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pasta carbonara raw egg question

22K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  chefbuba 
#1 ·
Pasta carbonara is one of our favorites.   But I often cook for groups or dinner guests and I am a bit concerned about the way the recipe handles raw eggs.    Does the warm pasta really cook the egg??

Any comments???
 
#4 ·
In the offset of the dish , no it does not really cook< but when sitting a few minutes it does. I would not worry about it . Worry more about cold preps like  Caesar dressing
 
#8 ·
You should be fine. I've made the recipe MANY times, it's a favourite (and it's cheap and quick) in our household (including a 3 year old). The heat of the pasta would definitely cook the egg, assuming you put it in fairly soon after draining. If you plonked it in without stirring then you'd find that it would solidify the eggs (check for yourself if you're still not sure) and then scramble them when you moved it.
 
#10 ·
I mix the cheese with the eggs as well. It coats the noodles better and, in my experience, prevents the egg from scrambling if your pan is slightly too hot (the oil in the cheese dissipates the heat, but I could be making this up because it sounds good). I stick my finger in the pan/pasta after tossing everything together except the eggs. It I scream while doing this, it's too hot. If I can keep it there with no effect then it's too cold, but I do turn the flame off after getting to the right temp. As has been said, if you drain and toss the noodles immediately, you shouldn't have a problem. I've made this comfort food dish more times than I can remember and never got sick.
 
#11 ·
Pasta carbonara is one of our favorites. But I often cook for groups or dinner guests and I am a bit concerned about the way the recipe handles raw eggs. Does the warm pasta really cook the egg??

Any comments???
Enrico,

When the pasta comes out of the boiling water, it's at 200F or so.

If your egg, cheese and pepper mixture is ready to go, they will quickly cook at 180F or so and as tossed through, should cook to a safe temperature.

BTW, if you can buy eggs from a reputable famer, there should be no issue from under-cooked or raw eggs.
 
#16 ·
Are you for real? this has been proven to be an old wives tale

Hey all you  guys do not let any health dept. know you are not cooking egg fully, I don't care what state you are in.
 
#18 ·
I had a flock of about 20 chickens for several years, they free ranged around on about five acres. I had brown layers, white layers and easter eggers, they all tasted the same, great because of their diet.

In addition to their feed which included layer feed, sunflower seeds, corn & wheat they got fresh fruit & veggies, ate lots of bugs and what ever else they could come up with while out and about all day, sometimes even treats from the neighbors.

Brown eggs do not taste any better than white. Small flock free range eggs taste much better than any store bought egg, regardless of color and claims on the package of being cage free, those birds roam tightly packed  in a warehouse and are fed nothing but dry feed.
 
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