Is adding a hot sugar syrup (boiled to 257 F) to egg mixture enough to kill salmonella and other bacteria?

HalfPint added 8 months ago

Yes, because most those bacteria are killed at 160F. So hot sugar syrup at 257F is hot enough.

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ChefOno added 8 months ago

Voted the Best Answer!

Not necessarily. It would depend on the mass of the egg mixture and the mass of the syrup. A tiny bit of hot syrup won't bring a large amount of egg mixture up to the pasteurization point. Use a digital thermometer to be certain.

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Consider a ratio for Italian meringue, 8oz of egg whites to 16oz of cooked sugar that is cooked to soft ball / 245f.

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ChefOno added 8 months ago

If I remember my thermodynamics correctly, the above works out to 185F and, for comparison purposes, a classic buttercream from Joy came out to 187F. But those calculations don't take into account inefficiencies due to heat loss from streaming the syrup into the egg mixture and via the mixing bowl, the mass and thermal conductivity of which are likely significant.

Mental gymnastics are fun but salmonella isn't. My guess is, real world, the mixture would not be pasteurized. That's backed up by Joy now recommending cooking buttercreams to 160F before beating in the butter.

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QueenSashy added 8 months ago

ChefOno you never cease to impress me.

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Salmonela is eliminated at 170, but if you use pasturized eggs, you don't need to worry about it at all!

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ChefOno added 8 months ago

Pasteurization only takes about 7 seconds at 160F -- the question is, how are you going to get the eggs up to that temperature? The most reliable method is over a water bath (aka double boiler).

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