Do not use chilled eggs for this procedure. The egg yolks need to reach a temperature of 59 degrees Celsius (138 degrees Fahrenheit) before potential bacteria will die, but cold eggs may not warm up sufficiently during the limited amount of time they can spend in the warm water used for pasteurizing. [2] X Research source Room temperature eggs, on the other hand, have a better chance.
If necessary, add more water to the saucepan after placing the eggs inside. The eggs should be covered by about 2. 5 cm (1 inch) of water. Attach an instant-read thermometer to the side of the pan. Make sure that the tip of the thermometer rests underneath the water so that it can read the temperature of the water throughout the process. You will need to monitor the temperature very closely. Note that any instant-read thermometer will work, but a digital thermometer is probably your best bet since it allows you to read temperature fluctuations more precisely.
Ideally, you should not allow the temperature of the water to rise above 61 degrees Celsius (142 degrees Fahrenheit) during any point of the process. At higher temperatures, the consistency and properties of the egg could be altered. You may end up cooking the eggs slightly without even realizing it. [4] X Research source In a pinch, however, you might be able to allow the temperature to rise as high as 65 degrees Celsius (150 degrees Fahrenheit) without seeing significant changes in the quality of the raw egg. In particular, if you are not using a thermometer, you will need to watch the water and wait for bubbles to form on the bottom of the pan. When that happens, the temperature of the water will be about 65 degrees Celsius (150 degrees Fahrenheit). While this temperature is a little higher than the ideal, it can still work well enough. [5] X Research source
Since the temperature of the water should never rise above 61 degrees Celsius (142 degrees Fahrenheit), you will need to continually monitor the temperature during this process. Adjust the temperature settings on your stove as needed to accomplish this task. If you allowed the temperature of the water to rise to 65 degrees Celsius (150 degrees Fahrenheit) or if you are pasteurizing your eggs without the use of a thermometer, you should remove the pan from the heat source before allowing the eggs to sit in the hot water for three to five minutes.
Alternatively, you could place the eggs in a bowl of ice water instead of rinsing them under cool, running water. Running water is preferable since sitting water is more likely to develop bacteria, but either option will technically work. Rinsing the eggs with cold water quickly drops the internal temperature of the egg, thereby preventing that temperature from continuing to rise or cook the egg.
The use of room temperature eggs is not quite as important with this method since the egg white and/or yolk will be exposed to the heat more directly, but room temperature eggs are still slightly preferable with this method than cold eggs.
Continue on with the following step as you wait for the water to heat up. You will also need a second stainless steel bowl that fits comfortably inside this large saucepan of water. The sides of your bowl need to be tall enough to prevent water from the outer pan from splashing inside. Do not place this bowl inside the water just yet, however.
With this method, you can pasteurize both the egg white and egg yolk at the same time. If you only need the yolk or the white, though, you can separate the eggs before dropping the portion you need into the bowl. [6] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U. S. National Institutes of Health Go to source Discard the unneeded portion by dumping it down the drain of your kitchen sink.
You can use any liquid called for within the recipe, including water, lemon juice, milk, or flavorings. Make sure that you do not add both lemon juice and milk at the same time, though, since the lemon juice (or any acidic liquid, for that matter) will cause the milk to curdle. Curdled milk can ruin the eggs by making them lumpy.
This method uses a double boiler technique to heat and pasteurize the eggs indirectly. You could technically heat the eggs directly by skipping the extra saucepan of water, but doing so increases the risk of accidentally cooking the eggs instead of pasteurizing them. If you do heat the eggs directly, though, make sure that you use the lowest heat setting possible on your stove. [7] X Research source
The constant movement distributes the heat evenly throughout the egg mixture, thereby preventing the egg from cooking in any particular spot or from remaining partially unpasteurized.
