How to Pasteurize Eggs Sous Vide (Step by Step Directions)

A step-by-step guide to how to pasteurize eggs sous vide at home. It’s safe and way easier than you think.

Some of the most delectable recipes on the planet use an ingredient that can lead to your worst health nightmare: raw egg. In this article, we’ll explore the safe and cost-effective way to incorporate raw eggs into your cooking.

Raw Eggs in Cooking

Raw egg yolk or raw egg whites are vital for creating the texture and richness of some dishes that are cooked only lightly or not cooked at all. Raw egg forms the velvety texture of tiramisu, meringue, and buttercream icing, the creamy richness of aioli, Caesar salad dressing, homemade mayonnaise, and hollandaise sauce. It also creates award-winning froth on cocktails.

However, raw egg yolks are also a hotspot for harmful pathogens to grow—such as Listeria or Salmonella bacteria. Ingesting raw eggs can send you to the hospital with terrible food poisoning. It’s why your mom pleaded with you not to sneak raw cookie dough as a kid, and why I worry about my toddler (who’s going through a fridge exploration phase) getting near an uncooked egg.

While raw egg yolks tend to be in the food-borne illness spotlight, raw egg whites can also harbor Salmonella bacteria. At the same time, there’s no direct raw egg substitute that can quite nail the same texture or richness raw egg recipes intend.

So, what can you do? There is a solution to the food safety concerns of cooking with raw eggs that won’t compromise the taste or texture of your recipes, and that’s to pasteurize your eggs sous vide at home.

As a bonus, you’ll save yourself a few dollars and a potential wild goose chase, since pasteurized eggs can be expensive and may not always be easy to find in grocery stores.

Here’s why pasteurized eggs are safe to use in uncooked recipes and everything you need to know to pasteurize safely at home.

What Are Pasteurized Eggs? 

Pasteurization just means you’re “heat-treating” a certain food to a specific temperature that kills harmful bacteria.

Pasteurized eggs are identical to regular eggs, but they have been gently heated in their shells to 140°F (60°C).  This temperature is high enough to kill off harmful bacteria but not hot enough to actually cook the egg. 

According to the USDA Pasteurization Requirements, the temperature and holding time using heat alone to pasteurize egg whites are 134°F (56.7°C) for 3.5 minutes or 132°F (55.6°C) for 6.2 minutes. Egg white proteins are particularly heat-sensitive, requiring these lower temperatures.

Salmonella is more resistant in the yolk, but the yolk is less sensitive to higher temperatures as it affects functional properties. Thus, a higher pasteurization temperature of 140°F (60°C) is required. 

Therefore, the requirements for pasteurizing whole eggs in their shell are at 140°F (60°C) for 3.5 minutes. 

Pasteurizing eggs in their shells is achieved through a technique that uses precise time and temperature zones within water baths. It was nearly impossible to do this at home before. But now, thanks to sous vide, you can easily do it in just a few simple steps. 

Pasteurizing Eggs Sous Vide Temperature and Time

The temperature and time to achieve fully pasteurized shell eggs using a sous vide machine is 135°F (57°C) for at least 75 minutes. 

Wait… Isn’t the temperature supposed to be 140°F (60°C) to kill Salmonella?

I am glad you asked. 

Remember, pasteurization, aka food safety, isn’t just about temperature, it’s also about time. 

Cook’s Illustrated gave us a great example: When the center of a chicken breast reaches 165°F (74°C), virtually 100 percent of Salmonella is killed immediately. When brought to 160°F (71°C), it takes 14 seconds to kill the Salmonella. At 155°F (68°C), it takes 50 seconds. At 150°F (65.5°C), it takes 3 minutes. When you lower the temperature to 136°F (58°C), it will take 69 minutes. 

So by setting the temperature at 135°F (57°C) and leaving the eggs in the water bath for at least 1 hour and 15 minutes, the Salmonella in the whole eggs is killed while the heat-sensitive proteins in the egg whites are not destroyed. 

You’ll notice a difference between a raw egg and a pasteurized egg because the egg whites of a pasteurized egg are cloudy compared to the clear egg whites from a raw egg.

How to Pasteurize Eggs Sous Vide Step by Step

Now that you know what exactly pasteurized eggs are and why to pasteurize them at home, here are four simple steps on doing the job in your sous vide.

Step 1: Preheat water.

Preheat water to 135°F (57.2°C)  using a sous vide immersion circulator. (I use Anova.)

Step 2: Get eggs in the hot-water bath.

Once the water temperature is reached, use a slotted spoon or a spider strainer to gently lower a few large eggs in their shells into the water bath.

Alternatively, you could place all eggs in a plastic bag and submerge the bag under the water, allowing the water to fill the bag to keep the eggs at the bottom of your cooking vessel. (This is optional, but I prefer it because you can fish out the eggs all at once by lifting up the plastic bag later.) Set the cooking time to 75 minutes. 

Step 3: Chill thoroughly in an ice-water bath.

A few minutes before the eggs are done, prepare an ice-water bath. Once the timer goes off, fish out the eggs from the hot-water bath and place them into the ice-water bath immediately. If your eggs are in a plastic bag, carefully lift the bag by grabbing one corner and tilt it to pour out as much hot water as possible, then drop the bag containing the pasteurized eggs into the ice bath, allowing the ice water to fill the bag so the eggs are completely submerged under the ice water. Chill for 20-30 minutes. 

Step 4: Mark and refrigerate.

Once the pasteurized eggs are thoroughly chilled, wipe them with a dry cloth, mark them on the shells with a permanent marker, and refrigerate.

How to Use Pasteurized Eggs 

When eggs are pasteurized, they can be used in any recipe that calls for partially cooked or raw eggs and spares you the health risks.

You can also use pasteurized eggs to make classic breakfast dishes that are characterized by soft, runny (and usually raw) egg yolk—like eggs Benedict or poached eggs. Since egg yolks are an incredibly rich source of choline, which helps with healthy brain development, pasteurized egg yolks are a particularly beneficial food for pregnant women and young children.

There are many delicious things you can make using pasteurized eggs. Here are a few of my top picks for inspiration:

• Classic Italian Tiramisu: This classic Italian tiramisu recipe is the perfect rich, fluffy indulgence for anyone who loves the taste of coffee.
• The Best Caesar Dressing: Caesar dressing from scratch. Only nine ingredients, loaded with garlic, parmesan, and fresh lemon juice, can be made healthier using extra olive oil instead of heavily processed or hydrogenated vegetable oil.
• Garlic Lemon Aioli: Three steps, seven ingredients, and 10 minutes are all you need to make this creamy, flavorful sauce from scratch. Serve it as a dipping sauce for sous vide potatoes or rub it all over corn on the cob for a Caribbean taste.
• Authentic Amber Moon Cocktail: A simple and classic cocktail known for being a “hangover remedy.” Made with a raw egg, whiskey or vodka, and Tabasco sauce.
• Homemade Eggnog: Both a blessing and a curse, once you try the homemade version of eggnog, you’ll never be able to drink the carton stuff again.

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