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There are benefits to washing the eggs, isn't there? I have read that in Europe as a consumer it's a lot more important to wash the eggs before using them.
by eyeinthepyramid 8y ago
There are benefits to washing the eggs, isn't there? I have read that in Europe as a consumer it's a lot more important to wash the eggs before using them.
- bmelton 8y agoYou should definitely wash the eggs before you cook with them. As you mention, that is de rigueur for Europeans, as it is in America for things like lettuce and potatoes.
- globuous 8y agoWhat ? Is this legitimate or are you being funny ? I'm European and have never washed an egg before cooking it in my life. what is this ? I crack it open and cook it and am still here. I do wash my tomatoes when I make a salad with raw tomatoes though. And that's mostly to get stuff off since I'd argue my vinegrette would kill all the bacteria. And washing your potato ? I'm so confused. Don't we all cook potatoes in boiling hot water ?
- bmelton 8y agoThe incidence rate for salmonella is pretty low either way, but you should definitely wash eggs before cracking them open, for the same reasons you wash your tomatoes. As for potatoes, no, we don't all cook them by boiling them in water -- many of us bake them, fry them, or use them for making hash browns. This might just be cultural, but I would actually be more inclined to wash them before boiling them, since the reason you wash potatoes is because they have dirt on them, and just as I wouldn't want to toss dirt into my boiling water, I would prefer to clean (or peel) my potatoes before boiling them.
- RugnirViking 8y agoNope. In fact when I was in cookery school here in the EU, I was told that it is perfectly safe to eat raw egg here, but that in the US this is never advisable.
- bmelton 8y agoYou can eat raw egg (yolks and whites) in the EU because chickens are inoculated against salmonella. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not salmonella is allowed to accumulate and/or incubate on the outside of the shell.
- Tomte 8y agoI can only speak for Germany, but I haven‘t ever seen anyone wash eggs, neither when cooking, nor when frying.
- majewsky 8y agoYou should wash the eggs before opening them. If you cook them in boiling water without opening them (except for the prick at the bottom), I don't see how washing them beforehand would make a difference.
- jimmaswell 8y agoShould I also be washing fresh eggs from friends' chickens/ducks then?
- bmelton 8y agoYes. I have chickens (hence the anecdote above), and if you're getting eggs from friends, you should definitely wash them. I've personally just made it a habit to to wash all eggs in warm water, regardless of whether they're store-bought or fresh.
- zmb_ 8y agoI have lived all my life in Europe, in three different countries and with friends and colleagues from many more. and I have never seen or even heard about anyone washing eggs. So if it happens, it is certainly not a Europe-wide norm.
- eyeinthepyramid 8y agoActually I found this post about it: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/66957/is-salmonella-from-eggs-a-us-only-problem https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/66957/is-salmone... Apparently there is some evidence that egg-related salmonella is 7x more prevalent in Europe vs the US.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]