Hi,

I see some recipes (key lime pie for example) that include egg but
don't require cooking because the acid will 'cook' the egg. Are there
any rules or guidelines about how much acid is required to safely cook
the eggs and eliminate any danger of salmonella?

"Steve" wrote in message
om...

I see some recipes (key lime pie for example) that
include egg but don't require cooking because the
acid will 'cook' the egg. Are there any rules or
guidelines about how much acid is required to safely
cook the eggs and eliminate any danger of salmonella?

While citrus juice (lemon or lime) is used to "cook" (change the
texture of) seafood/shellfish in dishes such as cevice, I don't think
it's quite the same thing with eggs (for example, if your proposition
were true, no one would get salmonella from homemade mayonnaise [lemon
or vinegar being the acid in that case]). In his book "On Food and
Cooking," Harold McGee mentions acid (in the form of cream of tartar)
as a stabilizer for whipped egg whites, but makes no mention of acid
as a means to "cook" the egg.

The best rule of thumb: if you're very young, very old, pregnant or
otherwise potentially immune compromised, don't eat raw eggs (among
other things), and very simply don't eat raw eggs unless you're
reasonably sure of your egg source. And that includes raw eggs in key
lime pie.

-j

My interest was peaked when I saw a a piece on a NY baker who makes
key lime pies without cooking the filling at all Any comercial food
manufacturer will have alot of people waiting in line to sue them if
they even think they got salmonella from their product, there must be
a point at which this is safe. I was just curious if anyone knew the
answer.

(Steve) wrote in message . com...
Hi,

I see some recipes (key lime pie for example) that include egg but
don't require cooking because the acid will 'cook' the egg. Are there
any rules or guidelines about how much acid is required to safely cook
the eggs and eliminate any danger of salmonella

Chefs and others can use pasteurized eggs - no danger of salmonella.
I wouldn't trust an "acid" to "cook" the egg, but I suppose it's
possible.

N.

Nancy Dooley wrote:

(Steve) wrote

I see some recipes (key lime pie for example) that include egg but
don't require cooking because the acid will 'cook' the egg. Are there
any rules or guidelines about how much acid is required to safely cook
the eggs and eliminate any danger of salmonella

Chefs and others can use pasteurized eggs - no danger of salmonella.
I wouldn't trust an "acid" to "cook" the egg, but I suppose it's
possible.

Not only possible, but it does. Commercial mayonnaise isn't cooked or
otherwise processed for sterilization. It's just naturally
room-temperature stable if made properly.

The pH of the vinegar and/or lemon juice eliminates any hazard. They
now use pasteurized eggs, but it wasn't always done that way. After
the mayo is made, it has to stand for 72 hours before shipping for the
acid to do its work.

The reason they say to refrigerate after opening is because of what
contaminants we might introduce with our knives and spatulas.

Pastorio

Steve wrote:

My interest was peaked when I saw a a piece on a NY baker who makes
key lime pies without cooking the filling at all Any comercial food
manufacturer will have alot of people waiting in line to sue them if
they even think they got salmonella from their product, there must be
a point at which this is safe. I was just curious if anyone knew the
answer.

Traditional Key lime pies aren't baked. Used to be that all the
ingredients were separate. Now we use sweetened condensed milk.

The combination of the highly acidic juice and the sugar is
bacteriostatic. The thickening happens because of the denaturing of
the protein.

Here's a key lime pie we used to serve in our restaurants. We used
real Key limes - little yellow ones - but the green ones will work
fine, as well.

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham crackers, crushed
1 stick butter (4 ounces)
Heat oven to 350F. Make a graham cracker crust with crushed crackers
and butter. Press into pie pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (2 or 3 green limes)
3 tablespoons tequila
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together all filling ingredients and let rest for about 5
minutes to thicken. Pour into pie shell and chill for at least 2 hours.

Garnish:
whipped cream (with a dash of lemon oil added)
grated lime zest

Pastorio

And this works, it really does thicken? I've known eggs to thicken when
added to orange juice, but I didn't realize milk did too.

--Lia



Here's a key lime pie we used to serve in our restaurants. We used real
Key limes - little yellow ones - but the green ones will work fine, as
well.

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham crackers, crushed
1 stick butter (4 ounces)
Heat oven to 350F. Make a graham cracker crust with crushed crackers and
butter. Press into pie pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (2 or 3 green limes)
3 tablespoons tequila
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together all filling ingredients and let rest for about 5 minutes
to thicken. Pour into pie shell and chill for at least 2 hours.

Garnish:
whipped cream (with a dash of lemon oil added)
grated lime zest

Pastorio

Julia Altshuler wrote:

And this works, it really does thicken? I've known eggs to thicken when
added to orange juice, but I didn't realize milk did too.

Essentially the same mechanism.

It works well enough for us to have sold maybe a half-dozen of them
every day. Milk curdles. The protein is forming funny molecular
strands. If there's a lot of sugar (and/or any of several other
diluents to keep them separated) the strands don't clump very much.
The net effect is that the whole things thickens rather than forming
little bits of protein in a sea of liquid - curds and whey.

Add a bit of heavy cream to raw eggs and whisk. A different kind of
thickening. A nuisance when trying to make French toast. So I add a
splash of marsala wine and it smooths out.

Pastorio

Here's a key lime pie we used to serve in our restaurants. We used
real Key limes - little yellow ones - but the green ones will work
fine, as well.

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham crackers, crushed
1 stick butter (4 ounces)
Heat oven to 350F. Make a graham cracker crust with crushed crackers
and butter. Press into pie pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (2 or 3 green limes)
3 tablespoons tequila
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together all filling ingredients and let rest for about 5
minutes to thicken. Pour into pie shell and chill for at least 2 hours.

Garnish:
whipped cream (with a dash of lemon oil added)
grated lime zest

Pastorio