire egg must be cooked to the safe level. That means the yolk and the white must be solid.

Most people ignore that.

While this is the definitive "safe" egg prep method, like all things in life, there are degrees of safe and degrees of risk.

Based on what I know, and based on the fact that if uncooked yokes had significant risk based on actual cases of illness, health departments would prohibit the serving of uncooked egg yokes, I feel pretty good about eating "over easy" eggs at home.

Here are some facts on egg safety:

Incredible Edible Egg | Eggs - eggs & food safety

 

[luvs]

they sell pasteurized yolks, & eggs can be coddled before prepping ceaser salads.

 

[luvs]

& uncooked beef is kinda delicious, carpaccio.....

 

[FrankZ]

I think in general people far over cook their food. Some places it is worse than others. When I was traveling to England on a regular basis for work the office had a canteen that had eggs in the morning. They fried them (in bacon grease I think) then put them into a toaster oven until they were dry egg looking things. One morning I caught them just as they were taking the eggs out of the pan and asked for them. I was told they weren't done yet, but I convinced them that they were fine. Best eggs I had in England (and not cooked into submission).

I like 'em over easy.

 

[sparrowgrass]

From the Incredible Eggs website:

"The inside of an egg was once considered almost sterile. But, over recent years, the bacterium Salmonella enteritidis (Se) has been found inside a small number of eggs. Scientists estimate that, on average across the U.S., only 1 of every 20,000 eggs might contain the bacteria. So, the likelihood that an egg might contain Se is extremely small – 0.005% (five one-thousandths of one percent). At this rate, if you’re an average consumer, you might encounter a contaminated egg once every 84 years."

You are in a lot more danger getting into the car and running to the store to pick up the eggs than you are from eating the eggs raw. If I was cooking for immune compromised folks or very old or very young people, I would cook the eggs thoroughly--otherwise, no.