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Eggs and Food Safety
When preparing eggs or any perishable foods, follow these four simple steps to make sure food is prepared safely:
- Clean - Wash hands and surfaces often. Proper hand washing may eliminate nearly half of all cases of food-borne illness.
- Chill - Refrigerate/freeze food promptly. Cold temperatures can prevent the growth of most types of harmful bacteria.
- Separate - Don’t cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat/poultry/seafood and their juices separate from one another and other food during storage and preparation.
- Cook - Cook meat, poultry and eggs to proper temperatures.
For more information on safe food preparation and fighting bacteria, consult the FightBAC!™ website at www.canfightbac.org.
- Serve eggs and food prepared using eggs immediately after cooking, or refrigerate and use within three to four days.
- For entertaining, serve all egg dishes within two hours. Cold egg dishes and beverages should be kept on ice.
- If a recipe calls for eggs at room temperature, immerse them in warm water for a few minutes.
- To prevent toughness, always use moderate heat and controlled cooking times for eggs.
- Don't eat cracked eggs or eggs that have been out of the refrigerator for more than two hours.
- Use a glass or metal bowl instead of a plastic bowl when making meringue. The greasy film on a plastic bowl can prevent foaming.
- The egg yolk and white separate best when they are cold.
- Egg whites will beat to a better volume if they're allowed to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before beating.
- Unless otherwise specified, most recipes are written based on the use of large eggs. One large egg = ¼ cup or 4 tablespoons or 50 mL.
