I really enjoy eating eggs. I also like to eat raw cookie dough. Growing up my grandmother used to make me a special breakfast when I would come and stay with her. She would call this special egg dish, chicky eggs. A chicky egg is a soft boiled egg with buttered bread that you use to dip in to the egg. You eat them right from the shell. Someday I will share with you all the proper way of eating a chicky egg. They are delicious. I always preferred my chicky eggs on the runny side. I know now that it wasn’t probably the safest idea. They were cooked but not as much as they should have been. I never got sick from eating chicky eggs. I still occasionally delight in that dish from my childhood. I knew that I wanted to share this dish with my son but I was really leery of doing so, because of the risk of salmonella.
My favorite thing about making cookies, well baking in general, is sampling the dough or batter. I have remembered a specific time when I made cookies with my childhood friend when she and her family were visiting from North Carolina. Jennifer and I had a great time baking together. While we were rolling the balls of cookie dough, we would eat some of the dough. Her dad came into the kitchen and started to yell and lecture us about THE DANGERS of consuming raw cookie dough. At the time I was wondering why Uncle Barry was making such a big deal about it. I honestly still eat raw cookie dough and I probably always will. I also like to lick the spoon when I make cupcakes or brownies.
Every year during December, my family and I make all kinds of cookies and sweets. There is a certain secret recipe that we make every year, which was created by a family friend of ours. It has a raw egg in it and every year we shrugged it off as oh well I hope we don’t get sick. It is too good to just not make. This year we were able to make that recipe without worrying about getting sick. My son had not had the pleasure of tasting raw cookie dough until recently when I had the opportunity to learn about Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs. Davidson’s makes pasteurized eggs in the shell.
From the Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs website:
Davidson's Safest Choice is the leader in pasteurized shell eggs! Using a revolutionary patented technology, National Pasteurized Eggs, Inc. produces Davidson's Safest Choice Pasteurized Shell Eggs and distributes them across the nation. This process kills Salmonella bacteria and viruses like Avian influenza. Yet our eggs look, cook and taste just like other shell eggs.
This is how they do it from the website:
• The National Pasteurized Eggs process starts with the arrival of clean, farm-fresh eggs on sanitized plastic flats from our pre-approved, USDA certified and inspected farms.
• All eggs arrive from USDA inspected, family owned and operated farms and are delivered within 48 hours of being laid.
• Hens are fed diets that contain no hormones, no antibiotics and no animal by-products are used.
• The eggs enter our patented pasteurization system where the carriers transport the eggs to our clean, warm water bath pasteurizer.
• The eggs continue through the water bath where this mixture of exact time and temperature assures accurate pasteurization. The eggs are pasteurized to exceed a 5 log reduction of harmful bacteria or viruses without cooking the eggs. The 5 log reduction of Salmonella is the regulated standard set by the FDA required for a product to be labeled pasteurized. The NPE patented process ensures that eggs meet and exceed this 5 log FDA requirement without cooking the eggs.
• The eggs move on automated carriers where they receive an optical check that identifies and removes all damaged or cracked eggs.
• The eggs then are conveyed out of the pasteurization bath and through an automatic waxing unit which applies a food grade wax protection over the egg shell. This wax acts as an additional seal to protect the eggs from absorption of any cross-contaminants that otherwise could pass through the shell's thousands of open pores.
• Next, the eggs receive a red Circle P stamp identifying them as pasteurized.
• This finished product is then packed, moved to coolers and brought to below 45°F., and palletized for shipment.
• The pasteurization facility and production are managed under controlled HACCP procedures adhering to defined SOP’s and GMP’s and Circle U Kosher approval standards. The facility and process are inspected and certified by USDA and Silliker Labs and approved by the FDA.
• The total pasteurization process above results in destruction of bacteria and viruses inside and outside the shell, preserving freshness and taste as well as significantly extending the shelf life of the eggs.
• That's how we pasteurize our eggs!
The eggs are delicious. They taste exactly like normal eggs. I made chicky eggs a few times and I like them runny because they are delicious and easier to dip. I didn’t have to worry about them making me sick and I was able to have them runny once again like my grandma Diana once made them.
You can find some free recipes that incorporate raw eggs HERE
So, now you can enjoy raw cookie dough, cake batter, brownie batter, and ice cream without a worry of any risk of salmonella. That also means that Noah can also share in my favorite childhood breakfast. I am really excited for that. I think that Safe eggs changed eggs as we once knew them. Next time you are at the store look for Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs and pick up a carton or two and now you can safely pig out on cookie dough without any risk of Salmonella. The eggs are safe to eat 4 to 6 weeks after the Best by date too. The best by date is when the eggs are their freshest.
To find Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs near you please check out the Store Locator
If you can’t find them in your area please sign this petition to please bring Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs in new areas for those of you that do not have the product in your area.
You can find a money saving coupon HERE
Thank you to Davidson’s Eggs for sending me a couple coupons for a couple dozen eggs for my reviewing purposes.
