Hello! I am so confused about what type of egg whites to use for SMBC. This will be my first attempt at it. The eggs at TJ's here in the U.S. That I bought say FARM FRESH on the carton. I thought we were to use UN Pastuerized eggs since heating them to 160 degrees would take care of that. I'm being told that ALL eggs sold in stores in the U.S. have to be Pastuerized before hitting the stores. The cartons do not say Pastuerized - only the cartons of egg whites only state that. Where do I buy unpasteurized eggs and is it really necessary for SMBC? Thanks!
Unless they say pasteurized, they are not. You can use either to make smbc because you have to get the egg whites hot enough to melt the sugar which is hot enough to pasteurize the eggs.
Personally, I've used regular eggs and I've used the pasteurized egg whites in cartons and both worked fine. I believe you can get whole eggs that are pasteurized but it will specifically say that on the carton.
hth :)
Not all eggs are pasteurized unless labelled as such. Yes you heat the egg whites to 160°F to make them safe. You can use carton eggs which are already pasteurized and heat them until the sugar is melted, but they do take longer to whip to firm peaks.
Thanks Jinkies and Pastrybaglady for your replies. Ok...so I'm probably confusing myself, but if the dozen eggs do no say PASTUERIZED on the carton then they are not?? The guy at Trader Joe's (this is why I think I'm confused) said ALL eggs are pastuerized by ultra violet light before going to market, but not one carton stated PASTUERIZED on them. Only the pint size containers of egg whites. So I think the conflict in my head is that he stated they are, but the cartons aren't labeled as such. So either way then is fine? I will have to heat them to 160 regardless to melt the sugar.
Sorry, but the Trader Joe's guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Eggs may go through the UV light to kill the bacteria on the outside of the shell. Pasteurization only takes place with heating the egg.
They may be treated with UV light... but that does not pasteurize them... it just treats the outside of the egg (i.e. the shell) with UV light potentially lessening the bacteria on the outside...
Pasteurization (named after Pasteur who came up with it) involves heating to a certain temperature to reduce the amount of bacteria to prevent spoilage... it does not eliminate it entirely... that would be sterilization...
The Trader Joe's guy is the classic example of how a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. If you go back and see him walking around you may wantto set him straight. He could be making people sick with his half-baked information. Ha, see what I did there?
Thank you for clarifying that Pastrybaglady and AAtKT!! I get it now. LOL I will definitely tell him when I see him. It was funny a group ended up around the eggs as we were discussing this issue and all the female employees said they would love to have some information because no one really knew. Then came along Mr. Know-It-All (I guess) and gave me his explanation as to why they are all pastuerized (uv light treatment.) I will actually try to find something to print off to bring to him and the other employees who really wanted to know.
I have recently began using this SMB recipe that works beautifully with pasteurized carton egg whites. The best part about it is that you don't even have to build the meringue to get the same gorgeous smooth Swiss meringue buttercream
http://thecakeblog.com/2014/06/no-meringue-swiss-buttercream-recipe.html
Looks good! I'll give this one a go today. Thanks mccantsbakes.
mccants -- wow i love that method, never heard of it before -- i make fruit curds that way in the micro -- thank you! it seems so much less hassle to do it this new (to me) way in the microzapper -- very cool
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