# Raw Egg in Tiramisu



## tomgreg2002 (Oct 18, 2007)

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..?


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## Uncle Bob (Oct 18, 2007)

My thoughts are....cook the eggs in a double boiler, and use cream instead of the egg whites....Hope this helps!

Enjoy!


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## Andy M. (Oct 18, 2007)

Buy pasteurized eggs.


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## Chefellas (Oct 18, 2007)

How about powdered yolks and whites. I really doubt they contain salmonella after reconstituting.


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## ChefJune (Oct 18, 2007)

Andy M. said:


> Buy pasteurized eggs.


what Andy said... if you're compulsive about raw egg.


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## Uncle Bob (Oct 18, 2007)

Andy M. said:


> Buy pasteurized eggs.


 

Perfect example of, "one is never too old to learn" Thanks Andy!!

You da Man!!!


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## Andy M. (Oct 18, 2007)

Thank, Bob.  It comes from hanging around here for years.


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## Caine (Oct 18, 2007)

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.


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## Andy M. (Oct 18, 2007)

Caine said:


> 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.


 


...or tomorrow.


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## kitchenelf (Oct 18, 2007)

Yep - I buy pasteurized eggs too.  I make a lot of Caesar salad dressing and such and it's not the 20,000th egg that's the problem - it's the ONE in 20,000 that you have no clue when it will come.


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## GB (Oct 18, 2007)

Caine said:


> 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.


Try asking anyone who has gotten salmonella from a raw egg if that statistic means anything to them


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## Caine (Oct 18, 2007)

GB said:


> Try asking anyone who has gotten salmonella from a raw egg if that statistic means anything to them


 
I would love to, except I have never known anyone who got salmonella from eating raw egg. I have never even *HEARD* of a *CONFIRMED* incident of anyone getting salmonella from eating raw egg. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Come to think of it, the only Sal Manella I have ever been acquainted with was a thrid baseman for the 1976 Mets.


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## GB (Oct 18, 2007)

Here ya go Caine.


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## GB (Oct 18, 2007)

Here is another.


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## Caine (Oct 18, 2007)

GB said:


> Here ya go Caine.


 
Oh, for crying out loud! That's in the UK. They have mad cow disease there too. Is everyone, all over the world, supposed to stop eating beef because of it? 

BTW, if you read the article, they said the reduction in salmonella cases was from inoculating the chickens, not cooking the eggs.


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## Caine (Oct 18, 2007)

GB said:


> Here is another.


 
And THAT one is from Australia, which is practically another planet!

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


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## GB (Oct 18, 2007)

I did read the article. I was responding to you saying you had never heard of a confirmed incident of anyone getting salmonella from egg. That article clearly shows it happens and thus you have now heard of it.

What does the fact that the article is in the UK or they have mad cow disease there have anything at all to do with the fact that people can get salmonella from uncooked eggs? I don't care if the article came from Timbuktu. That does not change the fact that you can get very sick from eating raw egg.


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## Caine (Oct 18, 2007)

GB said:


> I did read the article. I was responding to you saying you had never heard of a confirmed incident of anyone getting salmonella from egg. That article clearly shows it happens and thus you have now heard of it.
> 
> What does the fact that the article is in the UK or they have mad cow disease there have anything at all to do with the fact that people can get salmonella from uncooked eggs? I don't care if the article came from Timbuktu. That does not change the fact that you can get very sick from eating raw egg.


 
I just read both articles, and neither article confirms any incidence of salmonella being contracted by anybody from eating raw egg.

*From the Brit article:* _We believe we are seeing a real success story here. There has been a sustained drop in human Salmonella cases since 1997. We *believe* that this __reflects a corresponding fall in the levels of Salmonella in eggs. We now need independent scientific *confirmation* that the prevalence of Salmonella in eggs has indeed reduced._

_*From the Aussie article:* Five elderly Victorians died and several others became ill after a salmonella outbreak at the Broughton Hall nursing home in Camberwell over Easter. *The source of that bug remains unknown*, although department officials believe it almost certainly came from food prepared in the home's kitchen. Ms Lester said there was *no evidence that eggs produced in Victoria were unsafe*. _


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## GB (Oct 18, 2007)

Well Caine, you can think what you want. I just know that I will continue to practice what are known to be safe food handling and preparing methods. I don't if one in 20,000 eggs are bad. Like KE said, I do not want to be that one. That is enough for me. If you want to roll the dice with your own life then feel free to do so.


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## TATTRAT (Oct 18, 2007)

Just cook the egg, sugar mixture over a double boiler, like a sabayon, and then add the cheese. Makes it nice and "custardy".


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## VeraBlue (Oct 18, 2007)

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.


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 18, 2007)

Caine said:
			
		

> 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


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## Katie H (Oct 18, 2007)

tomgreg2002 said:


> 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.


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## kitchenelf (Oct 19, 2007)

Katie E said:


> 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.


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## *amy* (Oct 19, 2007)

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?)


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## qmax (Oct 20, 2007)

Caine said:


> 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.


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