Why It's Safe To Drink Raw Eggs In Eggnog

If there's ever a bout of food poisoning, eggs are always on the list of suspected culprits. Uncooked or raw eggs are hotbeds for the bacteria salmonella, one of the most common causes of food borne illnesses. How, then, is it safe to drink the raw eggs that comprise a batch of eggnog? The reason is because of the miraculous process called pasteurization.

Famously used on milk and juice products, pasteurization kills harmful bacteria through heat treatment by bringing them to temperatures of 145 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for certain periods of time. Eggs can also be pasteurized or heated to kill bacteria without actually cooking the egg. Most store-bought eggnog, like this Southern Comfort vanilla spice eggnog, uses pasteurized eggs to ensure that it's safe to drink. Unfortunately, not all eggnog is store-bought and homemade eggnog often consists of unpasteurized raw eggs which can run the risk of salmonella contamination.

To avoid food borne illnesses in homemade eggnog, you can purchase pasteurized eggs online or from your local grocery store in liquid or powder form. If you use unpasteurized eggs, you can pasteurize the eggnog itself as we do in our recipe for easy homemade eggnog by first tempering the eggs with a lightly heated milk and egg mixture before whisking them into a pot with the remaining dairy and heating everything to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll need a thermometer like this Thermopro digital one to ensure that you've heated the mixture to the indicated temperature.

Eggnog is a festive and frothy holiday treat with plenty of dairy richness and warming spices. That said, it tastes even better when spiked with alcohol. We recommend spiking eggnog with a ratio of one part alcohol to three to four parts eggnog for the best balance of flavors. Rum is a classic choice that pairs well with the warming spices of eggnog, but bourbon and other types of whiskey that feature baking spices as common tasting notes are equally delicious candidates. In fact, you could spike your eggnog with bourbon and rum, using equal parts of each spirit to comprise the 1-to-3 ratio.

Simple eggnog upgrades include adding citrus zest, espresso, cocoa powder, or even a few spoonfuls of pumpkin puree. You can make your eggnog dairy free by swapping heavy cream for an alternative, like this Native Forest coconut cream, and using soy, oat, or coconut milk instead of cow's milk. For that matter, you can swap the eggs for a cup of soaked and boiled cashews to make a vegan eggnog that will certainly be free of salmonella.

If you have leftover eggnog, you can incorporate it into desserts like this eggnog cake recipe or these glazed eggnog scones. Or add a cup of eggnog to cheesecake batter to make this eggnog cheesecake recipe.