Raw Egg in Tiramisu

[VeraBlue]

Hmm....interesting question. I'm a stickler for food handling, holding and cooking and cooling temperatures, safe time zones, etc...

But, I will use the occasional raw egg or two if a recipe calls for it. Based on what I was taught, there is enough booze in the tiramisu to let you off the hook. I look at raw eggs like I look at sushi. Get them from a reputable dealer, use them immediately for best freshness and keep the finished product refrigerated at all times.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Show me an Okie from Muskogee who got salmonella from eating a contaminated egg!

Let me see if I understand you correctly - you want an example from a region of the country that is among areas with the lowest incidences of salmonella contaminated eggs in the country?

The most prevalent sources of salmonella contaminated eggs in the US is in the North Eastern Atlantic states ... then decreasing in frequency south down the Atlantic coast. Heck, that information has been known for so long it was in the old 1970's edition of Joy of Cooking - and mentioned by Shirley Corriher in Cookwise if I remember correctly!

Well, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) actually keeps records of reported cases {I limited my search to "salmonella in eggs" so we wouldn't be picking up other sources} if you care to read some you will also find they don't have to be totally raw. If you don't want to wade through all 1320 articles they list - at least try the first one ... Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Update: Salmonella enteritidis Infections and Grade A Shell Eggs -- United States, 1989

 

[Katie H]

Hello folks. I am thinking about making some Tiramisu for my girlfriend but I am a bit worried about using raw eggs. Should I be? I have heard
it is better when eggs are used and I want to be a purist, but I don't
want to give her salmonella. Any thoughts..?

How about just using egg substitute instead? Problem solved.

 

[kitchenelf]

How about just using egg substitute instead? Problem solved.

Dang Katie - how soon we forget!!!! I do use egg substitute without ANY problem now that I think of it! I made a huge amount of Caesar salad dressing for an "older" crowd and that's exactly what I used - thanks for the reminder. It is excellent advice.

 

[*amy*]

Or, you can make it without eggs:

Cooking For Engineers - Recipe File: Simple Tiramisu

Or, use a double boiler, as mentioned:

Cooking For Engineers - Test Recipes: The Classic Tiramisu (original recipe?)

 

[qmax]

Your chances of getting salmonella from raw eggs are something in the neighborhood of 1 in 20,000! That means that, as an average egg consumer, you MIGHT encouter an egg with salmonella bacteria once in 84 years.

Yeah, unless you have a reason to particularly fear it (compomised immune system, old, etc) I wouldn't worry about it.