"kilikini" > wrote:
> Well, now that we're onto the subject of broken eggs, I've always wondered
> if a cracked, uncooked egg is safe to eat? I check the cartons when I
> purchase the eggs, but sometimes you get an egg that's kind of stuck to
> the
> bottom of the carton because of a hairline crack in the shell. You don't
> see it because it's not obvious when you buy the eggs. Is *that* egg safe
> to eat?

I always check for signs of cracked shells, but sometimes I miss them, or
they get cracked on the way home.

I guess how one approaches this depends on how many uses one has for eggs.
Since I use them for lots of different things, I can always find a use for
them.

Cracked or older eggs get used for glazing the tops of loaves of bread, and
to help the seeds stick on the crust. They might also be used in other
baking where the eggs get thoroughly cooked. I don' use them just to eat by
themselves.

I also tend to use the freshest, most pristine eggs for things that aren't
cooked thoroughly, if cooked at all. Things like soft boiled eggs, or eggs
fried sunny side up where I want a thick, high standing white.

Yesterday I made tapioca cream pudding with very fresh eggs. The cookbook
(Settlement) with the recipe I use is rather inconsistent on warnings about
eggs. The egg section is rather stern in its warnings on raw or lightly
cooked eggs. But over in the desserts section, there is no mention at all of
a safety problem in the tapioca cream pudding recipe. The milk, tapioca, egg
yolks, sugar, and salt are cooked fairly well. But the egg whites are beaten
into stiff peaks and folded into the cool tapioca mixture. So the egg whites
are raw in the finished dish. I know this is a potential problem, but
personally I've never gotten sick from it in years of making it. But I would
never serve this to someone with a weakened immune system. The risk is low
but not worth taking. I also would not make this with cracked or older eggs.

--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )