1

I recently tried pasteurising eggs at 57C for 90 minutes, gently adding them directly to the water with a silicone spoon. When finished, I discovered three out of the six had cracked.

Ideally, I want to store them in their shells in their original box, is there any way of preventing them cracking during this process?

If I do remove the pasteurised eggs from their shells, how long can I keep them if I vacuum seal them and store them in the fridge?

Greybeard
  • 5,916
  • 1
  • 25
  • 63
  • I don’t know if it would help, but there’s an air pocket in one end of the egg. I’ve seen advice for hard boiling to make a small hole in the shell to let the egg expand to fill the full shell. – Joe Feb 13 '23 at 03:09
  • "pasteurising eggs at 57C for 90 minutes" -- I'm sorry, but what is the purpose of this endeavour? Is this something US specific? As a European, I just find it mighty puzzling. – Dan Mašek Feb 13 '23 at 04:09
  • 2
    @DanMašek sous vide to pasteurize eggs is used as a safety step, often for people with compromised immune systems...or if there is concern for children...or a pregnancy. In the US we have to be concerned with salmonella. Sous vide at 57 degrees pasteurizes the eggs, but leaves them looking and behaving close to their raw state. – moscafj Feb 13 '23 at 11:21
  • Do you put them in the water bath when both the eggs and water are at similar temperatures? – moscafj Feb 13 '23 at 11:22
  • 1
    @DanMašek it depends on the area, but it’s certainly not US-specific: salmonella is endemic in much of Europe (at least, Eastern Europe). – Sneftel Feb 13 '23 at 14:39
  • See the suggestions in https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/909, and the explanations in https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/63296. There is also https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/13902, which mentions the cracking problem, but the answers don't address it. Also, you may simply try lower times and temperatures - see https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/97646. – rumtscho Feb 13 '23 at 15:04
  • @moscafj I placed them in the bath when it was up to temperature. They were at room temperature before that as I don't keep my eggs in the refrigerator. – Greybeard Feb 13 '23 at 16:39

2 Answers2

3

Try placing them in the water bath when the water is at a similar temperature as your eggs, then heating them together.

moscafj
  • 74,945
  • 3
  • 124
  • 214
0

I cooked several batches of sous vide eggs and they never cracked. Until one day they did, and I had a little egg soup going twirling around my circulator.

I usually put them in straight from the fridge, when the water is already warm and had it break only that once. As moscafj said, safer to heat them together with the water.

Still, another safety precaution I do now is to add the eggs in a plastic bag - at least if it breaks it doesn't ruin my circulator and the mess is contained. I add some water in the bag to better distribute the heat and prevents the eggs from bumping around, which helps avoiding breakage.

Luciano
  • 4,833
  • 2
  • 21
  • 40