Cobb County Extension Service
Family and Consumer Sciences

EASTER HOLIDAY COOKING

KEEPING IT SAFE!

Linda Hulst

FACS Program Assistant

As the holiday approaches we like to celebrate by entertaining friends and family.  Be sure to keep food safe by following basic food safety steps….

CLEAN:  Wash hands and food –contact surfaces often.  Bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and get onto cutting boards, knives, sponges, and counter tops.

SEPARATE: Don’t cross-contaminate—don’t let bacteria spread from one food product to another.  This is especially true for raw meat, poultry and seafood.  Keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods.

COOK:  Cook to proper temperatures. Foods are properly cooked when they are heated for a long enough time and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food borne illness.

CHILL:  Refrigerate promptly.  Refrigerate foods quickly keeps most harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying.  Refrigerators should be set at 40° F and the freezer at 0° F, and the accuracy of the settings should be checked occasionally with a thermometer.

At Easter time, we are concerned about eggs and safe food handling practices. The above safe food handling applies to eggs that we dye and eggs prepared for our Easter Dinners.  Raw eggs should not be consumed without cooking or use pasteurized eggs in any recipe.

Pasteurization kills bacteria present in food.  As long as cross contamination does not occur (from hands, utensils, or other foods) pasteurized food should be safe for even those in high risk groups.  To pasteurize recipes containing eggs, 160°degrees must be reached or 140° reached and held for 31/2 minutes. 

·        Here’s how you do it:  Combine at least 2 tablespoons of the liquid in the recipe for each beaten egg or egg yolk (4 egg yolks, 8 tablespoons liquid.) Cook this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just starts to bubble.  Mixture should be thickened and should coat a spoon- if candy thermometer is handy, use it.

·        If the mixture looks like it might start to curdle, remove from heat and stir rapidly, return to low heat and continue cooking.

·        Liquids used can be water, juice, milk, or flavorings, but not oil or margarine.

·        This pasteurization technique can be used for all recipes calling for uncooked eggs or egg yolks, containing at least 2 tablespoons of liquid per egg- more liquid can be used if the recipe contains more.

                    PASTEURIZED EGGS:  New in some supermarkets are small cartons of whole eggs, mixed and pasteurized.  Sold in the dairy case, near fresh shell eggs, they may be the solution for your uncooked egg recipes, such as refrigerated mousses, pies and other desserts.  For recipes calling for just yolks, follow the directions above, cooking eggs and liquid until they coat a spoon.

Have a Happy and Safe Easter

Resources: CDC and Georgia Egg Commission

For more information on Easter Cooking, click on:  Seasonal Articles