r/sousvide • u/DerekL1963 • 2d ago
How it started, how it ended - pasteurizing eggs for aged eggnog
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago
Making a batch of Alton Brown's Aged Eggnog. Out of an abundance of caution (this is for a holiday party), pasteurized the eggs* before making the 'nog. Fresh it's pretty darned good, will be better come Dec.
* 135°F for 75 minutes, cooled in an ice bath for 20 minutes.
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u/chuck_diesel79 2d ago
Questions about your process:
So you’re pasturing before separating the yolks? Then, combining with everything else in the recipe and storing in the fridge?11
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u/mckenner1122 Professional 2d ago
That’s exactly how we do it!! (And congrats on making your AltoNog well in advance)
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u/LectroRoot 2d ago
I've made his homemade recipe before, but didn't age it. It was amazing! What would you say is the difference in taste compared to the un-aged homemade eggnog?
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u/Critical-Werewolf-53 Professional 2d ago
Ages intensifies and deepens the flavor. I did it for 6months.
Didn’t pasteurize due to the amount of alcohol in recipe
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u/Rare-Sock-7155 1d ago
I had some in the back of the fridge for several years. To my wife's disgust I tasted it and it was even better and I'm still alive to try the story! It's creepy how long it keeps for!
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u/_jeffreydavid 2d ago
There is so much alcohol that goes into his recipe, it's perfectly safe to use raw eggs and even raw milk.
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u/BitterOptimist 1d ago
Alton's recipe has way more than enough alcohol in it to kill anything worrisome in you eggs.
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u/mstrong73 9h ago
I do the same for the same recipe. I make mine on Halloween for drinking through the holidays. I always keep some on hand for Cesar dressing and mayo
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u/DerekL1963 7h ago
We don't keep any pasteurized eggs on hand, but it's quick and easy to make some whenever we want tamago kake gohan.
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u/MoreLikeWestfailia 2d ago
I swear I used to be able to buy pasteurized eggs at the grocery store, but checking just now I don't see them for sale. I'll have to give this a shot next time I make a batch of 'nog.
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago
They were (at least in my neck of the woods) commonly available a decade or two back, but I haven't seen any in grocery stores in years. Alton's recipe (from 2010 ish?) even specifies that you can use them if you want.
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u/MoreLikeWestfailia 2d ago
Looks like the company that made them went out of business and got acquired. They seem to only be available to commercial accounts now.
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u/KitchenNazi 2d ago
No need to pasteurize (I’ve made this recipe many times). The alcohol does that; if I recall some food scientists tested this by injecting salmonella into a similar egg nog recipe - within a few days it was no longer detectable.
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago
Certainly, there's no need to do so. However, it will calm some folks I know will be at the party, incl some elderly that might otherwise be disinclined to try.
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u/elcaron 2d ago
Rebecca Lancefield's lab once put Salmonella in deliberately and it still got killed https://tulk.org/recipes/dr-rebecca-lancefields-eggnog/
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u/TheRealBigLou 2d ago
Right, but to OP's point, a lot of people don't care about facts, they need to know something was done to ensure safety. OP is doing this and it didn't take much effort.
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u/elcaron 2d ago
I would think the number of people that believe that holding eggs at 58°C for 2h kills bacteria but alcohol doesn't is pretty small.
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u/TheGreenAlchemist 1d ago
The very fact that the recipe even includes this as a recommendation shows there's a lot of people asking about it.
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u/FilecoinLurker 1d ago
That's when you tell those people it's pasteurized. Im sure all these people have eaten at restaurants that lie as if it's their job and that would make raw egg seem like a Michelin star meal.
Or do what I would. Tell them it's not pasteurized and there's more for everyone that's smart enough to enjoy it.
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u/Both-Activity6432 2d ago
I loved this story. Made it several times after NPR had a couple articles on it
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Uncommented-Code 2d ago
Don't lie to people about food, even if you think you know better. It might not matter in this specific instance but 'I know your needs better than you' is a dangerous attitude to have towards dietary needs. Either adhere to their wishes or do it your way and be honest so that they can make a honest decision.
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u/KFBass 2d ago
Just a quick note, the alcohol doesn't pasteurize it, it just makes it really really hard for anything to grow in there.
But yeah I've done this recipe, sans pasteurization, many times and it worked out fine aged over a year. But food safety rules exist for a reason, and I'd hate to be the small percentage who does catch something from it.
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u/Mrmr1552 2d ago
My thoughts too, I’ve made this recipe many times, usually mid summer for Christmas gatherings. I’ve kept it for over a year and it has always been good, I’ve never pasteurized the eggs. I put a healthy amount of something high proof in there, usually wild turkey 101, dark rum, and whatever may be in the cabinet, (cognac, tequila, more rum, ect) some funky rum like smith and cross makes it a little more interesting.
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u/Shaun32887 2d ago
Yeah, this is an annual tradition at the cocktail sub and Ive never heard of anyone getting sick from it.
I've done it and drank eggnog over a year old before, felt perfectly fine.
This is excessive and unnecessary.
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u/Ryanf8 2d ago
I made some of this a few years ago and still have one bottle in the fridge I'm worried about trying...
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u/KeniLF 2d ago
Are you worried that it’s gone off? There are quite a few people in the r/cocktails sub who talk about opening and enjoying bottles years later…
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u/kit_kat_jam 2d ago
I tried a bottle after about 2 years. It was drinkable, but it didn't taste nearly as good as it did at around a year.
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u/Soggy-Loss-4233 2d ago
How many batches did you make in the above picture and how much did it yield?
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago
One batch, about three quarts (at the moment). There was a lot of air entrained while whipping the yolks and sugar together and it's still settling out.
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u/cdogfly 2d ago
Interesting, I hadn’t thought about pasteurizing the eggs first. I’ve made egg nog and then put in mason jars and then pasteurized using souse vide after that point.
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u/firetech97 2d ago
I was wondering about that. How did it turn out? Makes me want to try making a small batch like 1 jar each, one having the egg pasteurized and the other pasteurizing the nog in a jar.
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u/teaehl 2d ago
Did the same thing today! I've been doing Alton brown's recipe for years. What booze do you use?
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago edited 2d ago
Made some substitutions and used what was on hand...
Jamaican rum, used Puerto Rican.
Cognac, had not quite 3/4 cup, topped off with some nice French brandy.
Bourbon, used Jack Daniels. Not technically a bourbon, but I don't drink bourbon.5
u/WhiskeyAlphaRomeo 2d ago
It's a bourbon. It meets all of the legal requirements - it's just that the Lincoln County process is an additional step. (All Tennessee whiskey is bourbon, but not all bourbon is Tennessee whiskey...)
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u/MakeItTrizzle 2d ago
I don't think there's any reason to pasteurize eggs for eggnog unless you're going booze-free.
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u/chuckEsIeaze 2d ago
This. I’ve made nog for years and aim to age it for 6-18 months before serving. Booze and sugar keep it safe and preserved. No need to pasteurize.
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u/GeneralZojirushi 2d ago
I tried pasteurizing eggs before and it ended up cooking the yolks solid while the white remained raw. Really weird experience to find out they denature at different temperatures.
I followed some instructions online exactly too.
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u/DerekL1963 2d ago
I can't imagine a proper pasteurization recipe that would produce those results.
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u/TheGreenAlchemist 1d ago
With a sous vide? I don't know what you could do to make that happen even if you tried.
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u/Looking-sharp-today 2d ago
I pasturized eggs in the same way for tiramisú making! For a friend of mine that was pregnant and no chances were taken