Are Eggs safe in Hollandaise?!
Answers: Thanks to all those who answered my last question about making this sauce. I now would like to know your opinions on the question of how safe it is to use eggs that are barely cooked, or are there any guidelines as to how to be sure your eggs are cooked well enough. For example - what temperature do they need to reach and for how long to be sure of killing any dangerous bacteria? As far as I am aware eggs are considered to be unsafe to eat in their raw state
If prepared properly, which is briskly whisking over a double boiler, until it reaches 149°F, it will be safe. Bringing the yolks to this temp actually pasturizes them and killing any bacteria that may be present. Because they are being whisked over a double boiler, they are being cooked so they arent raw, even though they remain liquid. Also, lemon juice is usually present, helping to kill any bacteria as well. Since the butter has to be clarified, and warm when adding it to the yolks, it also should be at 149°F to ensure not only a good strong emulsion, but to also kill any bacteria. Hope this helps.
You're right, raw eggs are unsafe to eat. To get around that, you could use pasturized eggs or egg product (egg beaters) which is made from real eggs, but treated to kill any bacteria that may be present. Alternatively, if you use regular raw eggs, be sure to cook them to an internal temperature of 145 degrees or more before eating them to kill any bacteria. However, I'd venture to guess that if you cook them to this temperature, you'd wind up with scrambled eggs and not hollandaise sauce. So your best bet is to use pastureized eggs!
Actually, even though I love that sauce and I make it once in a while; my wife loves eggs Benedict, the use of the raw egg is not safe.
You can take some precautions, like:
- use the freshest eggs you can find
- make sure the eggs are at their coldest and not room temperature
- if you can find pasteurized eggs, use them instead of an egg substitute that has been pasteurized.
Since you are cooking the sauce in a double boiler they should be cooked just make sure you have the sauce be heated to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Over 140 will kill most germs.
Today I'm not too concerned with getting sick on raw eggs. This doesn't seem to be as large of an issue as it was 50 years ago. I'm not going to go around eating raw eggs or anything, but I think a little hollandaise every now and then is fine.